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Iraqis Hold Keys To 'Victory': Lack Of Violence Not Same As Peace
Down the road Monday in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, Iraqi security forces took over responsibility for what had been one of the most violent provinces in Iraq. President Bush heralded this action as a sign of success on the road to "building a democracy in the heart if the Middle East." From where I stand, working with emerging Iraqi political parties inside this war-torn nation, there is a very long road ahead before Mr. Bush's vision is realized.
The restoration of security in Anbar is a great accomplishment by the United States military and Iraqi security forces. Just two years ago, al-Qaida operated freely and conducted routine attacks against American and Iraqi troops. In a village not far from where I am now, the black flag of al-Qaida was raised over the town hall more than once.
The additional U.S. troops provided by the "surge" were helpful in restoring order in Anbar. The real success in routing al-Qaida, however, came not from the force of American arms but from the decision of Sunni tribal leaders to part ways with the insurgency and turn on the foreign fighters of al-Qaida.
During the most violent years of the insurgency here, al-Qaida and some Sunni insurgents had a tactical alliance against the American forces. But Bin Ladin's disciples went too far and tried to incite inter-Islamic civil war with attacks against Iraqi civilians. Finally, the sheiks of Anbar had enough, cut off their support, turned in the al-Qaida operatives they knew and joined the Americans to fight against those who remained. The result is relative peace in Anbar and the drawdown of American forces from that province.
This scene is being repeated in ways large and small across Iraq. After five long years since the U.S. invasion, militias are on the run and order is slowly being restored. For Sunni leaders, they have begun to see the rise of Iranian-backed Shiite influence inside Iraq as a greater threat to them than the presence of U.S. forces...
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In the past few months, Prime Minister Maliki's government in Baghdad has demonstrated that it wants a strong and unified Iraq by taking on extremists from within its own Shiite sect. The Sunni sheiks of Anbar have shown that they want a restoration of stability by ending the insurgency against the Americans and turning their guns on al-Qaida.
This is the time for a deal to bring peace and stability to Iraq, but time is short.
Lack of violence is not the same as peace. The United States should view the quiet in Anbar province not as "mission accomplished." Instead, American diplomacy and our remaining influence in this land should be focused on facilitating a workable alliance between the Sunnis of Anbar and the Shiites ruling in Baghdad... Down the road Monday in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, Iraqi security forces took over responsibility for what had been one ... more -
Joe Biden: Russia, China, India: "The Real War"
Obama's running mate presents the strategic plan for the next administration
by Umberto Pascali
On Aug 27 2008 at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden presented the plan for the real war, the war against China, Russia. He repeated the key points pushed by Zbigniew Brzezinski in his obsessive determination to go to the final clash with Russia and Asia.
For Biden, The greates mistake of the Bush administration was its failure "to face the biggest forces shaping this century. The emergence of Russia, China and India's great powers".
"What was the "consequence of this neglect"? "Russia challenging… Georgia's freedom." The Obama-Biden administration will repair those criminal mistakes... Barack and I will end that neglect. We will hold Russia accountable."
"The wars of the Bush administration were, so to speak the wrong ones.
"The new administration will unchain the real war. The war to confront the emergence of Russia, China, India.
"The war, the real war will have to be waged in Afghanistan/Pakistan - exactly the area where it will be more disruptive for the feared Russia, China India challenge.
"The previous administration was not warmonger enough, according to Biden. The new Democratic administration will increase the number of troops sent in central Asia.
"Then "the real war" against America's enemies will start. "al-Qaida and the Taliban - the people who have actually attacked us on 9/11 - they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks."
"McCain is bad as President because he did not understand the need for the "real war."
"McCain believes that the war in Afghanistan is over. But Obama is the real champion of the US National Security. "One year ago he said 'We need to send two more combat battalions to Afghanistan'…"
"The military establishment is with Obama, in this real war, Biden said. "the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has echoed Barack's call for more troops and John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama was right."
