Sober intel warning about terrorist attacks

The U.S. is hardly out of the woods as far as escaping a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, and an attack could be around the corner in the next six months, according to Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence.

Blair testified Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, raising the issue about whether the U.S. is prepared to prevent an attack that could be imminent. His testimony also underscores the need for better U.S. intelligence, using tech tools to ferret out a plot before it becomes a catastrophe.

Blair told the Senate panel that Al Qaeda has adjusted its tactics to more effectively strike American targets domestically and abroad.

"The biggest threat is not so much that we face an attack like 9/11," said Leon E. Panetta, the CIA director, who also testified before the panel. "It is that Al Qaeda is adapting its methods in ways that oftentimes make it difficult to detect."

Blair added that the threat of a crippling attack on telecommunications and other computer networks is growing. "Malicious cyberactivity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication," he said.

This sober assessment only underscores the importance of technology for the national intelligence agencies that are plowing through critical information on a daily basis to find the source of any potential attack. The near-Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. flight en route to Detroit was a reminder for U.S. intelligence officials that more work is needed to find and detour potential threats.

Blair left no stone unturned in his dismal assessment for Congress this week. And it will be up to the national intelligence agencies to ratchet up their surveillance work to prevent a potential disaster.

For more on terrorist threats:
- see this New York Times article

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