The NY Times is the largest liberal rag in the US. The folks there like to think of themselves as balanced journalists, which is just like watching a wino claim they can hold their liquor.

So it is not surprising to see them praise the current administration for continuing and expanding successful policies put in place by President Bush. The same policies they ragged on Bush on for years. Today the NY Times offers another example of their duplicitous reporting in covering (or uncovering) plans to expand the predator strikes in Pakistan:

The White House has authorized an expansion of the C.I.A.’s drone program in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, officials said this week, to parallel the president’s decision, announced Tuesday, to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. American officials are talking with Pakistan about the possibility of striking in Baluchistan for the first time — a controversial move since it is outside the tribal areas — because that is where Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to hide.

…

One of Washington’s worst-kept secrets, the drone program is quietly hailed by counterterrorism officials as a resounding success, eliminating key terrorists and throwing their operations into disarray. But despite close cooperation from Pakistani intelligence, the program has generated public anger in Pakistan, and some counterinsurgency experts wonder whether it does more harm than good.

As noted this is part of the administration’s get tough on al-Qaeda and the Taliban push. I must say the expansion into one of Pakistan’s ‘normal’ provinces is very risky politically. What we don’t need is be seen hunting people down anywhere in the world. That backlash in Pakistan would obviously grow.

The lawless tribal area is a known festering hole of illiteracy and poverty, poisoned with Ilsamo Fascist zealotry. It is not humanity’s finest achievement by far. People can accept our attacks there (with a common sense dose of discomfort) since they are in conjunction with military operations by the Pakistan Army and Air Force.

But I would be wary of expanding this concept too far and outside joint military actions. [And if I'm unconformable then Obama's liberal base must be apoplectic right now]

Interestingly enough the NY Times gets access to someone who may have insight into the success of the program (which we have been watching here for years):

… one government official agreed to speak about the program on the condition of anonymity. About 80 missile attacks from drones in less than two years have killed “more than 400” enemy fighters, the official said, offering a number lower than most estimates but in the same range. His account of collateral damage, however, was strikingly lower than many unofficial counts: “We believe the number of civilian casualties is just over 20, and those were people who were either at the side of major terrorists or were at facilities used by terrorists.”

It in an interesting read, and another good sign President Obama is planning on finishing the war President Bush was forced to start after 9-11. And he seems ready to do what it takes to win it.

Side note: I know there are a lot of hand wringers out there regarding the planned 2011 withdrawal date from the Afghanistan Surge, but there has been plenty of reporting from respected military sources that this is all overblown. There will be a review to re-plan next year at this time (as I suspected), so that date is not firm.

But that is not the only scenario I have been contemplating, just the one I think is the most probable. The other top candidate is a variant on the theme someone in this administration shut down the investigation for reasons not yet explained, which resulted in the murder of 13 Americans and an unborn child.

The aspects of this disaster which have bugged me for some time was why Hasan was promoted and shipped to Afghanistan only weeks after the investigation shut down. The timing of this is as disturbingly coincidental as the fact the investigation shut down about the time Obama’s Department of Justice would have to renew it.

Today another intriguing theory has been postulated, which is in line with some of the other scenarios I have been quietly contemplating:

Ugly hints to the real answers are emerging. We now know that Hasan at some point was being tracked by the Defense Intelligence Agency, CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and Army Intelligence. Routine investigations because of heritage, religion or odd behavior do not justify this kind of intelligence coverage. This surveillance is what the intelligence services do to support a full, on-going intelligence operation.

Were Hasan and his contacts seen as a way into Al Qaeda? If the answer is yes, was Hasan selected as unwitting bait to be dangled in front of potential Al Qaeda operatives? Was the operation thought more important than doubts about Hasan’s stability and loyalty? Was this troubled man so tempting a door into Al Qaeda that Army Intelligence or an affiliated service decided to walk through it? The worst answer is that, like 9/11, once again innocent Americans died because intelligence agencies believed that their operations were more important than American lives.

My personal variation on this theme again leads back to AG Holder and his bizarre decisions regarding terrorists and the protection of Americans from wiretapping and investigation based on NSA intelligence leads.

What if the answer for AG Holder and the Obama administration was to get Hasan out of country so there would be (a) no conflict with their liberal ideology about investigating Americans here at home and (b) as a risky attempt to put some bait out there for al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan to take?

This theory seems too crazy for me at the moment, but I must admit I have wondered how much of this was ideologically driven ineptitude, complacency driven ineptitude or plain old arrogant ineptitude (which is how I would categorize this latest theory). Hopefully we will learn soon.

In another bit of news regarding Jihad terrorism by Americans Rusty Shackleford over at Jawa Report notes the deafening silence of reporting on another incident that should be in the news.

For the last week I have been posting about my suspicions regarding the Ft Hood terrorist massacre and how the Obama administration seemed to be in full spin mode, as if they knew something horrible about the incident.

The crux of my concerns have been the well established, far left positions held by AG Holder and President Obama regarding the fixes President Bush implemented to the FISA processes and guidelines that allow internal investigations into people who have suspicious contacts with known terrorist or terrorist allies. AG Holder has been abundantly clear in his view that we should expose ourselves to attack by dismantling the changes made by President Bush, and which kept us safe from serious attack since 9-11. Holder’s views are not hazy or in doubt:

In addition to closing Gitmo, Holder insisted the next president should:

…

Stop domestic search and seizures without warrant and end wiretapping of citizens.

“We have lost our way before,” Holder told the 350 attendees at the Friday evening session. “Now we must step back into the shining path envisioned by our founding fathers in such icons of liberty as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

Clearly this position applies directly to Major Hasan, who is an American citizen who was also under surveillance after he was picked up last December (under the Bush administration) trying to contact a well known al Qaeda recruiter and supporter.

The timing of the matter is just too coincidental not to be suspicious. A first Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) picks up Hasan making many attempts to contact a radical Imam in Yemen (who is also American born and connected to the 9-11 high jackers). They pass the lead to a second JTTF in DC to investigate since Hasan is working at Walter Reed just outside DC in Maryland.

In the same time period President Obama’s team takes over, and Holder now decides which (if any) investigations will continue forward under the Bush guidelines (now the law of the land after Congress passed legislation twice). Apparently it is in this time frame that people stopped connecting dots. In quick succession the investigation stops short, is closed down and Hasan is promoted and shipped to Ft Hood on his way to Afghanistan. All very coincidental.

This happened around the April-May-June timeframe. Fast forward to November 5th and Hasan (who has made no secret of his Jihadist leanings and erratic behavior) mows down 23 people and an unborn baby.

What has struck me as odd is how quick the FBI (Obama’s FBI) started coming out claiming there was no terrorist connections. It happened almost immediately, culminating with this bizarre press conference in DC with unidentified FBI officials on 9/05/09. What makes this briefing so bizarre is what the officials knew versus what they don’t know. They don’t know anything about Hassan’s questionable behavior at Walter Reed, but they did have the fig leaf deflection story down pat. For example:

HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE HASAN’S COMMUNICATIONS?

The general tenor of the communications, at least in my mind, were fairly benign and did comport with a research project he was doing that was sanctioned by Walter Reed [Army Medical Center],” one official said. (Hasan was researching Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for his Master’s degree during the time he sent communications to Awlaki.) Another official said the communications appeared “consistent entirely with what he was doing as a licensed psychiatrist in dealing with soldiers [or] what he’s doing for his Master’s work.” As for the specific content of the communications, one official would only say that it included “social” topics and “religious guidance.”

They go through a lot of denial about seeing any big dots to connect, and then they do something stunning. They admit they did not do an in depth investigation at all, which is completely at odds with what they implied during the early part of the briefing:

One official said the assessment was “of a limited duration,” and it included reaching out to the military about Hasan’s work. One official said the JTTF looked at: “Who is this person? What are they working on? Any issues with them? Disciplinary matters? All those things just part of due diligence.” Hasan’s “performance reports were reviewed” but “there was nothing that raised … a red flag,” according to one official. The official said he didn’t know whether any of Hasan’s colleagues at Walter Reed had filed any reports about Hasan.

…

A FORMAL INVESTIGATION WAS NEVER OPENED. WHY NOT?

“What we had was some contact and some communications that wasn’t enough to get us into even the preliminary investigation box,” one official said. “We didn’t have enough for a preliminary investigation.”

