Iran has long been a sponsor of international terrorism, primarily directed at Israeli and US targets.
In 1998 and 2000, al Qaeda attacks on US targets had precipitated intensive investigations which yielded a wealth of knowledge about the terrorist operation.
North Korea has denied any involvement in last month's hack which crippled Sony's Hollywood studio, and threatened to hit back at the White House and other US targets if Washington sanctions it.
This week's audiotape warning by the chief spokesman for Osama bin Laden of the imminence of new al-Qaida attacks on the US targets has served to reinforce western intelligence assessments that the terrorist threat is again on the rise.
A more feet-on-the-ground approach would begin with a simple observation: the only Somali American who attempted to commit violence against US targets was Mohamed Osman Mohamud – and he appears to have no links to al-Shabaab or their cause.
But even as Kim Jong-un issues midnight battle cries to his generals to ready their rockets, he and his million-man army know full well that a successful missile strike on US targets would be suicide for the out-powered North Korean regime.
One of the US targets named by Pyongyang was the Pacific island of Guam, which hosts a US military base.
Some also carry Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's remarks that Ankara is willing to send troops to Syria if the US targets the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
