Terrorist scare tests Obama’s campaign claim; not far on the ‘path to defeat’

[Geee]

Washington Times:

Even as the White House insisted that the U.S. has made great strides in the war against terrorism under President Obama, the president’s spokesman acknowledged Monday that officials cannot rule out the possibility that the latest terrorist plot apparently discussed between top al Qaeda operatives could jeopardize the U.S. homeland.

 

Fresh details emerged about the nature of the threat that will keep U.S. embassies in 19 Middle Eastern and African cities closed for the rest of the week, as U.S. and allied security officials continued to grapple with a threat that all sides in Washington agreed was the most credible one in years.

 

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the threat “could potentially” extend beyond the Middle East. “We cannot be more specific,” he said, declining several times to rule out U.S. territory as a target. But Mr. Carney, in the same briefing Monday, had to justify Mr. Obama’s claims over the past year that al Qaeda was on the “path to defeat” under his leadership.