"Bush foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole, with very few friends to help us climb out. And for the last seven years, the administration has failed to face the biggest the biggest forces shaping this century. The emergence of Russia, China and India's great powers, the spread of lethal weapons, the shortage of secure supplies of energy, food and water. The challenge of climate change and the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front in the war on terror.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in recent years and in recent days we once again see the consequences of the neglect, of this neglect, of Russia challenging the very freedom of a new democratic country of Georgia. Barack and I will end that neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its action and we will help Georgia rebuild. I have been on the ground in Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms, this administration's policy has been an abysmal failure. America cannot afford four more years of this failure.And now, now, despite being complacent in the catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama, Barrack Obama is not ready to protect our national security. Now let me ask you this. Whose judgment do you trust? Should you trust the judgment of John McCain when he said only 3 years ago, "Afghanistan - we don't read about it anymore in the papers, because it succeeded"? Or do you believe Barack Obama, who said a year ago, "We need to send two more combat battalions to Afghanistan"?
"The fact of the matter is, al-Qaida and the Taliban - the people who have actually attacked us on 9/11 - they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has echoed Barack's call for more troops and John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama was right." Obama's running mate presents the strategic plan for the next administration by Umberto Pascali ... more -
Biden and the anti-war constituency
Stephen Zunes: Obama's anti-Iraq war stance wiped out by choosing hawk Biden.
Stephen Zunes is a professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus ( http://www.fpif.org ). From 1996 to 1999, he served as chair of the Board of Peaceworkers, a US-based group supporting the non-violent struggle of the Kosovar Albanians and other non-violent movements and peacemakers in areas of conflict. Stephen Zunes: Obama's anti-Iraq war stance wiped out by choosing hawk Biden. ... more -
Poland investigates CIA prisons
Poland's prime minister has requested an investigation into allegations there were secret prisons in the country used by the CIA to hold and question terror suspects between 2001 and 2004.
The request by Prime Minister Donald Tusk was confirmed Monday by government spokesman Jacek Filipowicz.
In September 2006, President Bush acknowledged for the first time that terror suspects have been held in CIA-run prisons overseas, but did not specify where.
Allegations that CIA agents shipped prisoners through European airports to secret detention centers, including compounds in Eastern Europe, were first reported in November 2005. Human Rights Watch later identified Poland — a U.S. ally in Afghanistan and Iraq — and Romania as possible locations of the alleged secret prisons. Both countries have repeatedly denied involvement.
An investigator for the Council of Europe, a leading human rights group, said evidence pointed to the likelihood that planes linked to the CIA carrying terror suspects stopped in Romania and Poland and likely dropped off detainees there. Poland's prime minister has requested an investigation into allegations there were secret prisons in the country used by the CIA ... more -
Swiss foreign minister: 'We should talk to Osama'
The Swiss Foreign Minister says ruling parties must be willing to hold direct talks with Osama bin Laden if they wish to tackle terrorism.
In a Monday address to the annual conference of Swiss ambassadors in Bern, Micheline Calmy-Rey defended the idea of holding dialogue even with groups that are considered by major powers as persona non grata.
"This even goes as far as sitting down at the same table as Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden," Calmy-Rey said.
She explained that organizations such as Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, considered by some countries as 'beyond the pale', are all 'essential in the search for a resolution' of major conflicts worldwide.
"The only force we have ever had is that of words," Calmy-Rey stressed. The Swiss Foreign Minister says ruling parties must be willing to hold direct talks with Osama bin Laden if they wish to tackle terror... more -
Taliban turns lethal: 101 US deaths in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a fighting force - one advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks and claim American lives at a record pace.
The U.S. military suffered its 101st death of the year in Afghanistan last week when Sgt. 1st Class David J. Todd Jr., a 36-year-old from Marrero, La., died of gunfire wounds while helping train Afghan police in the northwest. The total number of U.S. dead last year - 111 - was a record itself and is likely to be surpassed.
Top U.S. generals, European presidents and analysts say the blame lies to the east, in militant sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan. As long as those areas remain havens where fighters arm, train, recruit and plot increasingly sophisticated ambushes, the Afghan war will continue to sour.
"The U.S. is now losing the war against the Taliban," Anthony Cordesman, of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a report Thursday. A resurgent al-Qaida, which was harbored by the Taliban in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks, could soon follow, Cordesman warned.
