Of false terror alarms and faulty US intel

The US Embassy’s warning last week of a planned terror attack in Johannesburg was disingenuous and reckless, and must be treated with suspicion.

Without consulting or sharing information with South African intelligence and security agencies, the embassy published the advisory on its website, advising its citizens to avoid crowded public places in the Sandton area over the weekend.

No further information was forthcoming, but the public was expected to take the imminent terror threat seriously.

Soon after, the UK, French and Australian embassies shared the news with their citizens.

Unsubstantiated reports later suggested the advisory was based on intel that a gay pride event and Jewish comedian Nik Rabinowitz’s show were targets of a potential attack by the Islamic State.

Fortunately – and as expected – the weekend passed without incident.

The SA government was understandably vexed that the US embassy had caused international alarm, and had acted without the co-operation of local authorities.

What was also disappointing was how ready the public, media and security analysts were to point out the inadequacies of local security services and perceived lack of intel on terror activity – while taking the Americans’ warning at face value.

After all, we’ve seen in movies how impressive the CIA and FBI’s operations are. Except, are they really all that effective, or trustworthy?

They were powerless to prevent a horde of Trump-supporting hooligans from occupying the Capitol last year, and prevent the deaths of five people in the violent riots.

The international community is still waiting to see evidence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, the intel of which was the premise of the invasion that would claim over a million Iraqi lives.

And they’re clearly incapable of stopping rampant mass shootings in schools, gay nightclubs and other public areas on home soil.

In which case, should the SA Embassy in Washington not be issuing advisories to avoid these places?

Should there not be a warning to black South Africans to steer clear of American law enforcement officers, who are known to harass, brutalise and murder people of colour?