Seems that there is a serious clash of civilizations forming in Pakistan as the terrorists realize they may not be getting any reprieve from the new government. First off is news that we will be increasing our presence in Afghanistan to train the Pakis. (and on rare occasions attack al-Qaeda).

The United States military is developing a plan to send about 100 American trainers to work with a Pakistani paramilitary force that is the vanguard in the fight against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas, American defense officials said.

…

Even though the training program would unfold over several months, it is being disclosed at a time of heightened operations in the unruly tribal areas along the Afghan border. At least eight people suspected of being Islamic militants were killed Thursday in a triple missile attack on a house used for training in the tribal areas.

These forces have had the ability to take out certain targets, and it is no surprise that this article mentions the recent missile strike in Waziristan. That is the kind of attack that is rarely allowed under the agreement between Pakistan and America.

United States trainers initially would be restricted to training compounds, but with Pakistani consent could eventually accompany Pakistani troops on missions “to the point of contact” with militants, as American trainers now do with Iraqi troops in Iraq, a senior American defense official said. Britain is also considering a similar training mission in Pakistan, officials said. A spokesman at the British Embassy here declined to comment.

That is for the new trainers. The ones there already I have no doubt are working hard to identify al-Qaeda targets. For example, check out this little tidbit regarding that missile strike last week (which has had very little press since):

Another security official said most of the dead were Arabs. The militants were using the house as an ‘operational base’ for attacks on NATO-led and US troops in Afghanistan, as well as a meeting place for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, the official said. Armed militants cordoned off the site after the missile strike, residents said.

They said four unidentified ‘guests’ had arrived late Wednesday at the destroyed house, although their identities were not known.

Someone was tracking these four targets to know they had arrived and within 24 hours 3 missiles showed up to send them to Allah. And in one report from Bill Roggio it seems that missile strike may have been after a certain Egyptian leader of al-Qaeda:

Initial reports indicated Arabs and fighters from Central Asia were killed in the operation. One report indicates an “al Qaeda fugitive from Egypt” was among those killed, sparking rumors that Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of the strike.

Clearly we are pushing hard to decimate al-Qaeda’s command structure. This interesting (and unsubstantiated) reporting confirms a lot of previous hits and infighting while claiming Adam Gadahn was not killed in last week’s attack:

Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda Spokesman Ahmad Salman contradicted reports regarding killing of Ezzam Al-Americee [Adam Gadahn] in the recent missile attack at Khushhali Toorikhel near Mirali Town of North Waziristan Agency on January 29 last.

The Spokesman said that Ezzam Al Americee is alive.

What I found more interesting in the piece were the confirming details of previous attacks and infighting. The reporting also confirms that Pakistan government agents are on the move – which aligns with this news article:

Pakistan’s military appears to be preparing for a new tribal-area offensive against the Taliban leader blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, U.S. officials and experts say.

Baitullah Mehsud, a South Waziristan militant with al Qaeda connections, has been seen as a growing threat on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border since December when he became leader of the umbrella group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, U.S. officials say.

They expect military action to curb Mehsud’s rising influence in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, possibly in the coming weeks as Pakistan’s newly elected civilian leaders try to form a coalition government.

“Baitullah has gone and got himself so visible. He wants to kind of consolidate all of the FATA underneath his control, and because he’s sticking out so far, the Pakistanis are going to hammer him down,” said one U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Clearly Pakistan will be the focus of this year’s actions in the global war on terror. We see increased US special forces in the country, we see new attacks on the terrorist key targets and we see the Pakistan forces preparing for a major action. It seems clear that as Iraq fades into a success the news will be coming out of Pakistan.

Addendum: Forgot to add this last article which shows how the terrorist violence against the locals is escalating – which is exactly what we saw when the Anbar Awakening first started to fight back against the Islamo Fascists. The violence always peaks as the terrorists use it as a last ditch effort to regain control over the local populations as they turn on the terrorists.