OOO...This Loss Might Hurt Them.
ABC News reports that the strike we made last Friday in Pakistan took out an important member in the hierarchy of al Qaeda. Needless to say, the loss they suffered in the strike is going to hurt them. (HT: Michelle Malkin)
ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of three known al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit conference in the village of Damadola.
The United States had posted a $5 million reward for Mursi's capture. He is described by U.S. authorities as the man who ran al Qaeda's infamous Derunta training camp in Afghanistan, where he used dogs and other animals as subjects of experiments with poison and chemicals.
"This is extraordinarily important," said former FBI agent Jack Cloonan, an ABC News consultant, who was the senior agent on the FBI's al Qaeda squad. "He's the man who trained the shoe bomber, Richard Reid and Zacharias Mousssaoui, as well as hundreds of others."
This is indeed an important turn of events in the war on terror. Granted, it would have been nice if we could have caught him alive, but dead is just as good. We are not treating these animals with kid gloves like the "Defeatocrats" would like us to. We play that game, and we are going to get killed. But, in addition to this story coming out of Pakistan is this one. (Yes, I am aware the report comes from The New York Times.)(HT: Captain's Quarters)
The provincial government said Tuesday that in addition to 18 civilians, four or five foreign militants were killed by the American airstrikes on the village of Damadola on Friday, but that their bodies were removed from the scene by companions. In all, 10 to 12 militants had been invited to a dinner in the village that night, it said.
The findings, the first official statement that militants had been among those killed, were from a preliminary joint investigation at the scene by government agencies.
The initial investigation found the attack was "directed against some foreign terrorists who were present in the area at the time of occurrence," the statement said, quoting Fahim Wazir, the political administrator of the Bajaur region, where the attacks took place.
The deaths of 18 civilians, among them 6 children, have stirred anger among the population in Pakistan and put pressure on the government to explain what happened in Bajaur.
Villagers from Damadola insisted to local journalists that there had been no militants in the area that night. Yet President Pervez Musharraf said the day after the strikes that there had been a foreign presence in the village, and he urged the population not to harbor foreign militants.
The government has since come under a flurry of accusations from opponents that Pakistani and American government officials have leaked false information that Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other militants were in the village, in order to make excuses for the attack.
The government statement goes part way to countering those accusations, since the bodies of the militants, it said, were taken away from the scene.
"At least four to five foreign elements had also been killed in the incident, but their bodies were removed from the scene within no time by their companions, so as to suppress the actual reason of the attack," Mr. Wazir said, according to the statement.
"It is highly regrettable that this attack led to the killing of 18 innocent local people," he said, "but this is also an undeniable fact, that at least 10 to 12 foreign miscreants were invited to a dinner in this village on that night." Investigations were continuing, the statement said.
This strike was a success for three specific reasons. First, even if the Pakistanis gave no intelligence in regard to the meeting, our intelligence was correct. Second, the level of the people killed in the raid is irrelevant save the death of the al Qaeda bombmaker. Third, Pakistan is not throwing a hissy fit that we made a strike in their country. And a fourth reason (sorry) is that Pakistan is on the record of telling their citizens to quit harboring these people.
The question that remains is why take the bodies? I heard a lot of those questions when this news broke today that the bodies were moved. The answer is quite simple. Al Qaeda did not want us to know who we killed. They know we are aware of their hierarchy. So, the bigger question on everyone's mind should be who did al Qaeda not want us to know that we killed? Of course, the first name that pops into my mind is al Zawahiri--the main reason for the strike to begin with.
The Pakistanis would not know the answer to this question, unless they are collaborating with our enemy. No al Qaeda people were captured by the Pakistani military, so there is no confirmation on the denial that al Zawahiri missed this meeting. It is a distinct possibility that he was there, and in an effort to keep us guessing, they removed his body. As Captain Ed points out, we have not heard from al Zawahiri since the attacks, and no one has claimed they have seen him. It is highly probable that al Zawahiri was killed.
