I haven’t been blogging lately as I’ve been attending writing conferences and working on my next book, Deadly Borders but I couldn’t pass up today’s hottest news item without commenting and spreading the word. The story centers on a video that was widely distributed on jihadist websites chronicling a meeting of over 100 al-Qaeda fighters. Reports indicate that this highly produced video captures the outdoor meeting and threats made by the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (also know as AQAP): Nasir al-Wuhayshi – threats like the title of this blog: “we’re coming after you”. He is believed to be the number two guy in al Qaeda worldwide and the err apparent to bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Wuhayshi is also quoted in the video saying: “We must eliminate the cross…. The bearer of the cross is America!”

His blatant disregard for his safety and possible drone attacks is disconcerting. I have two questions:

Did US intelligence not know of the meeting?
If they did why were there no drone attacks?

It certainly appears that Wuhayshi wasn’t looking over his shoulder or concerned in the least about the possibility of attacks. Are they feeling empowered and getting ready for another attack?

Most of the video and all of the shots of al-Wuhayshi were clear, high quality, outdoor shots. There were, however, many faces blurred out. Fox News noted that it appeared that many of the blurred out faces appeared to be lighter skinned. Fox speculated that they may be westerners al-Qaeda blurred to protect their identity. US intelligence is combing frame by frame through the video in hopes of figuring out what they are plotting. What was the reason for the show of force?

Despite our President’s claims that al-Qaeda is “on the run” from his most recent presidential campaign, CNN is reporting that al-Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles in the heart of the Middle East – more territory than anytime in their history.

Watch the video for yourself: CNN coverage of al-Qaeda meeting in Yemen.