February 20, 2008

Can These Guys Run Pakistan?

Pervez Musharraf, who seized power illegally and whose unpopularity now prompts rioting in Pakistan's streets, isn't going anywhere.

Not if he can help it, anyway. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (subscription), Musharraf stubbornly insisted on his relevance to Pakistani politics and said he would help shepherd in the newly elected government.

But the leaders of the two parties that won big in Monday's parliamentary election -- former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Party and Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party -- called on Musharraf to step down. The two are meeting today to discuss, in all likelihood, forming a broad-based coalition government that does not include Musharraf.

"He used to say that when people expressed no confidence in him that he would leave. Now the people have announced their decision," said Sharif, who was tossed out of office in the military coup led by the former general in 1999.

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Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Pakistan, President Bush, Terrorism
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February 11, 2008

Military Commissions To Get First Major Test

The Pentagon formally announced today it was seeking the death penalty for six Guantanamo detainees for their alleged roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The cases, to be tried jointly at the government's request, are the first to hit the U.S. government's as-yet-untested military tribunals system.

The creation of a separate judicial system for foreign terrorism suspects has been slowgoing, fraught with do-overs and heavily criticized around the world. Last June, the first two cases to be brought before the newly established military commissions -- under orders from the Supreme Court and Congress -- were summarily tossed out on technicalities. Now, DOD is signaling its intention of finally putting the military commissions to the test, and with its biggest fish in the war on terror so far.

The highest-profile defendant is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who as al-Qaida's No. 3 confessed to planning and facilitating the 9/11 attacks as well as personally beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Military, Terrorism
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February 07, 2008

More Warnings Delivered On Afghanistan

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied that her surprise visit to Kandahar today was Washington's way of sticking it to NATO allies not doing their fair share in Afghanistan.

"It's just the rationale of being able to get outside of Kabul and see one of the areas that's been very active," Rice said before touching down, according to Reuters. "I don't think there's any message there to anyone."

Poignantly -- or not, if Rice's statement is taken at face value -- she and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband were touring Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold in the country's south. Most trips by top foreign dignitaries are confined to the much safer capital city of Kabul. Kandahar remains dangerous, but it is also a prime example of the effectiveness of NATO forces in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

And in what has over the years become a ritual, Afghan President Hamid Karzai denied there were tensions between his government and its Western allies.

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Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Europe, Germany, Robert Gates, Terrorism, U.K.
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February 06, 2008

What's The Point Of NATO, Anyway?

The U.S. and Britain have been fighting an uphill battle to win deeper commitments from NATO allies in Afghanistan. With recent independent reports warning that Afghanistan may be tipping back into failed statehood, and a critical upcoming vote in Canada that could determine that country's ongoing security contributions, NATO member nations are facing a kind of do-or-die moment.

The question at hand is: What is NATO's mission in the 21st century?

NATO was formed during the Cold War to fend off the Soviet threat. It was a mutual security pact, in which an attack on one was to be perceived as an attack on all.

After the 9/11 attacks, it became clear that al-Qaida was now the biggest threat facing the West. With little debate, NATO's mission was updated for the 21st century, and forces were sent to Afghanistan.

More than six years later, the success of NATO's fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida is in dispute. The war in Iraq sapped resources from Afghanistan, and more importantly sapped confidence in the United States' and Britain's leadership roles there. Nations have withdrawn forces over the last several years, and now the fighting -- and dying -- falls disproportionately on the U.S., Britain, the Netherlands and Canada.

Member nations privately blame the U.S. and Britain for being so preoccupied with the war in Iraq -- overwhelmingly unpopular among member nations -- that they delivered a seemingly half-hearted effort in Afghanistan. Washington and 10 Downing Street vehemently deny this is the case.

Without positing it directly, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is challenging member nations to remember the point of NATO and step up their contributions. "I do think the alliance is facing a real test here. And it is a test of the alliance's strength," she said at a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband today.

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Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Europe, Germany, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Pakistan, President Bush, Robert Gates, Terrorism, U.K.
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January 31, 2008

Reports: Top Al-Qaida Operative Killed

One of al-Qaida's top commanders in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed, reportedly near the Afghan-Pakistan border, several sources confirm. However, the details of his death are still fuzzy.

The news first appeared on Ekhlaas.org, a Web site used by Islamist groups, BBC News reports. It has since been confirmed by the Washington-based SITE Institute and various news organizations.

Al-Libi, a senior leader of the terrorist organization, served as a "key liaison" with the Taliban, according to AP. Citing Pakistani intelligence officials and locals, AP reports that "a missile hit a compound in a village about 2.5 miles outside Mir Ali in North Waziristan late Monday or early Tuesday, destroying the facility." Pakistani officials said they did not know the source of the missile. BBC News reports that about a dozen militants were killed in the attack, including al-Libi.

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Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Pakistan, Terrorism
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January 25, 2008

The New New Way Forward In Iraq

To non-hyperpartisans who've been following developments in Iraq, it's been clear for some time that there will be a significant U.S. presence there going into the next decade, regardless of which party rules the White House next year. Though both sides called a de facto truce in Congress following the anticlimactic testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in September, lawmakers appear to be getting their sea legs back on the war debate.