“We cannot predicate an investigation of a U.S. person … solely on First Amendment activity,” the official said. “So if all you have is First Amendment activity — so it’s protected speech, there’s nothing that suggests advocacy of violence, nothing that suggests incitement to violence, nothing about the connection between him and the [individual overseas FBI was investigating] … then what do you have? In order to open a preliminary investigation we need information or allegations that person is or may be, in this context, a national security threat. And that can’t be based solely on protected First Amendment activity.”

That is actually 100% wrong. The Bush changes gave the FBI and other agencies plenty of room to determine if someone was a threat once they were detected contacting known terrorists overseas. These excuses reek of Eric Holder and his liberal ideology. The whole purpose of these changes was to see if there was a risk that needed to be addressed.

As if that was not enough right there to suspect the current administration dropped its guard and allowed 14 Americans to be brutally murdered, then came this news today It shows how “Major Hasan” was such an important name that his emails hit the President’s desks probably even before this FBI briefing to the news media happened.

Shortly after the Nov. 5 shootings, Obama reportedly saw e-mails that Hasan had sent to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen whom the FBI has investigated since the 1990s for possible terrorist ties.

Why in the world would the President be looking over these emails? Did he get the entire JTTF report? Then we see this tidbit on the timeline:

On Nov. 6, the president ordered a far-reaching review of everything known about Hasan before the massacre, but the inquiry’s existence was not revealed until this week. By that point, sources had told The Dallas Morning News that Hasan had also wired money to Pakistan, which has become a hub for terrorist fundraising and is in the grip of a militant Islamic insurgency.

So in less than a week did the news media turn up more dots than two joint task forces did over the course of many months? Did the media discover the concerns of  Hasan’s Walter Reed coworkers in a fraction of the time the two joint task forces investigated, and apparently missed all together? Mark Steyn does a great job of noting the fact Hasan was lit up like a bright neon red light indicating s a serious threat. Could we all learn this in a week where the task forces fumbled for months and simply closed the case without finding anything but free speech?

Finally, I found this article interesting in terms of laying out some facts and how these administration/FBI briefings and leaks are complicating the Army’s investigation – which they lead now with the FBI in a supporting (and supposedly quiet) role:

According to an FBI update submitted to police organizations such as the National Association of Chiefs of Police, the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division is leading a coordinated criminal investigation with the support of the FBI and other components of the US Department of Justice as well as the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Rangers.

This is interesting, because the briefings keep coming from people outside this investigation it would appear.

The investigation is in its early stages, and the information they are able to provide now is limited at this point, according to the NACOP report.

Yeah, except all the spin and leaking. If there are connections between Hasan and Pakistan, including wire transfers, then we need to find out why the investigation was shut down so early and prematurely.

He came to Hamburg in 1995. He enrolled in an electrical engineering program at a technical university in 1996. He spent five months in the German army and then received a medical discharge. He lived in a student home during the weekdays and he spent weekends with his aunt, Barbara Arens. Both of them loved computers, and he called her his “high-tech aunt”. She saw that he was secular until other students introduced him to radical Islam. She later put an end to the weekend visits.

On November 1, 1998, he moved into an apartment in Germany with future hijackers Mohammed Atta and Ramzi Binalshibh. TheHamburg cell was born at this apartment.[1][2] They met three or four times a week to discuss their anti-American feelings and plot possible attacks. Many al-Qaida members lived in this apartment at various times, including hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi,Zakariya Essabar, hijacker Waleed al-Shehri, and others. He apparently served as the group’s Internet expert.

He fled to Pakistan one week before 9/11, where his trail was just picked up by the Pakistan forces clearing out the hornet’s nest that is South Waziristan Agency:

The suspected 9/11 plotter whose German passport was found in a mud hut in western Pakistan this week has not been in touch with his family for two years, his mother, Anneliese Bahaji, said in an telephone interview Friday.

…

The suspect, Said Bahaji, a German citizen whose father is Moroccan, is believed to have been the main logistics supporter of the 9/11 attackers, paying their rent and telephone bills. The Pakistani military said it found his German passport five days ago in a mud hut in the village of Sherwangai in South Waziristan, during a search operation.

To me this is a good sign that Pakistan, US, NATO, Afghan forces are circling the last remnants of the al Qaeda brain trust and that we may finally get our hands on some long sought targets. Since being pushed out of Afghanistan, it has been my contention al Qaeda has been holed up in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Not long after we invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan experienced a wave of expanding militancy which had spread into the North West Frontier Province and the Swat region there. But over the last few years the Pakistanis and local tribes have pushed the the Taliban and their allies out of the NWFP and out of the eastern agencies of the FATA (click map above for more detail).

With drone attacks from the US forces surgically taking out top Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, the US, NATO and Afghan forces have spread a cordon across the Afghan-Pak border along the norther edge of FATA and NWFP. The Pak forces have been sweeping from East to West, with forces Southwest blocking of mass exodus in that direction.

Of course, small numbers of people can sneak through any attempt to blockade and purge a region this size. Just melding in with the refugees can work.

This evidence, however, is a clear indication we may be marching to the big nest of bad guys. The violent responses in Pakistan to the military actions indicate we have some kind of wounded animal trapped in this region. Hopefully we will see the end of some major bad guys.

Update: More from the WSJ -

A German passport belonging to Said Bahaji, a close associate of Sept. 11 lead hijacker Mohammed Atta in the 2001 attacks, was among documents recovered this week by Pakistani troops from an abandoned militant compound in Shawangai.

The mountain village in South Waziristan was used as an al Qaeda and Taliban command base until as recently as this week, a military official said. Pakistani forces recovered other documents, including a Spanish passport, that indicated the possible presence of other European nationals in the area.

Pakistani forces captured Shawangai after days of fighting, in which some militants were killed and many others escaped. Army officials said they didn’t know whether Mr. Bahaji was killed or fled — or whether he was ever in the South Waziristan region.

I doubt this passport has been just sitting around in a pile of documents since 2001, it had to be associated with some leadership group.

Update: The Pakistanis appear to be heading into Taliban center here soon:

Pakistani security forces killed 33 more militants during the last 24 hours, bringing the total fatality to over 300, as the operation in the country’s tribal area steadily progressed towards the Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan, the army said Saturday in a daily press release.

The army said four soldiers of the security forces were injured in clashes in the last 24 hours during the ground assault in various areas in the tribal agency near the border with Afghanistan.

In the operation coded as Rah-e-Nijat, or path of salvation, the security forces have commenced an important phase of operation on all three axes, said the statement.

On Jandola-Sararogha axis the important stronghold of Sararoghahas been surrounded from three sides, on Shakai-Kaniguram axis, Karama has been encircled and clearance of Kaniguram has commenced and on Razmak-Makeen axis the security forces have reached the outskirts of Makeen, the army said.

Fingers crossed we finally get some big named terrorists. Hopefully President Obama will blame President Bush for these events as well.

Update: WSJ has an interesting history of Said worth reading.

U.S. and international intelligence officials say that improved recruitment of spies inside the al-Qaeda network, along with increased use of targeted airstrikes and enhanced assistance from cooperative governments, has significantly reduced the terrorist organization’s effectiveness.

Emphasis mine. What in the world are these people thinking!? The targeted air strikes need the spies to find the damn TARGETS! All the government assistance in the world is worthless if we don’t get TARGETS!

But now these blabber mouths have tipped off al Qaeda to look for our spies in their midst. I can pretty much assure these bungling fools that a good many of their spies (and probably others) are now dead, thanks to this news alert.

Idiots.

Addendum: I’ll say it again – idiots:

Those within the administration who have suggested limiting large-scale U.S. ground combat in Afghanistan, including Vice President Biden, have pointed to an improved counterterrorism effort as evidence that Obama’s principal objective — destroying al-Qaeda — can be achieved without an expanded troop presence.

Well, scratch that argument. With al Qaeda purging their ranks of newly announced spies Biden’s plan won’t work (it wouldn’t have anyway, but now the point is moot). Could this be another Big Biden Blunder?

Several reports in recent days, all sourced to anonymous officials, say Zazi admitted to contact of an unclear nature with Al Qaeda in Pakistan, and may have been involved in a plot involving an explosives-laden U-Haul truck and targets in and around New York City.

…

The New York Daily News reported that the younger Zazi had cellphone video of Grand Central Terminal, and had researched football stadiums and Fashion Week event venues in New York City.