Cordesman called for the U.S. to treat Pakistani territory as a combat zone if Pakistan does not act. "Pakistan may officially be an ally, but much of its conduct has effectively made it a major threat to U.S. strategic interests."
An influx of Chechen, Turkish, Uzbek and Arab fighters have helped increased the Taliban's military precision, including an ambush by 100 fighters last week that killed 10 French soldiers, and a rush on a U.S. outpost last month by 200 militants that killed nine Americans.
Multi-direction attacks, flawlessly executed ambushes and increasingly powerful roadside and suicide bombs mean the U.S. and 40-nation NATO-led force will in all likelihood suffer its deadliest year in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on a visit to Kabul last week, said he knows that something must "be raised with Pakistan's government, and I will continue to do so." French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who rushed to Afghanistan after the French attack, warned Thursday that "terrorism is winning."
"Military sanctuaries are expanding in the (Pakistani) tribal areas," Gen. David McKiernan, the American four-star general in charge of the 50,000-strong NATO-led force here, told The Associated Press last week. McKiernan has called for another three brigades of U.S. forces - roughly 10,000 troops - to bolster the 33,000 strong U.S. force here. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a figh... more -
Doctors Protest Aafia's Detention
A large number of doctors Wednesday staged a protest outside the Lahore Press Club for the early release of Dr Aafia from the US custody. The protest was organised by the Pakistan Medical Association Lahore.
The protesters were carrying placards and banners inscribed with anti-US slogans. They protested for about half an hour. The protesters demanded the government ensure immediate release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her children.
They also deplored the role of the Pakistani government on the issue of Dr. Aafia and demanded the government highlight the issue at the international level.
Dr Yamin Rashid, Dr Zulfiqar Baig, Dr Izhar Chaudhry, Dr Azeem-ud-Din Zahid, Dr Aleem, Dr Shahid Malik, Dr Zahid and Dr Tanveer Anwar were prominent among the protesters A large number of doctors Wednesday staged a protest outside the Lahore Press Club for the early release of Dr Aafia from the US custo... more -
US Authorities To Level "Qaeda-Linked Terror Charges" Against Dr Aafia
When Pakistani-American doctor Aafia Siddiqui is produced before a US court on September 3, the US authorities would bring grave charges against her ranging from money laundering for Al Qaeda to assisting the terrorist group in other ways, including efforts to procure military equipment.
The US authorities would also bring facts about her past "terror" activities like giving slide shows and rousing speeches to collect donations for the militants' cause in the aftermath of the massacre of Muslims in Bosnia, and spreading Islamic teachings by setting up a non-profit organisation in the US, reported the Daily Times.
The US security and intelligence authorities believe that Dr Aafia was underground of her own will and accord, and that for her own reasons she went "missing" in 2003 from Karachi.
Besides, the US intelligence believes that the terror suspect's three children were in the safe hands of those who were sheltering her. It is noteworthy that her family never lodged a missing person report with the Pakistani police even once during the five years it now claims Siddiqui was in US or/and Pakistani custody, say the US agencies.
Like the previous hearing on August 11, her lawyers may or may not apply for bail, which is likely to be refused. It is not certain that the terrorism-related charges will be slapped on Siddiqui on that day, but it is certain that they will be brought against her eventually, added the paper.
The US security and intelligence authorities also believe that Siddiqui was underground of her own will and accord and for her own reasons since she went “missing” in 2003 from Karachi. She may have been in Pakistan all along or in Afghanistan or in both at different times. US intelligence also believes that Siddiqui’s three children are in the safe hands of those who were sheltering her. It is noteworthy that her family never lodged a missing person report with the Pakistani police even once during the five years it now claims Siddiqui was in US or/and Pakistani custody. In order to assuage domestic opinion on this issue, which has become highly emotional, the government is doing what it can to obtain for her from US authorities both care and comfort in prison. It has even asked for her repatriation to Pakistan, a request that has no chance of being accepted. There is also a legal question mark over her repatriation from Afghanistan to the US without the Pakistan government’s knowledge.