A skirmish is just now brewing over the White House's negotiations with the Iraqi government concerning the longer-term American posture there. "Status of forces" agreements are standard issue with allies; we have one with more than 120 countries, according to the State Department. Iraq, of course, is not just any country, and Democrats are nervous that the new agreement will lock the U.S. into a deeper, more long-term engagement than they'd like.

It's already playing on the campaign trail. In a debate in Las Vegas last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed to pursue legislation requiring President Bush to request congressional approval for the Iraq status of forces agreement. "I think we have to do everything we can to prevent President Bush from binding the hands of the next president," Clinton said.

Presidents usually don't have to bring those agreements before Congress, but administration officials acknowledged to the Washington Post that they might have to submit the Iraq agreement for lawmakers' approval.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Constitution, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates, Terrorism, WH 2008
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January 24, 2008

Mosul Police Chief Killed

A suicide bomber killed the head of the Mosul police force this morning. Brigadier Gen. Saleh Mohammed Hassan was touring the site of yesterday's massive bombing when he was approached by a man wearing an explosives vest under an Iraqi police uniform. Two officers were also killed.

Police had been investigating the three-story building destroyed yesterday due to reports that it was being used to stockpile weapons or produce bombs. It had been rigged with explosives, and because it was located in the middle of a city block, its destruction injured scores of people. At least 30 were killed and more than 130 wounded.

Mosul is becoming a "gathering point and growing target for Sunni insurgents," the Washington Post reports, and the London Guardian calls it "the last urban centre with a strong al-Qaida presence." See the stories for more details.

Posted at 7:52 AM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
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January 16, 2008

Ex-Congressman Indicted For Funding Terrorism

Mark Deli Siljander, a former Republican congressman from Michigan, has been indicted for his alleged role in a terrorist funding ring.

Siljander served in the House from 1981 to 1987, after which he was named a U.S. representative to the U.N. by President Reagan. Siljander, 57, showed a special interest in U.S.-Islamic relations, and went on to take an advisory post at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies. He's also lectured on the subject for his Washington-based consulting firm, Global Strategies, Inc., according to its Web site.

AP reports that the 42-count indictment leveled against the Islamic American Relief Agency accuses the charity of funneling more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida/Taliban sympathizer who has threatened international troops in Afghanistan. According to the charges, Siljander was paid $50,000 -- stolen from USAID -- to lobby for IARA.

According to a DOJ press release, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan mujahedeen leader, was the recipient of IARA's alleged scheme. Hekmatyar's organization, Hezb-e-Islami-Gulbuddin, is accused of engaging in terrorist acts with al-Qaida and the Taliban.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Terrorism
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January 08, 2008

ICYMI: War In Iraq *Still On*

Hey everybody, we're still at war in Iraq! (And Afghanistan.) We know, it's easy to forget when every newspaper and news channel is focused on New Hampshire.

The Gate is going to let Granite State voters do their thing -- you know, democracy -- and will update with the results tonight when they are confirmed. In the meantime, here are some developments from Iraq that you will have missed if you're as glued to the TV as we are.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun a significant air and land raid in insurgent-infested Diyala River Valley. About 4,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are involved in the effort, which launched overnight, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Pentagon's new counterinsurgency strategy has successfully brought violence down, but commanders still face an uphill battle in their bid to scrub out/neutralize al-Qaida in Iraq. Part of the reason why is that militant fighters in Iraq are by now well-versed in dissipating into the general population when these U.S.-led missions begin.

According to the LAT account, "there were reports that the 50 to 60 senior insurgent leaders holed up northwest of Muqdadiya had fled."

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Military, Palestinians, President Bush, Terrorism, WH 2008
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January 02, 2008

DOJ To Investigate Destruction Of CIA Tapes

UPDATED.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced today that the Justice Department would open a criminal probe into why the CIA destroyed videotapes of terrorism interrogations, but a top administration critic renewed calls for an outside investigation.

"It is disappointing that the attorney general has stepped outside the Justice Department's own regulations and declined to appoint a more independent special counsel in this matter," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers.

The DOJ probe follows a preliminary investigation conducted internally at the CIA after Director Michael Hayden disclosed that videos of two al-Qaida suspects being harshly interrogated were destroyed. The White House has bristled at reports that it had a role in the tapes' destruction, but officials have generally refused to clarify what they knew and when they knew it.

In a statement announcing the investigation, Mukasey said, "Following a preliminary inquiry into the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations, the Department’s National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation."

The investigation would normally fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia, but following a recusal request, a U.S. attorney based in Connecticut will handle the matter, Mukasey said. U.S. attorneys are political appointees, but questions about just how political those appointments were culminated in the resignation of Mukasey's predecessor, former AG Alberto Gonzales, last year.

Mukasey described John Durham, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the Connecticut office, as "a widely respected and experienced career prosecutor who has supervised a wide range of complex investigations in the past."

