The news stories have said that nothing more specific than 'chatter' has been picked up. It could certainly be a government over-reaction, but it could also be

The news stories have said that nothing more specific than 'chatter' has been picked up. It could certainly be a government over-reaction, but it could also be AQ deliberately 'chattering' to induce that over-reaction. After all, what will you say if the next 2 months go by and not a single Western outpost is attacked by AQ anywhere? We'll say the government is making political hay out of all this as that is exactly what it will look like, whether that 'chatter' was actually detected or not. In fact that was the most striking aspect I noted: some of the politician and intelligence agency types expressed surprise that AQ would "deliberately break OPSEC" by discussing their big plans in this manner. But what if we're not understanding the reason they broke OPSEC? It could be a feint to draw this response, or it could be because they are now completely confident in the success of their plan no matter what action the government takes to prepare.