If this reporting is true, and these people keep trying to hide their plans, will President Obama be willing to utilize enhanced interrogation techniques to save innocent American lives? The president and his radical AG are going after the very people who may have stopped another 9-11. What would a truck full of explosive do to a NFL football crowd? It would be a nightmare of course. - end update

The good news out this weekend is that our vigilant and unsung defenders in the NSA, CIA, FBI and FIS Court have been able to detect and stop a serious attack on America. The men and women who work tirelessly to legally detect and prevent attacks on this nation have another win under the belts. And the timing could not be more painful for the flailing Obama administration and the personal agenda of AG Eric Holder.

Eric Holder is on a witch hunt against the very defenders of this nation that just saved the lives of hundreds of innocent Americans. The bizarre left has been attacking the professionalism and motives of these defenders since 9-11, through all those years of successfully protecting the nation. Before I get into the details of the foiled attack, one has to wonder who will be backing Mad Eric when the details of the attack dribble out over the following months? Obama has decided to go all in, but Holder will be attacking the defenders of this nation, while details come out on why these people should be considered s heros and getting this nation’s top medals and awards, not subpoenas.

It has even come to the point 7 previous CIA Directors have asked the administration to end the witch hunt. And it is a witch hunt, because the incidents in question came to light BECAUSE of the checks and oversights built into the system of interrogating our murderous enemies, and BECAUSE they were investigated and it was determined the acts were (a) not against the law and (b) not systemic.

The ‘system’ worked. It provided an avenue for concerns to be raised to independent oversight, and that independent oversight investigated the charges. You can read it all for yourself in the Inspector General’s Report. Here are some key items to note:

• On Page 14, Item 13: the report notes “there were instances of improvisation and other undocumented interrogation techniques”. In other words, it was individuals going outside the proscribed processes, and these excursions were noted, but not violations.
• Page 14, Item 15: there were start up problems in the program in terms of guidelines and training. That always happens not matter what. And that is not illegal or unethical.
• Page 15, Item 16: “The Agency’s detention and interrogation of terrorists has provided intelligence that has enabled the identification and apprehension of other terrorists and warned of terrorist plots planned for the United States and around the world.“

That last line is the real kicker here. There may be some nuts on the left who want to defend killers to the point of allowing mass murder of innocents, but they are the ‘Mad Hatter’ few. Rule of law is not meant to allow the killing innocents, just so the law can be deemed unassailable. If  we allow nuts to force us to die so their laws cannot be challenged, then we become slaves.

The interrogation of those planning to kill Americans by the thousands produced amazing results, as chronicled recently in the Washington Post:

Speaking in English, Mohammed “seemed to relish the opportunity, sometimes for hours on end, to discuss the inner workings of al-Qaeda and the group’s plans, ideology and operatives,” said one of two sources who described the sessions, speaking on the condition of anonymity because much information about detainee confinement remains classified. “He’d even use a chalkboard at times.”

These scenes provide previously unpublicized details about the transformation of the man known to U.S. officials as KSM from an avowed and truculent enemy of the United States into what the CIA called its “preeminent source” on al-Qaeda. This reversal occurred after Mohammed was subjected to simulated drowning and prolonged sleep deprivation, among other harsh interrogation techniques.

“KSM, an accomplished resistor, provided only a few intelligence reports prior to the use of the waterboard, and analysis of that information revealed that much of it was outdated, inaccurate or incomplete,”…

The fact is the water boarding turned an evil enemy, with the blood of 3 thousand Americans on his hands, into someone teaching our defenders how to beat al Qaeda. KSM is training our people to understand our enemies, a necessity if we are to detect and stop attacks. Is this what Holder is going to attack and question? Only if he wants to go down in history as the dumbest AG ever seated. And he will take Obama’s presidency with him.

Now look at the details of the terrorist attack just foiled in Colorado and New York. Don’t go to the news media to filter out the key facts for you, go to the source and read it for yourself (note the documents at the bottom laying out the charges).

Here are the key elements of the FBI announcement today, and I am going to discuss what I can determine from reading between the lines, and also how these legal proceedings give al Qaeda a wealth of knowledge to use on the next attack to make it harder for us to stop them in the future. This is why we cannot sit back and deal with these threats in our courts, but must be taking this to our enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

FBI agents in Colorado arrested Najibullah Zazi, 24, a resident of Aurora, Colo., and legal permanent resident from Afghanistan, and his father Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, a resident of Aurora and a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan. In addition, FBI agents in New York arrested Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, a resident of Flushing, N.Y., and a legal permanent resident from Afghanistan.

First off, this terrorist ‘cell’ is straight out of the area we and the Pakistanis are trying to cleanse of terrorists. All of these folks seem to hold dual citizenship – which is why the NSA needs to know when someone in the US makes contact with known terrorists outside the US. If not for this trip wire, sleeper cells here in the US could run rampant under the protections of our own laws, meant to defend freedom, not kill Americans. We cannot run from Afghanistan now – we need to finish the job.

Records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reflect that, on Aug. 28, 2008, Najibullah Zazi flew to Peshawar, Pakistan from Newark International Airport via Geneva, Switzerland and Doha, Qatar. CBP records further reflect that Najibullah Zazi traveled from Peshawar to John F. Kennedy International Airport on or about Jan. 15, 2009.

…

On Sept. 17 and 18, 2009, Najibullah Zazi was further interviewed by the FBI in Denver. According to affidavits, Najibullah Zazi admitted in the interviews that during his 2008 trip to Pakistan, he attended courses and received instruction on weapons and explosives at an al-Qaeda training facility in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.

We now know that training for terrorist wannabes from the West is still occurring in the FATA region of Pakistan, which is being surrounded by Pak forces to the south and US/NATO/Afghan forces to the north. This is also the region which the US Predator drones have been decimating by taking out al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.  If we pull back now, the murderers now hold up and surrounded in FATA will be able to break free to kill again. And since al Qaeda now knows we have confirmation of their infrastructure and processes, they will need to move from the killing zone we have set up in the lawless areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is what happens when we expose what we know, they can adapt.

What is really disconcerting is the evidence that the NYPD tipped the hand of the FBI’s investigation by accidentally alerting a potential double agent, who was a paid informant for the NYPD counter terrorism units:

On Sept. 10, 2009, New York City Police Department (NYPD) detectives met with defendant Afzali, whom the NYPD had utilized as a source in the past. According to the affidavits, the detectives questioned Afzali about Najibullah Zazi and others and showed him photographs of Najibullah Zazi and others. Afzali allegedly told the detectives he recognized Najibullah Zazi and several of the men in the photographs

According to affidavits, on Sept. 11, 2009, defendant Mohammed Zazi placed a call to Afzali which lasted approximately 20 minutes. That same day, the FBI lawfully intercepted a phone conversation between Mohammed Zazi and his son, Najibullah Zazi. An affidavit alleges that, during the conversation, Mohammed Zazi told his son that he had spoken to Afzali who had informed him about being visited by law enforcement and shown photographs. Mohammed Zazi told his son that Afzali would call him and he advised his son to speak with Afzali “before anything else,” according to affidavits.

Note the date : the anniversary of 9-11. The reason Afzali is under custody is because he tipped off Zazi. Worse still, it seems Afzali was well aware of the potential danger they were in relative to US law enforcement:

In the midst of this phone call, Najibullah Zazi allegedly received a call from Afzali, who discussed his meeting with law enforcement the day before. According to a draft summary of the transcription, Afzali allegedly stated: “I was exposed to something yesterday from law enforcement. And they came to ask me about your characters.” Afzali also allegedly asked Najibullah Zazi about his last trip to Pakistan and added, “Listen, our phone call is being monitored.”

According to the affidavits, in another legally intercepted phone conversation on Sept. 11, 2009, Najibullah Zazi told Afzali that his car had been stolen and that he feared he was being “watched.” Afzali allegedly asked if there was any “evidence in his car,” and Najibullah Zazi said no.

The evidence ended up being in Zazi’s rental car, where bomb making notes written by Zazi were found in scanned images on his computer. Note the ‘legally intercepted phone conversations’. It seems Afzali was authorized by the FIS Court on 9-11, once Zazi blurted out to his father about Afzali tipping him off. That is quick action and good to see.

