Head down working but wanted to pass some important news articles covering events key events in the war on terror.

First off is another confirmation that US and UK forces are planning to expand their special operations activities inside Pakistan, with US forces authorized to fight along side Pakistan forces when dealing with key targets hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan:

The U.S. is to send about 100 trainers to work with a Pakistani paramilitary force fighting the Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in the restive tribal areas, American military officials have said, The New York Times reported over the weekend.

The U.S. Central Command is considering a plan to help train the Frontier Corps, an 85,000 strong paramilitary force recruited from ethnic groups on the border with Afghanistan.

This drastically expands the existing programme under which small teams of U.S. Special Operations forces have been training their Pakistani counterparts in counterinsurgency tactics, the paper said.

Initially, U.S. trainers would be restricted to training compounds, but could eventually accompany Pakistani troops on missions against the militants, a senior U.S. military official said. Britain is also considering a similar training mission in Pakistan, according to the Times.

We are definitely going after al-Qaeda in a big way. And the Pakistan security forces are still on the hunt rounding up terrorists, as this story indicates:

Pakistani officials say police have arrested three men suspected of planning suicide attacks in the eastern city of Lahore.

Lahore’s police chief Malik Iqbal says the suspects were detained in the city Thursday after they got off a bus from a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

He says police seized a range of explosives from the suspects, including four suicide jackets. The police chief says the men confessed to being members of a terrorist group and to plotting attacks on government installations and personalities in Lahore.

To be able to pick these folks up as they got off their bus from the terrorist enclaves implies some serious intelligence capabilities. And al-Qaeda is hurting for fighters as they put out the call for help:

The leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan has urged more Muslims to join and finance the group’s war there, saying Western troops are close to defeat.

“Your brothers in Afghanistan are waiting for you and longing to (welcome) you,” Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said in an audio recording posted on an Islamist Web site.

“The time for reaping the fruit of victory and empowerment has come … The infidel enemy has been badly wounded at the hands of your brothers and is close to its demise so assist your brothers to slaughter him,” added the militant leader, speaking with an Egyptian-sounding accent.

Yeah, right. Defeat is imminent, but it is not the US who will be facing extinction. On the Iraq front US forces have captured another Iranian military operative which clearly shows Iran is at war with the US and Iraq:

he U.S.-led coalition has captured a senior Iranian operative who helped finance and equip Shi’ite militias.

U.S. Army paratroopers detained the suspected senior leader of the Iranian-sponsored Special Groups network during an operation in Baghdad’s Beida neighborhood on Feb. 27, Middle East Newsline reported.

Officials said the Special Groups was trained and equipped by Iran. They said the organization, believed to comprise a series of cells, introduced the Explosively-Formed Penetrator, designed to destroy U.S. — and other Western origin main battle tanks.

I still say some cruise missiles would be a good signal to send to the mad mullahs of Iran to back off. And finally we have to face the fact that certain liberals in the US have taken to working for the terrorists as they continue to expose classified operations to our enemies so that these enemies can stop our actions:

The Bush administration is prolonging the hunting season against journalists. The latest victim is James Risen, The New York Times reporter for national security and intelligence affairs. About three months ago, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena against him, ordering Risen to give evidence in court. A heavy blackout has been imposed on the affair, with the only hint being that it has to do with sensitive matters of “national security.”

But conversations with several sources who are familiar with the affair indicate that Risen has been asked to testify as part of an investigation aimed at revealing who leaked apparently confidential information about the planning of secret Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad missions concerning Iran’s nuclear program.

The treasonous leaking must be stopped. And if it requires setting the example of what kind of punishment awaits the leakers, then so be it.