US officials claim that Siddiqui went underground in 2003 and kept eluding them until she surfaced in Ghazni with a young boy (who is in Afghan hands) last month.
Her lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp, who came to Washington last week to meet Ambassador Husain Haqqani, contends that Siddiqui is innocent and she was kept in the same location and her captors were Americans, a charge that the US ambassador to Pakistan has formally denied in a letter published in this newspaper. When Sharp was asked how Siddiqui landed in Afghanistan, she replied that it was a “long story” that could not be told.
As a student, Siddiqui raised funds for the Muslim victims of the Bosnian genocide that she asked to be sent to the Al-Kifah Refugee Centre in Brooklyn, which the Justice Department maintains diverted such funds to militants. She was also involved in the establishment of the Dawa Resource Centre, a programme run from a Boston mosque, distributing Qurans and offering Islamic advice to prison inmates. She also urged women to wear the hijab and refuse to shake hands with men.
In 2002, the FBI questioned her and her then husband Muhammad Amjad Khan, a doctor, about their purchase of night-vision goggles, body armour, and military instruction manuals. Months later, the family returned to Pakistan, where Siddiqui and Khan divorced just before the birth of their third child, according to Sharp.*continues* When Pakistani-American doctor Aafia Siddiqui is produced before a US court on September 3, the US authorities would bring grave charg... more -
Afghans doubt US intentions: report
Afghans believe the United States knows about al Qaeda bases in Pakistan, but does not hit them because it wants an unstable Afghanistan to justify its presence for wider regional goals, a state newspaper said on Wednesday.
While many Afghans have vented such thoughts for some time, it was the first time a state newspaper which generally reflects the government's view has expressed them, and may point to a souring of relations between Afghanistan and its biggest backer.
Ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan, both major U.S. allies in its war against Islamic militants, have hit new lows with the Afghan government accusing Pakistan of funding and training Taliban and al Qaeda fighters for cross-border attacks.
Nearly seven years after U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government for refusing to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks, the heads of the militant groups are still at large and are thought to be hiding in Pakistan.
With more than 70,000 mainly Western troops based in Afghanistan, many Afghans believe the United States and its allies are deliberately not doing enough to halt the threat.
The United States always said it would attack the militants wherever they were, but in reality it has not done so, the state-run Anis daily said.
"The Afghan people have long doubted such claims of foreigners, especially of Britain and America, and their trust about crushing al Qaeda and terrorism has fallen," Anis said.
"The people have the right to think that there is something in the wind," it said. "No one believes stability and peace will be restored to Afghanistan until the training and equipping sites of the Taliban are closed."
U.S. unmanned aircraft have made a number of air strikes on militant leaders inside Pakistan's border region in recent years, but Western analysts say Washington fears large-scale attacks would anger Pakistanis and weaken the government there.
But Anis said Afghans believe Washington wants to keep Afghanistan unstable in order to justify the presence of its troops due to Afghanistan's geographical location bordering Iran and central Asia's rich oil- and gas-producing nations.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been increasingly critical of his Western backers in recent months, saying air strikes against Taliban insurgents have achieved nothing but the deaths of Afghan civilians.
Many in the West and the international community meanwhile have bemoaned Karzai's lack of action against corrupt and inept state officials who undermine efforts to rebuild the country.
Western leaders have set no timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, saying an eventual pull-out depends on when Afghan forces are capable of standing on their own feet. Afghans believe the United States knows about al Qaeda bases in Pakistan, but does not hit them because it wants an unstable Afghanist... more -
Musharraf resigns
Beleaguered president leaves but Pakistan's problems remain.
With opponents vowing to impeach him, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday. According to the Guardian Newspaper Musharraf’s problems are far from over. Though covered for his military coup in 1999 by a constitutional amendment, he has no such protection for the state of emergency he declared last fall, and is thus open to prosecution as long as he remains in Pakistan. There are also a lot of people-mainly Islamic militants-who want to kill him. According to the Hindu newspaper “Musharraf’s exit is unlikely to undo Pakistani militants. “ It goes on to state that the country’s new civilian government has done "little to change Musharraf’s policies in the troubled northwest regions bordering Afghanistan. The coalition government wants to retain close ties to Washington, and support the international fight against Islamic extremism." Beleaguered president leaves but Pakistan's problems remain. ... more -
Saudi Arabia immune in 9/11 case
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, four princes and other Saudi entities are immune from a lawsuit filed by victims of the September 11 attacks and their families alleging they gave material support to al Qaeda, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.
The ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Casey dismissing a claim against Saudi Arabia, a Saudi charity, four princes and a Saudi banker of providing material support to al Qaeda before the September 11 attacks.
The victims and their families argued that because the defendants gave money to Muslim charities that in turn gave money to al Qaeda, they should be held responsible for helping to finance the attacks.
The appeals court found that the defendants are protected under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The court also noted that exceptions to the immunity rule do not apply because Saudi Arabia has not been designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department. NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, four princes and other Saudi entities are immune from a lawsuit filed by victims of ... more -
Al-Qa'eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality
...Al-Qa'eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of everyday life.
They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of Anbar. ...Al-Qa'eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of ev... more -
Female Al Qaeda Operative from US Could Provide 'Treasure Trove' of Inte...
When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the subway system and the animal disease center on Plum Island, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases, as well as a thumb drive packed with emails, ABC News has learned.
Officials believe arrested neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui is a danger to the U.S.
That haul of information has led multiple government sources to describe Siddique, a 36 year-old MIT graduate, as a potential "treasure trove" of information on terrorist supporters, sympathizers or 'sleepers' in the United States and overseas.
"She is the most significant capture in five years," said former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who said she lives up to her reputation as an alleged terrorist 'Mata Hari.'
And there is an eagerness to see what, if anything, she can add to the thin trickle of fresh information on the activities of terrorists and terrorist supporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as what if any risk she might pose to national security. When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential ... more -
Al Qaeda stronger and secure, US analyst say.
U.S. Analyst Depicts Al Qaeda as Secure in Pakistan and More Potent Than Last Year
WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda’s success in forging close ties to Pakistani militant groups has given it an increasingly secure haven in the mountainous tribal areas of Pakistan, the American government’s senior terrorism analyst said Tuesday.
Al Qaeda is more capable of attacking inside the United States than it was last year, and its cadre of senior leaders has recruited and trained “dozens” of militants capable of blending into Western society to carry out attacks, the analyst said.
The remarks Tuesday by the intelligence analyst, Ted Gistaro, were the most comprehensive assessment of the Qaeda threat by an American official since the National Intelligence Estimate issued last summer, which concluded that Al Qaeda had largely rebuilt its haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
A year later, Mr. Gistaro said, the problem has only grown worse, in part because of a symbiotic relationship between Qaeda operatives and Pakistani militant groups based in the tribal areas.
“It is a stronger, more comfortable safe haven than it was for them a year ago,” said Mr. Gistaro, who supervises all intelligence reports on terrorism at the National Intelligence Council. He made his remarks in a speech here to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Al Qaeda’s growing strength inside Pakistan has in recent months prompted new discussions in the Bush administration about using special-operations troops for raids in the tribal areas — an option the White House has long resisted because of the risks.
There is also a growing recognition among senior officials that the Bush administration for years did not take the Qaeda threat in Pakistan seriously enough and relied on President Pervez Musharraf to dismantle networks of militants there.
Mr. Musharraf was in control of Pakistan’s army and intelligence services until elections in February put a civilian government led by his opponents in charge in Islamabad.
Last year, senior Bush administration officials said much of Al Qaeda’s resurgence was made possible by a disastrous cease-fire that Mr. Musharraf brokered with tribal leaders in September 2006.
Yet the grim intelligence assessment Mr. Gistaro presented on Tuesday indicated that American spy agencies believed that the Qaeda threat metastasized long after that cease-fire ended.
In the past several days, militants have forced Pakistani troops to beat a hasty retreat from a Taliban stronghold in the tribal areas. Pakistani forces had tried to recapture a strategic military post in Bajaur, an area where Al Qaeda has forged particularly close ties with local militants.