Sadly, exposing this good news has also helped al Qaeda make adjustments to make the next attack harder to stop. Clearly no one should be scanning written notes onto hard drives. I can think of a dozen ways to have the information at hand and not have it traced to the computer owner. And no, I will not share these. But even computer technicians can think of ways around that.

And of course al Qaeda is getting a better understanding of our ability to monitor and react to communications. They also have learned how double agents should not react in tipping off their terrorists allies in the US. Again, I can think of a dozen, untraceable ways to avoid this misstep, which was key to dismantling this attack, and may lead to other cells. I would suggest we all refrain from using our imaginations to help al Qaeda figure out ways to avoid this mistake in the future.

Right now, looking at the news release, these people have been arrested for trying to cover up their interactions with each other. We have no idea what they were doing that required covering up, but if we look at the affidavits we can get some clues.

First, the charges on the younger Zazis:

• Interestingly, the charges were filed by an FBI Agent who is a bomb expert and the chrages are clearly related to bomb threats (possibly similar to the Madrid Bomb attacks of 2004)
• Afzali, “Individual B” in the document, is an Imam in New York who heads  mosque – which means the terrorists are still trying to use religion to cover their bloody plans.
• It seems to me Afzali was trying to tell his Zazi to stay away from terrorism, it seemed he believed Zazi was innocent. But who knows, he knew his call was being monitored and could be acting.
• Folks, you need to read section 19 starting on page 12. There is a trail of emails and those handwritten notes that trace back to Peshwar, Paksitan. It seems Zazi has an email account in Peshewar – for what purpose we can only guess. Of course this detail on the emails also helps al Qaeda understand how well we can trace and connect email accounts – not good.

Now, the charges against the elder Zazi is basically the same complaint, with the names changed around. There are indications that the elder Zazi asked his son what had he gotten himself into and to look into getting a lawyer.

So, is this a major threat? Hard to tell. I do not think the authorities would arrest these people for these minor charges of what is perjury. Therefore, I would suspect there is a lot more evidence behind the scenes. There has to be. For the FIS Court was going to issue wire tap warrants it would have to be for more than this low level perjury. The did not lie about a crime, they lied about discussions, knowing each other, knowing about files on computers. On the face this looks weak, behind the scenes it should look strong.

Only time will tell.

Contrary to the liberal hand wringing in DC, there are a lot of indications we will finally destroy al Qaeda and the Taliban hold in Northern Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan – basically the lawless areas neither country has ever had control of. Indications are the human aid we are applying to the region to educate the people, provide infrastructure and provide medical care is paying off. Slowly.

But on top of that the key radical leaders in the region are being picked off as their tiny plot of sanctuary is being swept by the Paks to the south and NATO/Afghans to the north. Today the US Drones supporting the Paks bagged a couple of key targets:

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Peshawar, Pakistan — A missile fired by a U.S. drone killed a top Al Qaeda operations chief and two other militant commanders in the volatile North Waziristan region, Pakistani military and intelligence sources said Thursday.

The killing of Ilyas Kashmiri, who headed Al Qaeda’s paramilitary operations in his native Pakistan, is the latest in a series of successful strikes against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

In August, a drone strike in South Waziristan killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud, the country’s most-wanted militant, who was accused of engineering suicide bombings of civilian and military targets. U.S. drone strikes have killed several other prominent Al Qaeda militants in recent years.

There have been reports on how badly al Qaeda is fairing under the barrage, for example these recollections of al Qaeda from volunteers from Europe:

The meeting was tense. The six recruits, from immigrant communities in France and Belgium, had decided to confront their al-Qaida handler. Before leaving their homes, they had watched al-Qaida videos on the internet and seen massed battalions of mujahideen training on assault courses, exciting ambushes and inspiring speeches by Osama bin Laden.

Now they had spent months in Pakistan’s rugged frontier zones and had done nothing more than basic small arms training, some physical exercise and religious instruction.

They had been deceived, they complained to the Syrian militant looking after them. The videos had lied.

Their handler was unapologetic. The flashy videos were a “trick” that served a dual purpose, he told them, “to intimidate enemies and to attract new recruits – propaganda.”

This was a while back, before the forces of good had surrounded these animals and started cleaning them out of their hidey holes.

Al Qaeda is still dangerous, as the recent raids here in the US have shown. And one does need to applaud our young President for keeping the NSA-FISA changes in place which Bush enacted after 9-11, and which have kept us safe from another attack. I am sure those very resources had a huge part to play in sniffing out this latest plot of mass murder.

But the violence always escalates near the end. It happened in World War II, Iraq and many other places. The rising death toll means, sadly, engagement and progress. The radical Islamists are now seen more as an enemy of Islam than its future, even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the movement was born. That is a testament to President Bush’s efforts. And as long as President Obama doesn’t lose his nerve or backbone, he too can share in the victory over al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Seems the Pakistanis have really soured on their violent Islamo Fascist neighbors in the tribal areas:

MORE than 80 per cent of Pakistanis view the Taleban as a critical threat to the country, a poll released yesterday said.

It marked a major shift in public support behind the government’s campaign against the fundamentalist Muslim militants. The turn in public mood is a boost to the military in its offensive against the insurgency.

Emphasis mine. Right after 9-11, the Taliban and al Qaeda were feared to be THE FUTURE of Islam as many Muslim countries and groups cheered the hit The Great Satan took that fateful day. But after 7 Years of President George W Bush unflinchingly taking the war to the enemy, along with years of massacring Muslims from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan and dwarfing the human carnage of 9-11, these violent madmen have become THE ENEMY of Islam’s Main Streets. When President Obama continued the Bush policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan it became crystal clear America would not be diverted from bring justice and peace to the region, and allowing moderate forces to Awaken from under the Jack Boot of the terrorists.

We now have the end game beginning what is the largest war since World War II. In Iraq US forces have moved out of the cities to positions from which they can be called on if needed, but Iraq is now celebrating years of democratically run government and there is little sign that the new wave of bombings is turning the moderates into terrorist lovers. Violent radical Muslims killing moderate or innocent Muslims is not going to create a ground swell of hate against the US – just against the Muslims doing the killing. 

Now Pakistan has the people behind its efforts to eradicate the bloody killers in its midst using all force necessary, and they are winning the day:

PAKISTAN CLAIMS it has turned the tide in its battle with Islamist militants and says it has al-Qaeda on the run after a series of government offensives.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said public opinion had turned decisively against the extremists over the last few months, paving the way for the government’s military successes.

“Today, public opinion has converted to such an extent that the local tribes have set up lashkars [militias] to support army operations,” Mr Qureshi said in an interview yesterday in London.

Pakistan has awakened, just as Anbar and the Sunni tribes of Iraq did in 2006-2007. More and more reports are coming out of local tribesman hunting down the extremists:

Tribesmen attacked Taliban hideouts in Kurram Agency, killing 28 Taliban on Wednesday as the intensifying battles prompted them to ask for army troops to help, said a local lawmaker. 

At least seven tribesmen were also killed in the clash in Kurram which was the latest in two weeks of battles between the Taliban and tribesmen there that have killed 141 people – including more than 100 Taliban, said two government officials. 

Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan Agencies (inside the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)) are the last haven of al Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan. As the Pakistanis pincer these hideouts from the South, US forces are crashing in from the North in Afghanistan:

Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military’s new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

The operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan earlier this year by President Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. The Marines, along with an Army brigade that is scheduled to arrive later this summer, plan to push into pockets of the country where NATO forces have not had a presence. In many of those areas, the Taliban have evicted local police and government officials, and taken power.

This is the same kind of strategy used in Anbar and other Sunni Provinces inside Iraq which finally broke the resistance, taking out most of al Qaeda’s fighting forces. We have the noose in place, the bad guys surrounded, and the local people on our side. This could be the year we see the back of the Islamo Fascist movement break, just as we saw Hitler’s fascist state fall in Europe as allied forces overwhelmed them, encircling them on all sides with local support.

The war on terror is definitely looking more and more positive by the month.

Update: We apparently nailed three top Taliban commanders:

Two suspected U.S. drone attacks against militants in northern Pakistan over the last day have killed at least 55 people, including three top Taliban commanders, and wounded 50 others, Pakistani intelligence sources said Wednesday.