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, CIA, Congress, Michael Hayden, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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December 28, 2007

Why We Fight

Before the Christmas break, we wrote that Americans' dwindling interest in the Iraq war might be perilous to the national interest, as Alasdair Roberts recently contended in Foreign Policy. Now the war on terrorism -- which even critics of President Bush must admit now includes Iraq -- is back in the headlines, thanks to yesterday's tragic events.

The view from Washington is that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a serious kneecap blow to U.S. foreign policy. To quickly review: President Pervez Musharraf, an ally by necessity, is increasingly unpopular at home and for good reason. (People who live under military dictatorships generally do not enjoy the experience.) Meanwhile, there's a virulent strain of anti-Western, Islamic fanaticism seeping through Pakistan at the moment, which means this White House's usually cherished principles of liberty and democracy do not apply.

The Bhutto-Musharraf power-sharing compromise was seen as the most feasible shot at calming Pakistan's restive populace. In Bhutto, Washington saw a more reliable and transparent ally in the war against extremism, in part because of her shady ethical past. She had something to prove.

Now that she's gone, we're back to where we were, and less than two weeks before Pakistan's elections no less. No doubt there is panic in the Beltway today, if only for the dearth of available options now.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Campaigns, China, Democrats, Iraq, John McCain, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Pakistan, President Bush, Republicans, Ron Paul, Russia, Terrorism, WH 2008
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December 27, 2007

Bhutto Assassination: U.S. Policy Unchanged... But For How Long?

UPDATED.

Officials in the Bush administration said that current White House policy toward Pakistan hadn't immediately changed in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, despite questions about whether President Pervez Musharraf had a role in today's attack.

"U.S. policy has always been based on promoting a... peaceful, moderate country" in Pakistan, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "Our efforts have not been focused on any individuals, but on achieving that goal."

President Bush and Musharraf are to speak by phone today. Administration officials are being careful not to go beyond expressing condolences and general condemnations of terrorism as they monitor the delicate political crisis in Pakistan. Fires broke out as Bhutto supporters rioted in the streets. Islamabad declared a "red alert," meaning police were on guard against violent outbreaks related to her death, but stopped short of imposing martial law.

(For our report on Bhutto's assassination and the initial reaction, click here.)

Administration officials said they would offer whatever help Pakistan needed but that they had not been asked to assist in a pending investigation into the attack. If the White House is questioning whether Musharraf could have provided greater security for Bhutto, as it requested, officials aren't saying. Pakistan's military and intelligence services are riddled with Islamic extremists. Whether that is a result of Musharraf's ineptitude or relish for political expediency is another question observers are asking, but that the White House is not -- out loud, anyway.

"We are going to continue working with President Musharraf," Casey said. "We are going to continue working with the PPP [Bhutto's opposition Pakistan People's Party] and other moderate democratic elements in Pakistan to try to bring us all together to achieve those goals."

Casey continued, "We intend to move forward with current policy."

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Pakistan, President Bush, Terrorism
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Breaking: Benazir Bhutto Killed In Attack

UPDATED.

Outraged supporters of Benazir Bhutto have taken to the streets following confirmation that the Pakistani opposition leader was assassinated today, with at least one province placed on emergency alert.

Bhutto had just spoken at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, and had gotten into a car when a gunman opened fire. The apparent assassin then blew himself up. There are conflicting reports on how she was killed. Some witnesses said she had been shot in the neck and chest, while a doctor at the hospital that treated her told the New York Times she had shrapnel wounds but would not confirm she had been directly shot.

At least 15 other people were also killed in the attack, according to various news reports. "Police in Sindh have been put on red alert," a police official told Reuters, referring to Bhutto's home province. "We have increased deployment and are patrolling in all the towns and cities, as there is trouble almost everywhere."

Television footage is showing mobs of people setting fires and destroying property in the streets.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Bill Richardson, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Democrats, John McCain, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, President Bush, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Terrorism, WH 2008
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December 11, 2007

What Is Al-Qaida In The Islamic Maghreb?

It's too soon to know for sure, but indicators so far point to a North African Sunni terrorist group, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (QIM), as the culprit behind today's twin bombings that killed more than 60 people in Algiers. U.S. and European intelligence agencies have been tracking al-Qaida-affiliated groups in North Africa for some time because of well-founded fears that it will be the next frontier in the war against Islamic terrorism.

The current incarnation of QIM is not even a year old. In January, the Algeria-based Islamic extremist group Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by its French initials as GSPC, announced it was changing its name because its membership in al-Qaida had been formalized.

Washington counts Algeria's democratically elected government as an ally in the war on terror, and provides financial assistance [PDF] via the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative. QIM counts Western-friendly Algiers as its enemy, and in May the group released an audio message telling Algerians that participation in this year's elections would make them "the traitors in this great sin" of their leaders' "tyranny and infidelity and their fight against religion." A series of bomb explosions apparently targeting the elections resulted in dismal turnout for the May 17 vote.

