That didn't take long. On its Twitter account, the State Department posted this alert tonight -- its first tweet in four days.

@TravelGov Travel - State Dept

#Worldwide #Travel alert - potential for anti-U.S. actions due to disruption of terrorist act in U.S. linked to Iran: goo.gl/RKo7B

The gist:

The U.S. government assesses that this Iranian-backed plan to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador may indicate a more aggressive focus by the Iranian Government on terrorist activity against diplomats from certain countries, to include possible attacks in the United States.

Background on the plot is in our earlier post here.

What's this really about?

Jury selection has begun in New York in the federal trial of Russian businessman Viktor Bout. Bout is charged with terrorism offenses for supplying arms to FARC, Colombian rebel fighters.

Bout was extradited from Thailand. His supporters maintain this website. The extradition request is here. From the Thai court extradition decision:[More...]

Al Qaida Arabian Peninsula released a statement today confirming the killing of cleric Anwar al-Awlawi and two others. The media quotes a sentence or two, but you don't get the real flavor unless you read the whole thing. An English translation is here. A snippet:

“The Americans killed the scholar Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaqi and Samir Khan, but they did not prove any crime they committed and they never presented any proof against them from their laws of unjust freedom. So, where is the freedom, justice, human rights and respect of freedoms they boast of? Did America become so suffocated that it contradicted—and everyday it contradicts—these principles it claims it established its country on?”

“America has failed as it has not stuck to its principles, and the Shaykh—who lived his doctrine and died for its cause—won. And like that, everyday America kills humans unjustly and aggressively. Its history is black and long and has no limit, and it lies openly that it protects human rights, justice and freedom.”

[More...]

Pakistan has completed its interviews of Osama bin Laden's wives and children and declared them free to leave Pakistan and travel freely.

The Pakistani Commission also recommended that a physician who worked with the CIA to conduct a fake vaccination program designed to obtain DNA from the citizens of Abbouttabad be charged with treason.

The vaccination ruse has been widely criticized by aid agencies, which have said it could harm legitimate immunization programs in Pakistan. The vaccination team was reported to have gained access bin Laden's house in Abbottabad, but that it didn't confirm bin Laden's presence there.

The U.S. wants Pakistan to allow the doctor to live in the U.S.

The debate continues on the legality of the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki. The White House Counsel opinion supporting the practice apparently is still classified as no one has published a copy. But State Department legal advisor Harold Koh explained it pretty clearly in March, 2010:

What I can say is that it is the considered view of this Administration—and it has certainly been my experience during my time as Legal Adviser—that U.S. targeting practices, including lethal operations conducted with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, comply with all applicable law, including the laws of war.

....As recent events have shown, al-Qaeda has not abandoned its intent to attack the United States, and indeed continues to attack us. Thus, in this ongoing armed conflict, the United States has the authority under international law, and the responsibility to its citizens, to use force, including lethal force, to defend itself, including by targeting persons such as high-level al-Qaeda leaders who are planning attacks.

What about the criteria? Koh said: [More...]

Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen on the U.S. "capture or kill" list was killed by a drone today in Yemen.

A CIA drone finally got him, but that was only the tip of a much larger military operation. Missiles fired by the drone took out Awlaki's vehicle. That made the American-born cleric the first U.S citizen to be targeted and killed as a terrorist. A senior defense official said, "a very bad man just had a very bad day."

...Harrier jets flying from an amphibious carrier off the coast were ready to take a shot if the CIA drone missed. There was even an option for sending in Marine Ospreys with Special Operations Forces to collect any intelligence left after the strike, but that was never used.

President Obama proudly commented on the killing. [More...]

The New York Times reports the Obama Administrations' legal eagles are considering how far they can go in targeting and killing suspected terrorists in countries like Yeman and Somalia.

The debate, according to officials familiar with the deliberations, centers on whether the United States may take aim at only a handful of high-level leaders of militant groups who are personally linked to plots to attack the United States or whether it may also attack the thousands of low-level foot soldiers focused on parochial concerns: controlling the essentially ungoverned lands near the Gulf of Aden, which separates the countries.

[I]f a group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda against Americans, the United States can take aim at any of its combatants, especially in a country that is unable or unwilling to suppress them.

[More...]

Those suspicious people taken off the Frontier airlines plane in Detroit? One was ill, one had to use the bathroom. All three were cleared, and fully cooperative with police.

FBI Detroit spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said reports about sexual encounters taking place in the rest room are false, describing them as “stories spinning out of control.”

...[FBI Detroit spokeswoman Sandra] Berchtold said today "They’re victims of circumstance and victims of the day."

We are all victims of the day.

The federal courthouse in Palm Beach was closed this morning due to a suspicious van parked nearby. The van had derogatory language printed on it. The language was critical of police handling of a child molestation case.

West Palm Beach police spokesman Chase Scott says a police dog alerted to the possibility of explosives inside a rental van after 8 a.m. Monday. It was checked because of unspecified derogatory comments written on the outside of the van.

After the bomb squads checked out the van and determined there was no threat, the courthouse reopened.

A post office and state health department building were also evacuated.

The line between concern and fear and paranoia is blurring quickly.

Most ridiculous story of the 9/11 Fear Brigade yet. Read the whole thing.

My response to that passenger?

If you're that nervous about flying, why not stay home?

President Obama says we won't live in fear. Really? Who's he fooling?

• Federal agents are questioning a man after device found in his carry-on bag
• Police in Massachusetts scrambling to track down a Penske truck
• FBI agents working frantically to verify car bomb terrorist threat
• Flight to Baltimore diverted after 'suspicious behaviour' by passenger
• Snipers line roofs at World Trade Centre site, as service gets underway
• Internet shut down in buildings near Ground Zero as safety precaution
• Suspicious object discovered at Dulles airport, 22 miles from Washington DC
• Three people have come to U.S. with 'intent' to carry out plot, say officials

Making Out in Frontier flight restroom causes arrests and fighter jets to shadow plane from Denver to Detroit. Three passengers were hauled off the flight. No arrests were made. [More...]

A senior official says the NYC al Qaeda terror threat now appears more like a wild goose chase. The information has not been able to be corroborated and the plot details don't add up.