Rumors have it Baitullah Mehsud himself was nearby during the second attack, no confirmation though. – end update

The US has fired drones at strongholds of radical Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud today. It seems the armed Predator attacks were in two waves. First this article:

The death toll in a US drone strike on a house in South Waziristan agency hit 45, reports our sources citing a foreign news agency here Tuesday.

…

The official said the drones fired three guided missiles on a compound, a bunker and two vehicles of the Taliban loyal to local militant commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Then there is this article:

A suspected US drone attack on a stronghold of a Pakistani Taliban leader has killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more in northwest Pakistan, Pakistani intelligence officials have said.

The missile hit a funeral prayer on Tuesday in the South Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said most of those killed were believed to have been attending the funeral for the victims of another drone attack earlier in the day.

“There are reports that Baitullah Mehsud himself was at that congregational prayer and escaped the attack. However, we are told that a number of people present at that particular moment were killed.

And then this report:

The people killed in South Waziristan region had been attending a funeral for others killed in a US drone strike earlier on Tuesday.

Intelligence officials said at least 45 people had been killed and dozens more injured in the later strike, when two missiles were fired.

Also it seems Baitullah Mehsud’s thugs killed a rival Taliban lord from Waziristan who was preparing a Taliban alliance of tribes, allied with the Pak government, to counter Mehsud’s poisonous brand of Islam:

The death of Qari Zainuddin, the rival leader, comes as a serious blow to the government, which had supported him as a counter to Mr. Mehsud in its campaign against the Taliban.

…

Mr. Zainuddin and his group were helping the government by denying Mr. Mehsud and his fighters the ability to operate in a nearby region, and in recent months, killing some 30 of his fighters. Pakistani jets have also targeted Mehsud’s hideouts in recent days.

…

Mr. Zainuddin, who in his 30s, was part of Mr. Mehsud’s tribe, but had split with him, and joined forces with Turkestan Bhaitani, an older Taliban fighter who had switched sides to ally with the government. The two men had held a jirga, or tribal meeting, with as many as a hundred elders of the Mehsud tribe in the town of Tank earlier this month in an effort to rally opposition to Mr. Mehsud. Officially, the Pakistani military denies supporting Mr. Zainuddin or Turkestan Bhaitani.

When the Islamo Fascists start killing fellow Muslim leaders it is usually a sign of desperation. It has signaled the demise of the violent strain of Islamists, as it did in Anbar Province in Iraq. The blood purges usually mean the violent extremists have lost local support. 

I suspect the noose is ever tightening around the necks of the extreme Taliban and al Qaeda forces huddling in their last sanctuary inside the Waziristan region of Pakistan.

Update: Here is a very good CBS News report (I don’t say THAT often) on what the Pakistan Army faces in its next (maybe last) phase of purging the tribal region of Islamo Fascist terrorists:

The hillside camp offers rare insight into conditions, tools and tactics being used by insurgents against government troops in the picturesque, northwestern Swat Valley for about the past two years.

It may also be a foreboding sign of the much tougher fight to come as the military moves into the grotto- and tunnel-ridden tribal region on the Afghan border, the scene of the next anti-Taliban operation and where battle-hardened militants have had much longer to dig in.

In another worrying sign, commanders and experts warn that some of the most formidable Taliban leaders and fighters who have escaped from Swat may be heading for the tribal zone of South Waziristan.

Actually, herding the cattle to the slaughter is a good thing. The Taliban and al Qaeda forces have been retreating into the Waziristan region from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. It makes it so much easier to have them encircled by the Pakistan forces to the south and the US/NATO forces to the north along the Afghan border.

More here on the Predator attacks.

I think it is highly probable these strategic strikes are the opening salvo – the air war phase if you will – against the Taliban and al Qaeda hard core. In fact, the Pakistani air force has been pounding the region for a while now.

Pakistani fighter jets have pounded a number of militant positions in South Waziristan, killing at least eleven pro-Taliban insurgents. 

As a full-scale anti-militants offensive in South Waziristan is yet to begin, army jets and helicopters seem to be preparing the ground by attacking militant hideouts in recent days. A fresh round of aerial attacks took place on Monday. 

I suspect ground forces will be moving in soon to clean out the rats once and for all.

Update: Yep, a major military pincer action is getting underway. As the Pakistanis and US soften up the terrorists in Waziristan, NATO forces are moving on the remaining Taliban holdouts in southern Afghanistan:

British soldiers in Afghanistan say they have moved into one of the last Taliban strongholds in southern Helmand province with a major air assault. NATO says the recent deployment of additional U.S. troops in the region helped make the operation possible. 

Afghanistan’s NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF, says more than 500 troops took part in Operation Panther’s Claw, which began just before midnight Friday.

ISAF says the mission was designed to clear and hold one of the last remaining Taliban strongholds in southern Helmand province. 

…

“The aim of the operation was to secure a number of canal and river crossings in order to establish a permanent ISAF (NATO) presence in the area, which has previously been a Taliban stronghold,” he said.

The noose is definitely tightening.

The one thing that could turn the world away from threat of Muslim extremism was, sadly, a fight for the heart and soul of Islam. When this happens (as it did in Iraq in Anbar Province, as it did in Afghanistan with the defeat of Taliban rule, as it is happening in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan with a backlash against the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban) then the extremist Islamists typically over reach and set the fire that consumes them.

It appears that may be happening in Iran, as thugs of the Islamist Iranian Rulers have now opened fire and killed fellow Muslims in the streets of Tehran. There is no way Islam will allow the murder of Muslims. History is replete with extremists attempting to take control of Islam and self destructing in this very manner. 

With democratically free Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan border Iran, it seems the failed and bloody tyranny of modern Islamo Fascism that came to power in the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970′s may possibly heading for defeat at the hands of the moderate Muslim street.

Update: More being reported by Al Jazeera.

Addendum: Don’t ever forget the clash of Arab and Persian cultures. In southern Iraq, when Moqtada al Sadr was trying to create a Shiite backlash against the Iraq-US coalition, he made the fatal mistake of being tied to heavily with his Persian masters in Qom Iraq. The continuing friction between Arab and Persian cultures goes back well before Islam, and is a barrier that cannot be underestimated.

If Iran is now trying to use Arab militia to control the Persian streets of Iran (as some rumors indicate), we may see a repeat of the failure in southern Iraq where Shiite Arabs rejected Persian Shiite control, even if it meant allying with Sunni Arabs in central Iraq. The Persian Shiites will definitely reject Arab Shiite thugs roaming their streets, and will rise up against any Persian government that uses Arabs to try and control Persian society.

Update: More on the protests in Iran  here – tens of thousands reportedly taking to the streets.

Update: First hand reporting on the carnage in the streets of Iran. Yeah, all is well in the land of Ahmedinejad.

Update:

Must see photos, video and reporting at Gateway Pundit. This is not dying down, it is growing rapidly, and the blood in the streets will only feed the uprising.

Update: Here’s a very interesting post over at the Huffington Post by a Muslim who also sees the days numbered for al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is a fascinating assessment from inside the Muslim community, one which mirrors my own assessment of where things are headed from my perch well outside Islam. Two distinct and independent vantage points – a common conclusion. – end update

This summer we will hopefully be witnessing the beginning of the end of the war on terror, or at least the last major military offensive of the war on terror. For decades violent Islamo Fascists have been targeting the West, culminating in the horrific attacks of 9-11, which also doubled as the wake up call for those slumbering in denial about the threat of extreme islam like that preached by al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Since 9-11 al Qaeda has been beaten in Iraq, where they threw much of their forces against the US and later our Iraqi allies. In what has to be seen as a historic turning point, al Qaeda and the US entered into the fight over Iraq with al Qaeda seen as the future of Islam, strong enough to bloody and possibly defeat the Great Satan America.

But after years of al Qaeda appling its brutal and sick Islamo Fascist methods of force on the Muslims of Iraq, a backlash blew out of Iraq’s Anbar province which changed the path of history on this planet. al Qaeda, through its own brutality and lust for blood, had become the enemy of Islam. al Qaeda had committed heinous and unbelievable crimes against fellow Iraqi Muslims, the stories of which still echo through the Muslim Street in a manner not much different from how the West recalls the butchers of The Holocaust.

It has taken time, patience, determination and our own fair share of blood and treasure to chase the exposed evil of al Qaeda into its last large sanctuary in the Waziristan Agencies of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA – click map above to enlarge). 