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Posted to: Africa, Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Middle East, Military, Terrorism
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November 29, 2007

Purported Bin Laden Tape Addresses Europeans

UPDATED.

We can't get Al Jazeera English's livestream to work [UPDATE 3:04: It works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox], but according to Sky News, the new audio message purportedly from Osama bin Laden seeks to persuade Washington's NATO allies that the fight for Afghanistan is a losing proposition.

"The American tide is ebbing, so it is best for you to press your leaders to change their policies," the speaker says, addressing Europeans.

As per usual, the CIA and other intelligence agencies are working to verify that the speaker is indeed the fugitive al-Qaida figurehead. According to the SITE Institute, which monitors jihadist Web sites, the recordings were released by al-Qaida's media arm, indicating they probably are authentic. If that's the case, it would mean that bin Laden has been unusually chatty this fall.

Enthusiasm for the anti-Taliban effort in Afghanistan has been on the wane for some years. Washington has struggled to persuade its NATO partners to commit to more troops and funding for the military and reconstruction effort there as Taliban fighters and warlords seize ever-greater parcels of territory.

"Europe went along with [the invasion] because they had no other alternative, only to be a follower," the speaker continues. "It is better for you to stand against your leaders who are dropping in on the White House, and to work seriously to lift the injustice against the believers."

Posted at 2:29 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Terrorism
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October 31, 2007

Spanish Court Convicts 21 & Acquits 7 In Madrid Bombing Case

The outcome of the trial of 28 defendants accused of being involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the worst terrorist attack by Islamic radicals in Europe's history, offered a mixed bag of convictions, sentences and acquittals that left prosecutors and victims with less than they had hoped for.

Three of the eight primary suspects in the case received the highest conviction of mass murder. While Emilio Suarez Trashorras, Jamal Zougam and Othman el-Gnaoui were each sentenced to 40,000 years in prison, the maximum time they can serve under Spanish law is just 40 years.

Eighteen other suspects, including four of the main defendants, were convicted of lesser charges, such as belonging to a terrorist organization (the bombings were attributed to al-Qaida) or arms trafficking, and were served with shorter sentences of three to 18 years in prison.

None of the defendants, who were mostly young Muslim men of Moroccan and Spanish descent, were found guilty of plotting the attacks, which killed 191 people and injured about 1,800 in March 2004. All of them maintained their innocence and claimed no connection to al-Qaida throughout the investigation and trial.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Spain, Terrorism
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October 22, 2007

Bin Laden Urges Iraqi Muslims To Unite

In a new audio recording purportedly made by Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind called on warring Islamic factions to look past their differences.

"Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks," bin Laden says, in a tape broadcast by Al Jazeera. "Beware of division... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner."

The recording, titled "A Message To The People Of Iraq," seems directed at Sunni and Shiite extremists. The U.S. maintains a heavy presence in Iraq four years after the fall of Baghdad largely because of ethnosectarian violence between the groups. Al-Qaida in Iraq, a particularly violent Sunni Muslim group, has so alienated many Iraqi Sunnis that they have joined forces with U.S. fighters in the Anbar province. More recently, Iraqi Shiites have begun distancing themselves from Shiite militias, led by the Mahdi Army.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
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October 10, 2007

DNI Launches Probe Into Bin Laden Video Leak

Yesterday's revelations that the September leak of an intercepted Osama bin Laden video prompted al-Qaida to close a loophole that allowed surveillance on the group have sparked an official inquiry.

A Washington, D.C.-based private firm that monitors al-Qaida communications, SITE Intelligence Group, had secretly gotten a copy of the video and shared it with the White House. Within hours, SITE argues, multiple government agencies had downloaded the video and it was all over the media -- leaked from the government sources.

Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the director of national intelligence, said in a Washington Post article today that officials will look into the leak allegation, but he doesn't think the leak came from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence or the National Counterterrorism Center.

Frances Fragos Townsend, a White House homeland security adviser, emphasized during a news conference yesterday that the video was released to the whole intelligence community, not just the White House, but she didn't deny responsibility for the leak.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Terrorism
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October 05, 2007

Bush: 'This Government Does Not Torture People'

UPDATED.

The White House today signaled that it will not accede to Congress' demands for transparency on two secret memos on terrorism detainees, insisting it does not engage in torture and that key members had already learned all they needed to know.

"They have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress on the Intelligence Committee. But they are classified for a reason and they are secret," press secretary Dana Perino said during the daily briefing. "One of the reasons they are secret is because they need to be. They need to be cloaked in the classified system so that we can keep that information private so that we're not signaling to our enemies exactly what our techniques are."

Earlier, President Bush gave his first public response to revelations that CIA officers may be using tactics that might qualify as torture in a program secretly endorsed by the Justice Department.

"This government does not torture people. We stick to U.S. law and our international obligations," Bush said in a brief statement to the press this morning.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, Detainees, Guantanamo Bay, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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September 20, 2007

Bin Laden Threatens Musharraf In New Tape

UPDATED.