American military and intelligence officials believe that Pakistani militant networks are engaged in an increasingly violent campaign inside Afghanistan, attacking American and coalition troops as well as civilian targets like the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which a suicide bomber attacked last month.
American spy agencies have also concluded that officers in Pakistan’s powerful Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, which has long maintained ties to militants in the tribal areas, helped carry out the embassy bombing.
Mr. Gistaro did not address the ISI’s relationship with Pakistani militants.
There's more.... U.S. Analyst Depicts Al Qaeda as Secure in Pakistan and More Potent Than Last Year ... more -
Al Qaeda Secure In Pakistan And More Potent Than Last Year...
Al Qaeda's success in forging close ties to Pakistani militant groups has given it an increasingly secure haven in the mountainous tribal areas of Pakistan, the American government's senior terrorism analyst said Tuesday.
Al Qaeda is more capable of attacking inside the United States than it was last year... Al Qaeda's success in forging close ties to Pakistani militant groups has given it an increasingly secure haven in the mountainou... more -
Taliban Bombing Kills14 in Pakistan
After months of trying to negotiate peace with Islamic militants in the volatile Northwest region of the country, the Pakistan government finds itself at war with the Taliban.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the roadside truck bomb calling it "an open war" in retaliation for recent Pakistan military operations in the region. After months of trying to negotiate peace with Islamic militants in the volatile Northwest region of the country, the Pakistan governm... more -
Double blow for Musharraf action from Pakistan parties as well as from Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda has launched a blistering attack on Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of betraying Muslims by supporting the US-led war in Afghanistan.In a rare English language audio message believed to be from Ayman Al Zawahiri, which was aired on Sunday by a Pakistani private TV network, Osama bin Laden's number two called for jihad against Pakistan, listing a litany of charges against Musharraf.Al-Zawahiri said in the tape that Musharraf had betrayed Muslims by supporting the US after the September 11, 2001 attacks in its battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan.Zawahiri urged Pakistanis to rise up against the United States or at least support the insurgents."Pervez has insulted and compromised Pakistan's sovereignty by allowing the CIA and FBI to operate freely in Pakistan and arrest, interrogate, torture, deport and detain any person, whether Pakistani or not, for as long as they like, thus turning the Pakistani army and security agencies into hunting dogs in the contemporary crusade," said the purported tape from al-Zawahiri.The message, the authenticity of which has not been fully confirmed, came as Pakistan's leader fights a critical battle for his political survival, threatened by an impeachment motion by opponents.The Pakistan television channel ARY said the tape was delivered to its office in Islamabad by an unidentified person. People familiar with Zawahiri's voice said the tape could be genuine. Al Qaeda has launched a blistering attack on Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of betraying Muslims ... more
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Algeria city hit by suicide bomb
Eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in northern Algeria, the country's national radio is reporting.
Another 19 people were injured in the blast, which happened overnight in the northern city of Zemmouri, about 50km (31 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The seaside city is a popular holiday destination, particularly during the hot summer months.
Explosives packed into a vehicle detonated outside a police station in the city, reports said.
The attack came a week after more than 20 people were injured when a police station in Tizi Ouzou, another northern city, was targeted by a suicide car bomber.
Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing claimed responsibility for that attack. Eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in northern Algeria, the country's national radio is reporting. ... more -
Bin Laden's driver sentenced to just 5 1/2 years
"A U.S. military jury sentenced Osama bin Laden's driver Thursday to just 5 1/2 years in prison, a surprise rebuke to Pentagon prosecutors who portrayed him as a member of the al-Qaida leader's inner circle worthy of a life sentence."
What total crap. Proved he had no more connection with Al-Qaida then being a chauffeur, his sentence is set at timed served, and the pentagon still threatens to keep him locked away for life! But I suppose if I were them I'd be pissed too. For the first war crime trial since WW2 and the trial that is to set the tone for the others to come it didn't really go the way they were hoping it would.
Injustice has been served. "A U.S. military jury sentenced Osama bin Laden's driver Thursday to just 5 1/2 years in prison, a surprise rebuke to Pentag... more
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