CNN Video: Yemen al Queda attack.

Al Qaeda takes credit for Yemen attack that killed 16

16 Die in Attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen


By ROBERT WORTH

Published: September 17, 2008
Heavily armed militants opened fire on the United States Embassy in Sana, Yemen, on Wednesday and detonated a car bomb at its gates, killing at least 16 people, Yemeni officials said.

No Americans were killed or injured in the blast, said a Yemeni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Yemeni security officials and witnesses said the death toll was at least 16, including four bystanders, one of them an Indian woman. The other dead were six attackers and six security guards, the Yemeni officials said, speaking in return for anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. Yemen’s official Saba news agency also reported that 16 people were killed.

Ryan Gliha, an embassy spokesman, said via e-mail that the attack took place at 9:15 a.m. The embassy would remain closed for now, he said, but gave no further details.

It was the deadliest attack in years on an American target in Yemen, a poor south Arabian country of 22 million where militants aligned with Al Qaeda have carried out a number of recent strikes.

The attack began when a car raced up to the heavily fortified embassy compound. Several attackers got out and began firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles at the guards who returned the fire, the Yemeni official said.

A second car then drove into the compound’s gate and exploded in what appeared to be a suicide bombing, the official said.

The attack was especially shocking to many Yemenis because it came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Yemen has long been viewed as a haven for jihadists. It became a special concern for the United States in 2000, after Al Qaeda operatives rammed the U.S.S. Cole in Aden harbor, on Yemen’s southern coast, killing 17 American sailors.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Yemen actively pursued a counter-terrorism partnership with the United States, and its American-trained forces have had some important successes in fighting militants.

But over the past two years, jihadists claiming allegiance to Al Qaeda appear to have reorganized, releasing more propaganda material on the Internet and carrying out attacks.

In July 2007, suicide bombers killed eight Spanish tourists in eastern Yemen, and there were two unsuccessful attacks on oil installations.

Earlier this year there were several attacks on foreign embassies. In March, mortars fired at the U.S. Embassy compound in Sana struck a nearby school for girls instead, killing a security guard and wounding more than a dozen students.

The U.S. compound has also been the scene of occasional political violence in previous years, including a large demonstration against the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, in which two Yemenis were fatally shot and dozens injured.

Yemen has also faced serious security threats on other fronts, including an intermittent rebellion in the north that has kept the country’s military engaged, and continuing riots and instability in the south.

Air Force Going To War Against Nebraska - but its only an exercise.

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 16, 2008 12:51:58 EDT
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. — Officials say neighbors of Offutt Air Force Base should ignore what sounds like an attack.

The Air Force’s 55th Wing will be conducting training exercise Tuesday and Wednesday.

The base sits south of Omaha, adjacent to the suburb of Bellevue.

Officials say members of the public may hear loud noises from ground-burst simulators and see clouds of smoke from smoke grenades.

Sirens will be heard and the base public address system will be used.

Local authorities have been told about the training.

What We Thought The B-2 Looked Like

Going through some old back issues of Popular Science, I found this gem. it was a 1982 cover story about the B-2 bomber ( then known only as the Advanced Technology Bomber) and what aviation journalists speculated it looked like.

Although some will say the B-2 doesn't look at all like the artist representation here, Pop Science did get it right in some aspects.

The B-2 did turn out to be a flying wing with engine inlets not that all different than you see here. What they got wrong were the twin canted tails and B-1/X-15 looking nose. However, twin canted tails were considered in early versions of the B-2s design.

Its apparent the artist was also influenced by the markings and paint job on an SR-71.

All in all, the artist's rendering is about eighty percent right.

It is also interesting to note that the same image was ripped-off and published in the Soviet military journal Aviatsiya e Kosmonautika as an exclusive rendering of the real thing.


-Steve Douglass

Click to enlarge.

Intercepts Newsletter Archive Created!

With the sudden renewed interest in Black Projects, I have decided to dig up my old Intercepts Newsletters and create an online archive. The Intercepts Newsletter was produced for hard-core military monitors and stealth chasers from mid 1991 to 1995.

Until recently these back issues were located in a cardboard box in a barn in Ben Hur Texas, gathering dust and spider eggs, but with many requests by the original Interceptors to see if they could obtain copies, I decided rather than go through the expense of making copies, I'd turn them into Adobe Acrobat PDFs for free download.

I have to admit, as i was looking at the newsletter. I became a bit nostalgic for the early days and comraderie of the the original Interceptors and how much fun we had. We functioned like a mini-intelligence agency, gathering hard data, delving into Pentagon budget reports, looking for suspicious "line items" monitoring the military airwaves from mountaintops and motel rooms, and generally doing everything we could to try and piece together the amazing history of the development of covert military technology.

While reading the newsletters, keep in mind these were written over a decade ago, way before the Internet came into household vogue and became the repository of the information age.

In future (back) issues you'll discover the first writings of the now famous original Interceptors, including Glenn Campbell ( not the singer) who became the thorn in the side of Area 51 security. It's interesting to see his interests in Area 51 change from observer to activist.

It's easy to look back and see where we got it wong, but just as importantly where we got it right.

A lot of what you will read in these dated Intercepts newsletters concerns projects that never were or will never be declassified.

Some of what we printed turned out to be rumors and intentionally leaked disinformation, while others hinted at projects that are flying today.

I will try and post one newsletter each week on my blog at deepbluehorizon.com. My bandwidth is limited so as new ones go up, old ones will come down so download them while you can.

-Steve Douglass