Osama bin Laden, the elusive leader of al-Qaida who has come out of the woodwork in recent weeks, reportedly urges Pakistanis to rebel against their leader, President Pervez Musharraf, in a new recording released today.

Bin Laden's appeal for Musharraf's removal is in response to the killing of a rebel cleric during a government raid on his mosque in Islamabad last July.

The storming of the Red Mosque "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims ... and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory,'' bin Laden said in the message.

Meanwhile, the al-Qaida terrorist organization has also released a new video message "in which bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, boasted that the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts" and "promised more fighting in Afghanistan, North Africa and Sudan's Darfur region." AP has details of the video.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Pakistan, Terrorism
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September 10, 2007

Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing

[Senate Foreign Relations hearing] [Senate Armed Services hearing]

6:45. It's over, it's really over. Tomorrow, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, Petraeus and Crocker are due back on the Hill at 9:30 EDT to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate hearing will be shorter than today's (mercifully), and as we said earlier might be a little more uncomfortable for Crocker and Petraeus thanks to the presidential aspirations of Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama, who sit on the committee. We'll be following the proceedings. See you tomorrow.

6:42. Calif. Democrat Loretta Sanchez also accuses Petraeus of cherrypicking. Were they saving the hostile committee members for last?

Sanchez does get to a very good question, though: If life is improving in Iraq, why are Iraqis so miserable? She points to a new poll on Iraqis' attitudes, which shows most of them are miserable, frightened and deeply pessimistic about their future. Crocker, whose central thesis is that Iraqis are far too traumatized and so new to democracy that nation-building will be a protracted and messy affair, says he hasn't seen the poll, and doesn't have much of an answer beyond that.

6:31. The blame-the-Iraqis tack some U.S. pols have adopted in recent months has always seemed a little too convenient. Crocker appears to agree. Missouri Republican Todd Akin asks why Petraeus and Crocker haven't been harder on Iraqi politicians today, and Crocker's measured response is among the more credible arguments for keeping the surge going. "A tremendous amount has happened in a very short time," he says of improvements in some provinces. Crocker adds that in some of the newly stabilized regions, Iraqi leaders are working on restoring law and order. More important, they know that their funding comes from Baghdad, and are showing cooperation with the central government as a result, he says.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Syria, Terrorism
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September 07, 2007

Texas Attorney Won't Ditch Stinky Tie If Bin Laden Alive

Yesterday morning, we woke up to this news about Bob Flournoy, the Lufkin, Texas, city attorney who's been wearing a red, white and blue necktie since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Flournoy vowed to keep wearing the tie until Osama bin Laden was captured or killed. But six years later, with the trail on the al-Qaida leader gone cold, Flournoy's tie was a tattered and smelly shadow of its original self.

What to do? Leave it to an attorney to come up with an out clause. The elusive terror mastermind was probably dead, Flournoy reasoned. If bin Laden did not prove that he was alive by next Tuesday, Sept. 11, Flournoy would declare him dead and take off his American flag necktie for good.

Looks like Flournoy might be stuck with his fragrant albatross for some time.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Terrorism
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September 06, 2007

Report: Bin Laden Tape To Be Released On 9/11 Anniversary

Osama bin Laden has prepared an address to Americans that will be released next week on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks, jihadist forums are claiming.

The SITE Institute, which monitors extremist Web sites, reports that an "image of bin Laden contained in the banner found on jihadist forums is reminiscent of his last video appearance in 2004, but his beard is now completely black, as it was previously streaked with grey." (The Web site appears to have just been hit with too much traffic.)

With no solid leads on the al-Qaida chieftain's whereabouts or whether he's even alive, U.S. intelligence will seek to authenticate the video. It's been impossible to definitively authenticate previous videos, but the last major video message from bin Laden came in October 2004, in which he warned the U.S. to stay out of the Muslim world in order to avoid "another Manhattan." The message was considered the "October surprise" of that presidential election.

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Foiled Plot Raises Questions About Germany's Role In Afghanistan

After yesterday's announcement of three arrests in an alleged plot to bomb the Frankfurt International Airport and a U.S. air base near Ramstein-Miesenbach, German authorities are now searching for as many as 10 more suspects in the thwarted attacks.

According to the Washington Post, German officials are seeking Germans, Turks and suspects of other nationalities, several of whom are Muslim converts, who are "believed to be part of a support group helping with plans for a massive bombing to kill Americans." German Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning told public television network ARD that the al-Qaida affiliated group was not believed to be planning other attacks and no longer posed a security risk. Yesterday, Lebanese officials announced they had arrested a fourth man in connection with the case.

The thwarted attacks have raised concerns in Germany over whether the country's involvement in the Afghan peacekeeping mission in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. has made it a prime target for terrorists. Germany's mandate for that mission is currently up for renewal, and some lawmakers wanted to scale it back even before the recent plot was revealed.

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Posted at 12:00 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Europe, Germany, Terrorism
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August 22, 2007

Inspector General Cites Pre-9/11 CIA Failures

A new report shows that six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, there's still plenty of shame and blame to go around among those tasked with protecting Americans from terrorism.

