When is an ‘imminent’ attack not imminent?

By Nancy Benac

Published September 25, 2014 7:11am ET

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When is an ‘imminent’ attack not imminent? — Lt. Gen. William Mayville, speaks about the operations in Syria, Tuesday, during a news conference at the Pentagon. In a separate action from the air strikes against the Islamic State group, the U.S. bombed a cell of al Qaeda militants in northwestern Syria after concluding they were close to attacking the U.S. or Europe, Pentagon officials say. Mayville, the Pentagon's operations chief, said that the Khorasan Group was nearing "the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland." (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) | Cliff Owen

WASHINGTON (AP) — Smart people in the Obama administration have spent the last two days telling the American people that U.S. strikes against the Khorasan Group were necessary to disrupt “imminent attack plotting” against U.S. and Western interests.

They warned that members of the shadowy Khorasan Group, an al-Qaida offshoot, were “nearing the execution phase” of an attack in the U.S. or Europe.

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