One of the things I am forever grateful for concerning the new Obama administration is that it has not undone all the sacrifices and progress made under President Bush (who noted himself this war would go beyond his administration). And now we are poised to witness the beginning of the end. Our forces have the al Qaeda and Taliban pinned down to the North along the Afghanistan border, and the Pakistani forces are preparing to sweep north from the south and send our enemies into our waiting hands:

Divided into a north and south parts for administrative purposes, Waziristan, a tribal agency on Pakistan’s western border with Afghanistan, is that country’s most pro-Taliban area and the heart of the insurgency threatening its existence. This mountainous, tribal-ruled area, where the government’s writ does not extend, also serves as a base area for the Islamist forces fighting American and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.  

But Waziristan’s importance in the radical Islamists’ scheme of things extends far beyond the local and regional. This largely inacessible piece of geography, which constitutes 4,500 square miles and has a population of about 800,000, also poses a deadly threat to the West and the rest of the world.

Long known as a center of Islamic terrorism, it is home to al Qaeda, and, reportedly, of bin Laden himself. It is here the terrorist organization hatches and directs its deadly plots, and receives and trains international jihadists from around the world, including some from the United States.

Even more menacing, Waziristan is also the headquarters of al Qaeda’s planned worldwide jihad. From this rugged, isolated area, it eventually intends to launch a military campaign that will see its army and extremist brand of Islam sweep westwards to the Atlantic Ocean and eastwards to Indonesia and the Philipines.

…

The al Qaeda fighters also appear to be numerous and are receiving foreign reinforcements to help defend their Waziristan stronghold. The Los Angeles Times reported that four disillusioned European al Qaeda recruits, who returned recently from Waziristan, said they had trained with an Arab group numbering 300 to 500.

An Asia Times story also states Afghan and American security officials have noticed a movement of jihadists from the Middle East to South Asia. US Army Major Cory Schultz, based in Afghanistan, is also quoted as saying: “It sounds from the radio chatter like they have more recruits coming in, including Arabs, Uzbeks, Turkmen, and Chechen fighters.”

The Pakistani army, numbered at about 125,000 for the offensive, will probably rely on its helicopter gunships and artillery, like it did in the Swat fighting. The Taliban and al Qaeda have little answer to these weapons except suicide bombers. Military analysts expect the Pakistani army to drive the Islamist fighters towards American and NATO troops in Afghanistan in a classic hammer and anvil manoeuvre.

The timing of this blow to al Qaeda and the Taliban is very interesting, as it coincides with a growing backlash against these radicals amongst the locals – who have also been tasting the blood lusts of these thugs recently. Just as in Iraq, the Islamo Fascists have gone to blowing up their fellow Muslims as one final, empty threat against being hunted down and killed. 

Pakistani tribesmen seeking revenge for a deadly mosque bombing attacked militant strongholds for a second day Monday, while the country’s Taliban leader faced rare denunciation from within insurgent ranks.

…

n the most striking example of growing anti-Taliban sentiment, up to 1,600 tribesmen in the Upper Dir district formed a civilian militia force to fight militants they hold responsible for last Friday’s suicide bombing that killed at least 33 people in a packed mosque. Such militia are known in Pakistan as lashkars.

The group cleared three villages of Taliban fighters on Sunday and focused Monday on two more villages that are known Taliban strongholds, said Khaista Rehman, a local police chief.

More here and here. It seems the Pakistan Awakening has finally awoken. And with a backlash building, what was a sanctuary or safe haven is now an encircled trap where locals are starting to give tips as to where to find the bad guys:

Addressing a press conference, Additional Inspector General of Police Syed Jawed Ali Shah Bukhari said they had received a tip-off about the presence of some Mehsud aides in Lyari Town, where they were planning to carry out terrorist activities in the city.

Subsequently, he said, a raid was carried out during which Mohammed Naeem Rehmani, son of Qadir Bukhsh Rehmani, was arrested. However, his accomplices fled under the cover of fire. During the search of his house, the police recovered 10 suicide jackets, 10 hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs, six detonators besides 200 bullets.

Naeem has reportedly told the investigators that he was trained in Waziristan by Mehsudís commanders and was sent to Karachi to recruit youngsters for suicide attacks. He told the police that they used to recruit youths from Madrassas, who were then sent to Qari Hussain Mehsud in Waziristan for receiving the training for suicide bombing.

Yeah, who wants vermin like that recruiting suicide bombers from the local schools? It is only a surprise that it takes so long for the locals to wake up and realize how deadly the new neighbors are whop they once welcomed into their area.

The “Drone Wars” also seem to be paying off as well (from the first link above):

According to the failed European jihadists and other sources, American forces have already contributed to the Waziristan campaign’s success with its ongoing Predator drone attacks. So many al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and operatives have been killed by the Predator’s Hellfire missiles that they meet in groups of no larger than three to drink tea. So fearful are they of being targeted for drone attacks, al Qaeda fighters, it is reported, now receive their instruction indoors.

We can thank President Bush for working out this interesting tactic of surgical strikes, and we can thank President Obama for continuing it as the noose tightens around al Qaeda and their Taliban allies in Waziristan.

Update: You can feel the change in the mood of reporting from Pakistan, the tide seems to be shifting:

In his book, “Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945”, Creveld identifies the elements of moral force, whom he calls “fighting power, the willingness to fight and the readiness, if necessary, to die.” The greater these elements, the less vulnerable an armed force will be to demoralization. Moral force, then, is the crucial factor in determining the combat power of any belligerent. 

The ongoing different war between the militants and Pak Army in Malakand Division in wake of the successful military operations and retreat of the Taliban has proved without any doubt that such elements like ‘will to fight’ and ‘moral force’ have been more noted in Pakistan’s armed forces who have exerted psychological impact of causing fear and shock, resulting in demoralisation in the Taliban.Unlike the different war waged between the insurgents and Pakistan’s security forces in 2007 and 2008 when the militants were provided equal chance of ceasefire, dialogue and peace agreement, this time an allout war has been declared by Pakistan’s government against the non-state actors with a view to eliminating them completely from Swat and FATA. Since the end of March, this year when the military operations were launched, Pak Army has achieved victory after victory by ejecting the Taliban from Buner, Dir, Swat and other adjoining areas, while killing more than four thousands insurgents and capturing there strongholds. 

Latest reports suggest that after the killing of most of their commanders, majority of the recruits have deserted the ranks of militants and are on the run along with hardcore leadership.

On the run – towards that ever tightening noose. It seems the fighting forces of the Taliban and al Qaeda are fighting with guns pointed at their backs:

It could be judged from the talks which show that high ranked commanders of the insurgents are even threatening their own fighters in acute desperation. In this regard, some Taliban as suicide bombers were dispatched to a commander Hamzala, but Haji Gul warned them along with other militants that if any one of them tried to leave his position and task will be tortured to death. Similar threats to the Taliban warriors have also been given by other leaders and commanders of the banned Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) led by Sufi Muhammad and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) headed by Maulana Fazlullah. 

The militants are demoralised to such an extent that even threats of death have no impact on them and they are deserting their comrades. 

Not a good sign for the enemy if they have to threaten their warriors into fighting.

Update: The news of tribesmen rising up against the Taliban even hit the Washington Post today.

In retaliation for the offensive, the Taliban have stepped up bomb attacks and are suspected of being behind a suicide blast at a mosque in the Upper Dir region, near Swat, that killed about 40 people on Friday.

Outraged by the attack, villagers formed a militia, known as a lashkar, of about 500 men and began fighting the militants on Saturday in an bid to force them out of their area.

A top government official in Upper Dir, Atif-ur-Rehman, said the militia fighters had pushed the Taliban out of three villages and surrounded them in another two.

People are taking notice.

Update: It seems the local uprising is not limited to Pakistan, but is also forming up in Afghanistan:

Authorities in southern Afghanistan said local and foreign troops have killed as many as 60 Taliban militants in the past week, as part of a stepped up anti-insurgency operation. And about 7,000 additional U.S. troops have begun deploying across volatile southern Afghanistan. 
 
Top Afghan security officials said the past week has seen intense fighting in the southern province of Zabul where local and coalition forces have jointly killed dozens of Taliban militants, including some of their key commanders. 

Hope the good news keeps coming.

The years of determination and diligence in the war against terror may be paying off soon. The Obama administration is beefing up forces in Afghanistan and tightening the border with Pakistan’s tribal areas where al Qaeda has its last large sanctuary.