The newly declassified findings of CIA Inspector General John Helgerson reveal "some 50 to 60 individuals" in the agency may have been aware that two of the hijackers, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, had been issued visas to enter the United States. The 9/11 commission pinpointed the CIA's decision not to add the known al-Qaida affiliates to its watch lists or notify the FBI when they were issued visas as one of the more spectacular intelligence failures leading up to the attacks.

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Posted at 12:00 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, CIA, George Tenet, Terrorism
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August 20, 2007

Survey: Foreign Policy Wonks Not So Keen On The Surge

The roller coaster ride that is the public debate over the Iraq troop surge just got a bit bumpier. In recent weeks, a growing number of military experts, former skeptics and even some high-profile Democratic lawmakers seemed to be coming around to President Bush's controversial decision to raise U.S. troop levels in certain areas of Iraq this year. And the apparent growing body of evidence showing that the surge was, in fact, helping to quell the violence there seemed to be giving hope to the American public, with opinion polls showing small bumps in confidence on the security front.

But a new survey shows the nation's top foreign policy experts singing another tune. The third Terrorism Index compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress reveals deep concerns within the expert community about the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and the larger war on terrorism thus far.

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Posted at 4:20 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Iraq, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Terrorism
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August 09, 2007

Pakistan: An Inconvenient Autocracy

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's intervention this morning may have averted a worsening of the political crisis in Pakistan, but that nation's troubles, which in many ways are linked to the U.S.'s, are far from over.

According to Financial Times sources, it's likely Rice "underlined the negative impact of declaring an emergency and how this would affect Gen. [Pervez] Musharraf's image in the US Congress." Impatience with Pakistan's ineffectiveness at quelling the Taliban and al-Qaida insurgencies along its border is palpable in Congress, and taking a star turn in the presidential campaigns as well.

The death knell for Musharraf's rule is only getting louder, and serves as a useful reminder of President Bush's conveniently flexible definitions of freedom and democracy, two of the mainstays of his presidency.

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Posted at 4:42 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Pakistan, Terrorism
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July 24, 2007

Bush To War Critics: It's Al-Qaida, Stupid

President Bush delivered a stern challenge to anti-war Americans: Admit that leaving Iraq is the same as walking away from the war against al-Qaida.

Speaking before airmen at the Charleston Air Force Base, Bush used newly declassified portions of the latest National Intelligence Estimate [PDF] to beat back critics demanding he commit to withdrawal from Iraq.

Compared with other insurgent elements, "al-Qaida in Iraq stands out for its extremism, unmatched operational strength, foreign leadership, and determination to take the jihad beyond Iraq's borders," Bush said, quoting from the report. Reminding audience members that U.S. military commanders in Iraq and intelligence agencies at home consider al-Qaida to be "public enemy No. 1," Bush said, "There's a good reason they are called al-Qaida in Iraq. They are al-Qaida. In Iraq."

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Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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July 19, 2007

Pakistani Bank Denies Pearl Charges

Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Habib Bank Limited of Karachi. The suit accuses the bank of offering financial services to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

"I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record," Mariane Pearl wrote in a statement. "This process allows us to delve deeper into the investigation, and to bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture and murder."

Several other defendants are named in the suit, including captured al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The bank, in which the Pakistani government holds a 49-percent stake, denies the allegations. "As an institution, we have never been involved in supporting any terrorist organisation," one official told Reuters.

Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in January 2002. He was murdered soon after, and a video released by his kidnappers showed him being beheaded. Pakistan convicted four men of his murder in July 2002.

Posted at 3:09 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Pakistan, Terrorism
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July 17, 2007

NIE: Al-Qaida Planning U.S. Attack

UPDATED.

Michael Chertoff's gut might not be too far off, after all.

According to the latest National Intelligence Estimate [PDF], al-Qaida presents a "persistent and evolving" threat to the United States, and will continue to do so "over the next three years" as the terrorist organization may be using its enhanced power in Iraq to plot an attack on U.S. soil.

In a presser coinciding with the release of declassified sections of the NIE this morning, Fran Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security, said officials have "no credible information pointing to a specific imminent attack or the timing or execution of such an attack," and she added that the scale of any possible future attack was another major unknown. But the NIE ultimately concludes that "the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment," due in part to al-Qaida's recruitment and plotting efforts from bases in Iraq and Pakistan.

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Posted at 1:19 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Pakistan
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July 10, 2007

Bush Stands Firm On Iraq Despite Political Weakness

UPDATED.

In remarks delivered to a pre-selected audience at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, President Bush sought to repel a storm of attacks on his Iraq war policy.

"I'm doing my best to educate people about the perils of the world in which we live, and that we have an active strategy to deal with it," Bush said, after asking the audience to consider him the "explainer in chief."

Referring to al-Qaida in Iraq, Bush said, "They believe as strongly in their ideology as I believe in ours. They will kill a Muslim, a child, or a woman at a moment's notice to achieve their objectives."

