By Pam Benson, CNN

No one is writing al Qaeda's obituary yet. But one year after its leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. commandos, U.S. officials and experts say the terror network's core group holed up in Pakistan is hemorrhaging and could be in its final days.

CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen, for one, maintains that al Qaeda - at least its components based in south central Asia - is in terrible shape.

"Their record of failure speaks for itself: No success in the west since the London attacks of 2005, no attacks in the United States since 9/11 (2001), almost the entire top leadership dead or captured," said Bergen.

Adds Robert Grenier, the former head of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, "The movement has essentially been marginalized."

And a senior U.S. official describes al Qaeda as "largely in survival mode, putting most of its energy into coping with the losses and changes of the last year with a disjointed focus on global jihad."

Ayman al-Zawahiri replaced bin Laden at the helm, but by most all accounts he is a shadow of the cult-like figure of bin Laden.
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By CNN Wire Staff

A top commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed last weekend in Yemen, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington announced Tuesday.

Mohammed Saeed Al-Umda, alias Ghareeb Al-Taizi, was killed when an airstrike targeted a militant convoy Sunday in the remote desert region of Al-Samdah, in the Marib's Al-Wadi district, the embassy said. Al-Umda was ranked 4th on Yemen's most-wanted list.

U.S. drone activity has increased in Yemen, though the embassy did not specify whether it was a drone strike or which country carried out the airstrike.
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By CNN Terrorism Analyst Paul Cruickshank

White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan warned of the dangers posed by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen in speech at NYPD Headquarters in New York Friday, when he assessed the threat from al Qaeda one year after the death of Osama bin Laden.

He described the group – al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – which has taken advantage of a security vacuum in southern Yemen to expand its reach as “very, very dangerous.”

Brennan received a standing ovation from NYPD officers at the event for his role in the operation that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. He was presented with an NYPD jacket by New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

One NYPD official asked him what it was like to be in the White House Situation Room that night. “There wasn’t a sense of exubarance, he said, “there were no high fives. People let out a breath. It was a moment of reflection. This was something we’d all worked toward for a long time.”
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By Barbara Starr

The increased pace of counterterrorism strikes in Yemen by U.S. drones and aircraft is a result of what U.S. military and intelligence officials describe as improved intelligence about the leadership of the al Qaeda movement in that country.

The United States is using a broad range of assets, including manned U.S. fighter jets, along with unmanned drones operated by the military and by the CIA, according to two senior American officials who would not be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The target list of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists the United States has developed has emerged since an American drone killed Anwar al-Awlaki last year in Yemen. Al-Awlaki was identified as a key operative, and the United States has focused on trying to determine the leadership structure that has emerged since his death. FULL POST

By Carol Cratty

FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday he is concerned about the potential for terrorists mounting cyber attacks and that the bureau is working "to stay ahead of these threats, both at home and abroad."

"While to date terrorists have not used the Internet to launch a full-scale cyber attack, we cannot underestimate their intent," Mueller testified to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in which lawmakers pressed him about what additional funding and laws may be necessary to combat the cyber threat.

Mueller did not provide many details during the public session, but later met with senators behind closed doors to provide additional information.

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By Paul Cruickshank, Pam Benson and Tim Lister

On the maps of Yemen it's called Jaar - a dusty, dilapidated sort of place with a population of some 40,000. But the group that has controlled Jaar for the past year, al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al Shariah, has changed the town's name to the Emirate of Qar.

Now Jaar is in the cross hairs of both U.S. and Saudi counter-terrorism agencies, following Ansar al Shariah's attack on a military base near Zinjibar on the coast about 20 miles (28 kilometers) away. The group seized large amounts of weaponry and took more than 70 Yemeni soldiers hostage.  It is threatening to kill its captives unless about 300 al Qaeda members in Yemeni jails are freed. FULL POST

By Terry Frieden

Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday defended the targeted killing of U.S. citizens abroad who are suspected of plotting to kill Americans, rejecting critics' arguments that those strikes amount to assassinations.

While not referring directly to the government's drone attack on U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen last year, Holder was unflinching in providing publicly for the first time the Justice Department's legal justification for using lethal force, saying attacks like the strike that killed al-Awlaki fell within "our laws and values."

RECOMMENDED on GPS blog: Evaluating Holder's speech on targeted killings

"Let me be clear: An operation using lethal force in a foreign country, targeted against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated force, and who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, would be lawful," he said. FULL POST

By Pam Benson

The targeted killing of those suspected of engaging in terrorist activities against the United States, including American citizens, is justified and legal, according to the Defense Department's chief lawyer.

Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson is the first government lawyer to officially weigh in on the legal justification for killing a U.S. citizen since American born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a CIA missile fired from an unmanned aerial vehicle last September.

In comments Wednesday night during a speech at Yale University, Johnson made no mention by name of al-Awlaki or the classified CIA drone program.

"Belligerents who also happen to be U.S. citizens do not enjoy immunity where non-citizen belligerents are valid military objectives," Johnson said.

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By Paul Cruickshank, Nic Robertson, and Tim Lister

Editor's note: This report is based on a one-year investigation by CNN into air cargo security in light of a thwarted plot by al Qaeda in October 2010 to blow up cargo jets over the United States. CNN's Nic Robertson's report "Deadly Cargo" aired on CNN Presents in February 2012.

Ibrahim al-Asiri is the sort of terrorist who keeps intelligence officials awake at night.  He’s al Qaeda’s chief bomb-maker, and he built explosive devices hidden in printer cartridges that got onto several planes in October 2010.  He’s still at large in Yemen.  The bomb plots he’s alleged to have masterminded – the 2009 underwear bomb plot and printer bombs dispatched to the United States in 2010 – have very nearly worked.  And security experts say al-Asiri and al Qaeda in Yemen may yet penetrate the security screening that is meant to protect aviation.

ALSO WATCH: Reconstructing al Qaeda's printer bomb

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Editor's note: This report is based on a one-year investigation by CNN into air cargo security in light of a thwarted plot by al Qaeda in October 2010 to blow up cargo jets over the United States. CNN's Nic Robertson's report "Deadly Cargo" airs on CNN Presents, Saturday and Sunday February 18, 19 at 8 p.m. ET.

By Paul Cruickshank

In late October 2010 al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula (AQAP) dropped off two “printer bombs” at UPS and FedEx offices in Yemen addressed to the United States.

They were amongst the most sophisticated devices ever put together by al Qaeda terrorists, according to officials. FULL POST