In addition, the Pakistan Army is pushing northward and westward, clearing the NWFP’s Swat region and clearing out agencies in the FATA region (click map above to enlarge). All indications are al Qaeda’s sanctuary is now been shrunken down to the Northern and Southern Waziristan Agencies – next on the Pakistan Army’s target list.

Finally, the Obama administration has continued the targeting of al Qaeda and Taliban enclaves by US Predator drones, and that has pushed al Qaeda onto their heels according to recent reports:

Drone-launched U.S. missile attacks and Pakistan’s ongoing military offensive in and around the Swat Valley have unsettled al-Qaeda and undermined its relative invulnerability in Pakistani mountain sanctuaries, U.S. military and intelligence officials say.

The dual disruption offers potential new opportunities to ferret out and target the extremists, and it has sparked a new sense of possibility amid a generally pessimistic outlook for the conflict inAfghanistan and Pakistan. Although al-Qaeda remains “a serious, potent threat,” a U.S. counterterrorism official said, “they’ve suffered some serious losses and seem to be feeling a heightened sense of anxiety — and that’s not a bad thing at all.”

More here:

Zarate, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, points to three things that show the space where bin Laden can move freely is shrinking.

First is the Pakistan army’s offensive against the Taliban in Swat Valley and other areas.

It’s too soon to tell how that operation will play out, but Zarate says Pakistan’s policy could serve as a “dual anvil along with U.S. activities from the Afghan side, to actually pressure al-Qaida, make them feel uncomfortable and perhaps make the senior leadership make mistakes.”

The second element shrinking bin Laden’s possible location is the 21,000 additional U.S. troops pouring into Afghanistan. And Zarate points to a third factor: drones.

The result of all this pressure is to make the rats move from their hiding places. As we learned with Saddam Hussein, it can take a lot to find one person hiding in a hole in the ground somewhere. And we also still see signs of a local backlash against the Islamo Fascists, as this WSJ article notes:

 When the Taliban began filtering into Gul Khan Mehsud’s town along the Afghan border nine years ago, residents offered food, shelter and ammunition.

“How could we turn them away? The Americans were killing them. We wanted them to fight,” says the 38-year-old from South Waziristan, one of the tribal regions that border Afghanistan and arguably the Taliban’s most important stronghold in Pakistan. “We thought the Taliban would help us.”

Instead, Mr. Mehsud was forced from his home in South Waziristan earlier this year after the Pakistan Taliban, which grew out of the militants who fled the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, accused one of his cousins of helping the U.S. plot missile strikes from drone aircraft.

…

With Pakistan on the brink of taking its anti-militant campaign to the tribal areas on the restive border with Afghanistan, civilian and military leaders in Islamabad are banking on growing anger with the Pakistan Taliban among tribesmen such as Mr. Mehsud, whose Pashtun ethnic group straddles the frontier and lives in the core of the insurgency in both countries.

Popular support for the insurgents has undermined years of attempts to subdue the border areas, where the Taliban hold sway and al Qaeda operates openly. Residents who have fled report an intensifying reign of terror. The region is largely off limits to outsiders — foreigners and Pakistanis alike — and there are signs of growing disgust with the Taliban’s hard-line tactics.

I get the feeling this summer may be a good one in the war on terror. If so Presidents Bush and Obama will get the credit for making sure we finished the job against al Qaeda and its ilk.

One of the sings that indicated to me, very early on in Iraq, that The Surge in Anbar Province was going to work as it expanded across Iraq was the fact that the Islamo Fascist terrorists were targeting the Muslim Main Street – thereby creating the backlash that turned al Qaeda from the future of Islam into the enemy of Islam. The terrorists could not deal a serious blow to the US forces, so it instead tried to create such bloody carnage against their fellow Muslims that public opinion in the West would sour and force a military defeat.

And it almost worked, if it were not for the determination of President Bush and people like Senators McCain and Lieberman.

Today in Pakistan we are seeing very similar signs as the Islamo Terrorists hiding in the tribal areas that span the north of Pakistan along the Afghan border are lashing out against their fellow Pakistani Muslims in an last ditch effort to try and stop the pending Pak military cleansing of the last major sanctuary for al Qaeda and the Taliban in the region. Two reports (here and here) document the latest terrorist attacks on Pakistani civilians. An excerpt from the second link:

At least five people died Thursday evening in two back-to-back blasts in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, and a few hours later, a policeman was killed by a suicide car bomb, a police official said. A short time later, a fourth bomb rocked the nearby city of Dera Ismail Khan, police said.

…

Peshawar is the capital of North West Frontier Province, an area where the military has launched a massive operation against Taliban militants.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions, but earlier Thursday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Lahore the day before that killed at least 27 people. The militants vowed similar attacks in other cities. Wednesday’s attack was in eastern Pakistan.

It is a pure desperation move by the Islamo Fascists. Their current sanctuaries in the Waziristan Agencies of FATA (see map above) have been safe due to the support of the local people. Just like al Qaeda was safe in Iraq until the locals turned on them. The terrorists must think they have nothing left to lose given that they are in the gun sights of the Pak Army:

At least 15 Taliban were killed and several injured by security forces’ shelling in South Waziristan Agency, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday. According to the channel, the security forces shelled Taliban hideouts in Sarokai area of the agency, killing 15 Taliban and injuring several others.

More here:

Given the ongoing military operation in Swat, militants, after consulting with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, have begun mining the area, the advisory says.

Mehsud has ordered Asmatullah Muawiya and Qari Zafar to plant landmines across the South Waziristan tribal region, whereas, different militant groups active in North Waziristan have taken the task on.

A useless and amateurish defensive move. And yet more:

Ten militants were killed as troops moved ahead in South Waziristan on Wednesday.

Security forces claimed to have destroyed several bunkers and seized two vehicles loaded with heavy weapons.

According to local people, helicopters hit several targets in the Mehsud area after a rocket attack on a paramilitary fort by militants.

…

Reports reaching here said that a large number of roads between Makeen and Razmak in North Waziristan had been blocked by the military.

Things are coming to a head in Pakistan this summer. If the rats’ nests can be purged in the tribal areas of Pakistan, which are used as staging areas for attacks inside Afghanistan, then Afghanistan will have the opportunity to stabilize just as Iraq has been able to.

It could be the beginning of the end for al Qaeda and the radical Taliban – 8 years after their deadly attack on 9-11.

It is good to see the Obama administration pushing Pakistan to root out the terrorists from their last major sanctuaries in northern Pakistan. This area represents a major threat to peace and security in the west. It is the birthplace of al Qaeda and not far from where the 9-11 attacks (and others – since thwarted) were hatched. Right now the area is focused on recruiting terrorists from Europe, and probably the US, as this chilling but interesting report explores:

Determined to die as martyrs, the French and Belgian militants bought hiking boots and thermal underwear and journeyed to the wilds of Waziristan.

…

“We were expecting at least a welcome for ‘our brothers from Europe’ and a warm atmosphere of hospitality,” Walid Othmani, a 25-year-old Frenchman from Lyon, recalled during an overnight interrogation.

Instead, the Europeans learned that life in the shadow of the Predator is unpleasant.

…

Then the trainees dodged months of missile strikes. They endured disease, quarrels and boredom, huddling in cramped compounds that defied heroic images of fraternal warriors.

…

Police in Europe tracked the group’s radicalization and travel with the help of real-time U.S. intercepts that corroborate the confessions and exploited the accused extremists’ reliance on the Internet. Fear of an imminent attack spurred their arrests here in December.

Emphasis mine. We can thank our friends at the NSA for much of this insight.

The suspects said they wanted desperately to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan. They were assigned to train with an Arab group numbering between 300 and 500 but spread out in small units for security. Fearful of drones and informants, trainees hunkered inside during the day in crowded, squalid houses shared with local families in mountain hamlets.

…

From the group, only two — a Tunisian and a strapping Belgian who both spoke fluent Arabic — went to Afghanistan. One later e-mailed a photo of himself wielding a rocket-propelled grenade to his wife. He bragged to comrades about killing American soldiers.

Late last year, four of the men finally came home to the clutches of police, who had monitored them intently. 