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Posted at 6:40 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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Al-Zawahiri Threatens U.K. Over Rushdie

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's No. 2, has promised a "very precise response" for the British knighthood conferred on novelist Salman Rushdie.

"The policy of your predecessor has brought tragedy and defeat upon you, not only in Afghanistan and Iraq but also in the center of London," al-Zawahiri says in a 20-minute audio message released today, according to a translation by the SITE Institute. "And if you did not understand, listen, we are ready to repeat it for you, with the permission of Allah. We are sure that you have quite understood it."

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Posted at 2:02 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Europe, U.K.
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July 06, 2007

Trying To Get Beyond The Politics Of War

The reaction to yet another Republican defection from President Bush on Iraq says a couple of things about where we are on the war right now.

One: Politically, it is no longer possible to be openly optimistic about the war's outcome and be taken seriously. There may be pockets around the country where this does not hold but for the most part it seems true. The Democrats chanting for an exit out of Iraq no longer temper their remarks with the "I hope I'm wrong" caveat. The new conventional wisdom is that the war is no longer winnable.

That leaves Republican lawmakers who back the war but really want to be re-elected next year with one choice: stop backing the war. That isn't to say that changes of heart on the GOP side are all the result of cold, political calculation. Sens. John Warner, Richard Lugar and George Voinovich were skeptical about Bush's war strategy before it was politically popular to be.

Unfortunately for New Mexico's Pete Domenici, he wasn't.

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Posted at 3:44 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Democrats, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism, WH 2008
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July 02, 2007

Al-Qaida Suspected In Yemen Bombing

Nine people were killed and several others wounded in Yemen today, when their tourist convoy was hit by a suicide car bomber. The Spanish tourists and their Yemeni guides were visiting an ancient temple in Marib, east of the capital Sanaa, when the attacker drove through the gates of the temple and exploded near the building.

No one claimed official responsibility for the attack, but authorities linked it to al-Qaida. The group has previously encouraged Yemeni Muslims to resist Western interests in the region; in 2006, the government thwarted attacks on oil and gas installations.

Chatter about the site had been picked up from al-Qaida in June, and Americans had been warned to avoid the area. Osama bin Laden's family has ancestral ties in Yemen, but the country signed on to U.S. anti-terrorism efforts after the 9/11 attacks and has tried to crack down on Islamic extremism.

Authorities had finished restoring the temple less than a decade ago. It was built during the time of the Queen of Sheba, about 3,000 years ago.

(Photo credit: YLC)

Posted at 2:52 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Middle East, Yemen
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June 18, 2007

U.S. Attack On Mosque Kills Afghan Children

UPDATED.

U.S. forces said today that they had inadvertently killed seven children in an airstrike against a mosque and religious school in eastern Afghanistan that were being used as an al-Qaida safehouse. Several insurgents were also killed in the attack, which took place Sunday.

A coalition spokesman blamed al-Qaida for the casualties, claiming they were using the children as shields. "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice," said Major Chris Belcher. Belcher said surveillance leading up to the attack had not revealed the children's presence at the mosque.

It was a bloody weekend in Afghanistan. Earlier Sunday in Kabul, a suicide bombing on a bus carrying police officers to a training compound killed 35 people and wounded 52. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest of its kind since the war began in 2001.

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Posted at 10:33 AM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Terrorism
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June 01, 2007

Lebanese Army Hits Refugee Camp

At least nineteen people, including three Lebanese soldiers, died today when the army struck at the Nahr al-Bared camp in southern Lebanon. Militants loyal to al-Qaida have dug into the Palestinian camp in recent weeks, defending their positions and forcing the Lebanese army to battle them for control of the area.

Troops rolled closer to the camp in tanks today and fired on the Fatah al-Islam militants. A source from the group told Reuters that some positions had been ceded and that there was "widescale destruction in civilian areas."

The Lebanese army cannot legally enter any refugee camp according to the terms of a 1969 Arab agreement; today's fighting took place just outside the camp's borders. About 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon's 12 camps.

A temporary truce prompted last week's exodus of nearly half the camp's population to refugee camps in other parts of the country, but violence resumed in earnest this week. More than 80 people have already been killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Lebanon, Terrorism
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May 24, 2007

Ron vs. Rudy: The Battle Rages On

Is Ron Paul running in the wrong primary?

That was the question FOX News Channel's Chris Wallace asked the five-term Republican congressman from Texas in the May 15 GOP presidential debate in South Carolina, and the question still haunts Paul as his feud with front-runner Rudy Giuliani over foreign policy continues.

The latest chapter came this morning, when Paul teamed up with Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Bin Laden Unit, to "educate" Giuliani about terrorism and foreign policy. Reuters covered the event at the National Press Club, where Paul unveiled a reading list for the former mayor that included the 9/11 commission report and Scheuer's own book, "Imperial Hubris." In a press release, campaign chairman Kent Snyder added, "We have also included some Cliffs Notes in case Mr. Giuliani is too busy giving $100,000 speeches on national security."

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Posted at 3:43 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Campaigns, Iraq, Middle East, Republicans, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Terrorism, WH 2008
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May 23, 2007

Bush Discusses Al-Qaida Threat At Coast Guard Commencement

Graduation is typically a time for congratulations, friendly advice and best wishes for a bright future. But today, President Bush used his commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., today to issue a dire warning to the graduates assembled and to the American people: "To strike our country, the terrorists only have to be right once; to protect our country, we have to be right 100 percent of the time."

Faced with the country's growing dissatisfaction with the situation in Iraq and increasing pressure from Congress to change course, the president took another shot at drawing a connection between the war in Iraq and the larger war on terrorism in his address.

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Posted at 2:59 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Terrorism
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May 14, 2007

The Evolving Case Against Jose Padilla

The terrorism trial of Jose Padilla began today, and it was a far cry from what anyone had imagined following his arrest at O'Hare International Airport in May of 2002.

Since then, Padilla's status in the eyes of the government has evolved from "dirty bomber" to "enemy combatant" to suspected al-Qaida operative, the latest definition of the Chicago native. The 36-year-old spent more than three years in a Navy brig, despite being an American citizen. Just as the U.S. Supreme Court was about to weigh in on whether it was constitutional to hold Padilla indefinitely without charge, the Bush administration moved to have him declassified as an enemy combatant and transferred to a civilian facility.

Much of the air has been taken out of the government's case against Padilla, a former member of a Puerto Rican gang who converted to Islam shortly after being released from jail in his early 20s. There will be no mention of a radioactive dirty bomb at this trial -- at least, not from the prosecution. Instead, Padilla is accused of applying to be an al-Qaida operative and volunteering to carry out violent assaults against targets abroad. Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi have been charged as his co-defendants.

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Posted at 6:53 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Jose Padilla, Terrorism
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May 03, 2007

A Long, Hard Slog, With Or Without Dead-Enders

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today expressed sympathy for Americans who are frustrated with the progress of the Iraq war, but said that being the most powerful nation in the world meant America could not back away from the unrest there.

"We simply cannot escape the responsibilities and burdens of global leadership; they will always follow us home," said Gates, speaking before the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Gates also seemed to revive the idea of the war on terror as a "long war." That phrase was coined after 9/11 by the Bush administration, as a way to emphasize the unconventional nature of battle against a fragmented enemy not tied to flag or geography. The "long war" seemed to be a nod to a global landscape dramatically changed by the 9/11 attacks, but recently, some in the Pentagon and in Congress have come to believe the phrase has become either meaningless or a license for the administration to answer to no other power on the Iraq conflict.

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Posted at 3:59 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Military, Robert Gates
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Carroll Kidnapper Reported Killed

An al-Qaida fighter said to have been involved in last year's kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll was killed near an air base north of Baghdad. The U.S. military identified the man as Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, the senior minister of information for al-Qaida in Iraq.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military believes al-Jubouri was connected to Carroll's kidnapping, but Caldwell could not confirm the deaths of two other high-profile militants reported this week.

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Posted at 12:19 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq
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May 01, 2007

Leader Of Al-Qaida In Iraq Reported Dead

Unconfirmed reports suggest the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed in insurgent clashes north of Baghdad.

Both Iraqi and U.S. officials say they cannot confirm the death of al-Masri, an Egyptian who took over as the group's leader after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a 2006 airstrike.

Posted at 7:50 AM
Posted to: Al-Qaida
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April 30, 2007

A Reason To Flick Your Bic

Razor, that is.

Sher Akbar, an apparent dead ringer for Osama bin Laden, has been twice arrested by the Pakistani authorities on tips from mistaken neighbors, ABC News reports. No word on whether Akbar has some kind of pathological fear of barbershop implements.

Posted at 11:32 AM
Posted to: Al-Qaida
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April 13, 2007

Qaida-Linked Group Claims Green Zone Attack

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgent group that includes al-Qaida, has claimed responsibility for yesterday's suicide bombing in Baghdad's Green Zone. AP reports that "the SITE Institute, which tracks militant postings, said the claim," posted online, "appeared authentic." SITE had cast doubt on reports of the group's involvement yesterday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military revised the death toll from the blast that rocked the Iraqi parliament building down to one civilian casualty -- Mohammed Awad, a moderate Sunni lawmaker. It had been previously reported that at least eight died in the attack. The military said it revised the death toll "after further research and consultation with government of Iraq officials." Twenty-two people were wounded in the bombing.

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Posted at 11:09 AM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq
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April 11, 2007

Al-Qaida Claims Responsibility For Algiers Bombings

Two blasts killed and wounded dozens of people in Algiers this morning, and the spokesman for a group affiliated with al-Qaida said it was responsible. CNN.com reports that "a spokesman for al Qaeda in the Maghreb (North Africa) made the claim in a telephone call to Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera."

Algeria had been experiencing a period of calm after a civil war in the 1990s, but "the attacks are a huge blow for the North African nation's efforts to end an Islamic insurgency that has left 200,000 dead," CNN reports.

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Posted at 1:36 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida
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