This is what breeds in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan. For years America has been pressing and helping the Pakistanis push back the Taliban/al Qaeda tide that erupted from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA in the above map), which began to sweep into the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) a few years back. The Swat area of NWFP had been the epicenter of the Islamists’ surge, but Pak forces have been pushing them back over the last couple of  years:

Major-General Athar Abbas, a military spokesman, explained the wider campaign against internal insurgency began as far back as December 2007. 

This went through various phases of military action followed by either surrender or periods of negotiation with various armed groups.  

The peace deal reached earlier this year with Taliban groups in the Swat Valley was yet another pause in the ongoing game of high stakes cat and mouse. 

When the deal was broken and the Taliban groups advanced towards the capital, Islamabad, a new phase began.

Abbas says this phase is one that will not end in negotiation – the instructions from the political leaders are to push the campaign until the enemy is defeated. 

Essentially the gloves are off, and the military is operating with the assurance that there will be no pause for any negotiation.  

In addition, the Pakistani forces have been clearing the FATA agencies of terrorist strongholds moving basically West to East. Some reports now indicate the FATA Agencies of Bajuar, Mohmand, and Kurram. The Khyber Agency has been protected from day one since it is the pipeline of goods and materials moving north to Afghanistan. And it looks like Orakzai is the last of these agencies to be cleared as the Pakistanis head toward terrorist central – the two Waziristan agencies in the far east of FATA.

An important commander of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was among the 13 militants killed in air strikes by jets in lower and upper Orakzai Agency on Sunday.

…

Dozens of militants were believed to be killed in Feroze Khel area where a seminary occupied by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was destroyed in the attack.

Officials said it was always difficult to confirm the casualties and other losses because the jets pound thousands of square kilometers in the remotest parts of the tribal area. It takes 12 to 15 hours to reach these areas and get factual information. By that time the militants usually take away the dead bodies and bury them in scattered areas.

The jets also carried out carpet bombing in the mountains near Dabori, Mamozai and Alizai in the upper Orakzai Agency.

This looks to be a smart strategic strike at the heart of the terrorist sanctuaries (contrary to those calling for a slower approach which would allow the terrorists to regroup):

The Pakistani army appears to be extending its campaign against the Taliban beyond the Swat Valley to Waziristan, …

Residents in Jandola told The Washington Times on Friday that they had seen heavy military convoys moving toward the tribal area for the past few days. Sultan Bhittani, a resident of Jandula, told The Times by phone: “The movement of such heavy troops and military vehicles suggests that a new operation may be launched in South Waziristan.”

…

A simultaneous offensive in Waziristan could be intended to inflict damage on the overall command and control of the Taliban because the militants’ leaders – such as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) head Baitullah Mehsud and operational chief Qari Hussain – are based in South Waziristan.

However, Gen. Saad said operations already undertaken in Bajaur, Mohmand and Khyber agencies were making it difficult for the militants to move and to recruit reinforcements.

The armchair generals seem to be out in force trying to find any reason to not decapitate the terrorist leaders. The Pak government is going through the motions of negotiating with Mehsud and his thugs, but I don’t think anyone believes there will be a way to head off the long overdue fight to the finish. The locals are fleeing the area, which means even they know it is time to begin the end game.

In one stunning report it seems Baitullah Mehsud has been left to defend himself by Afghan leader (and Public Enemy for 9-11) Mullah Omar:

Baitullah Mehsud, leader of Pakistan’s insurgents, has been deserted by a key ally – possibly on the orders of Afghanistan’s Taliban leader Mohammed Omar – leaving him isolated before an expected attack by security forces, Taliban sources said.

The commander, Haji Nazeer of South Waziristan tribal agency, had in February formed an alliance, the Shura Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen, with Mr Mehsud and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the top commander of North Waziristan agency, on orders from Mr Omar.

The purpose of ordering the alliance was to rein in Mr Mehsud who, up to that point, had acted as head of the Pakistani Taliban factions, and force him to focus on fighting the growing US military presence across the border in Afghanistan, sources close to Mr Omar said.

“The Amir-ul-Momineen [Mr Omar’s spiritual title] had written three letters to Baitullah, warning him that his attacks inside Pakistan were undermining the jihad in Afghanistan,” said the source, identifying himself only as “Ghaznavi”, a militant tag that indicates his birthplace as Ghazni in Afghanistan.

“Baitullah has failed to listen to the repeated warnings, proving him to be America’s biggest agent against Pakistan,” he said during a recent interview in Karachi.
Mr Omar had decided against making public such views because he did not want to be seen as partisan in Pakistan’s internal affairs, he said. 

Baitullah is also directly linked to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last year. Seems his attacks on fellow Pakistani Muslims is not sitting well, just as al Qaeda in Iraq leader Zaqawa’s violence turned the populace against the terrorists in Iraq and led to the success of The Surge and victory in Iraq over al Qaeda. When the US invaded Iraq al Qaeda was considered by many to be the future of Islam. Now in Iraq, al Qaeda is the enemy of Islam. That change in al Qaeda’s future in Iraq is due in no small part to the diligence and focus of President George W Bush.

This Waziristan area of Pakistan’s FATA  represent the last vestige of the rise of extreme islamism. Let’s hope a sufficient blow can be dealt to send these animals back to the dark ages where they belong. And let’s be thankful President Obama is continuing the policies of George W Bush in what could be the last battlefields in this near-decade long war. 

God’s speed to our forces and to their success.

Four New York men were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to blow up area Jewish centers and military targets. The plot, however, was foiled by undercover agents. 
        
Raids by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force in the Bronx captured the suspected ringleader and three followers in what law enforcement sources are calling a homegrown terrorist plot. 

…

Agents and police watched Wednesday night as the suspects allegedly planted what they thought were bombs outside two Jewish community centers in Riverdale, a Bronx, New York neighborhood. In one case the suspected terrorists planted a bomb inside a parked car.  However, officials said the suspects were actually using fake explosives given to them in an earlier sting operation to make sure they didn’t get their hands on real bombs. 

…

Authorities said they had the plotters under surveillance since June of 2008 and there was “no chance” the alleged scheme could succeed. They credited the work of a long time informant with keeping tabs on the group.

The FBI said the Muslim suspects were angry and full of hate for America.  

…

“Hatred of the West. The leader of the group, James Cromitie was concerned about deaths at the hands of the U.S. military in Afghanistan,” and also expressed anti-Jewish sentiment, Joseph Demarest the head of the New York FBI said.

…

Cromitie was the first to approach the informant, authorities said.  He told the informant he has ties to the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad.  Authorities said Cromitie had 27 past arrests and had recently been working at a nation-wide discount retailer, authorities said.

Several of the suspects have previously been arrested on drug charges and may have converted to Islam in prison, authorities said.

Emphasis mine. One has to wonder how someone tied to a terrorist group which originates inside Pakistan was steered to ‘an informant’. My speculation is Cromitie stayed in contact with his father, and his father is the one who has the ties to JeM. Again, purely speculating, I could envision people believed or known to be associated with a terrorist group outside the US were possibly in contact with Cromitie and/or others, which allowed the FBI to detect the threat and begin to lead these people to the ‘informant’ so they could keep tabs on them and direct them to these dummy weapons.

If the NSA did detect the initial threat under its surveillance of communications from outside the US to people inside the US, and if that detection allowed the FBI to investigate and – over time – trap these murderous thugs, then we may have the first example of the new FISA-NSA guidelines, implemented under Bush to hysterical Chicken Little lies from the left, of these procedures saving American lives.

I also note that there is a now established breeding ground inside our prisons for violent, radical Islam recruitment. This iadds a lot of weight to the statement made by the current head of the FBI I noted yesterday regarding the risk of bringing the GITMO detainees into our prison system. This is one case where we don’t want to keep our enemies close to us, since they are quite able to recruit Americans to do their bloody work. Mueller is right, Obama is wrong, and we don’t need to help our enemies recruit killers from inside our prisons.

Addendum: I know the stories claim there are no ties to outside terrorists organizations. Let’s just say I will not take this claim at face value for numerous reasons. First off, we don’t tip our hand on how we detect these threats. But secondly, and more importantly, I would wager a lot of people would not to taint these legal actions with even the hint the threat was detected through the dreaded NSA-FISA processes, which would bring other legal actions from the ACLU etc, into the mix. While it is completely plausible this was from an informant who freaked over something he learned, it is also plausible the reporting is not completely accurate in all details.