It would be nice to see that we did indeed get him, but it is not that important right now. We took out Mursi, and I am sure a good chunk of the leadership of al Qaeda in one strike. This is a blow that could hurt them short-term, and therefore it is time we press the advantage both in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
The Bunny ;)
ABC News reports that the strike we made last Friday in Pakistan took out an important member in the hierarchy of al Qaeda. Needless to say, the loss they suffered in the strike is going to hurt them. (HT: Michelle Malkin)
ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of three known al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit conference in the village of Damadola.
The United States had posted a $5 million reward for Mursi's capture. He is described by U.S. authorities as the man who ran al Qaeda's infamous Derunta training camp in Afghanistan, where he used dogs and other animals as subjects of experiments with poison and chemicals.
"This is extraordinarily important," said former FBI agent Jack Cloonan, an ABC News consultant, who was the senior agent on the FBI's al Qaeda squad. "He's the man who trained the shoe bomber, Richard Reid and Zacharias Mousssaoui, as well as hundreds of others."
This is indeed an important turn of events in the war on terror. Granted, it would have been nice if we could have caught him alive, but dead is just as good. We are not treating these animals with kid gloves like the "Defeatocrats" would like us to. We play that game, and we are going to get killed. But, in addition to this story coming out of Pakistan is this one. (Yes, I am aware the report comes from The New York Times.)(HT: Captain's Quarters)
The provincial government said Tuesday that in addition to 18 civilians, four or five foreign militants were killed by the American airstrikes on the village of Damadola on Friday, but that their bodies were removed from the scene by companions. In all, 10 to 12 militants had been invited to a dinner in the village that night, it said.
The findings, the first official statement that militants had been among those killed, were from a preliminary joint investigation at the scene by government agencies.
The initial investigation found the attack was "directed against some foreign terrorists who were present in the area at the time of occurrence," the statement said, quoting Fahim Wazir, the political administrator of the Bajaur region, where the attacks took place.
The deaths of 18 civilians, among them 6 children, have stirred anger among the population in Pakistan and put pressure on the government to explain what happened in Bajaur.
Villagers from Damadola insisted to local journalists that there had been no militants in the area that night. Yet President Pervez Musharraf said the day after the strikes that there had been a foreign presence in the village, and he urged the population not to harbor foreign militants.
The government has since come under a flurry of accusations from opponents that Pakistani and American government officials have leaked false information that Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other militants were in the village, in order to make excuses for the attack.
The government statement goes part way to countering those accusations, since the bodies of the militants, it said, were taken away from the scene.
"At least four to five foreign elements had also been killed in the incident, but their bodies were removed from the scene within no time by their companions, so as to suppress the actual reason of the attack," Mr. Wazir said, according to the statement.
"It is highly regrettable that this attack led to the killing of 18 innocent local people," he said, "but this is also an undeniable fact, that at least 10 to 12 foreign miscreants were invited to a dinner in this village on that night." Investigations were continuing, the statement said.
This strike was a success for three specific reasons. First, even if the Pakistanis gave no intelligence in regard to the meeting, our intelligence was correct. Second, the level of the people killed in the raid is irrelevant save the death of the al Qaeda bombmaker. Third, Pakistan is not throwing a hissy fit that we made a strike in their country. And a fourth reason (sorry) is that Pakistan is on the record of telling their citizens to quit harboring these people.
The question that remains is why take the bodies? I heard a lot of those questions when this news broke today that the bodies were moved. The answer is quite simple. Al Qaeda did not want us to know who we killed. They know we are aware of their hierarchy. So, the bigger question on everyone's mind should be who did al Qaeda not want us to know that we killed? Of course, the first name that pops into my mind is al Zawahiri--the main reason for the strike to begin with.
The Pakistanis would not know the answer to this question, unless they are collaborating with our enemy. No al Qaeda people were captured by the Pakistani military, so there is no confirmation on the denial that al Zawahiri missed this meeting. It is a distinct possibility that he was there, and in an effort to keep us guessing, they removed his body. As Captain Ed points out, we have not heard from al Zawahiri since the attacks, and no one has claimed they have seen him. It is highly probable that al Zawahiri was killed.
It would be nice to see that we did indeed get him, but it is not that important right now. We took out Mursi, and I am sure a good chunk of the leadership of al Qaeda in one strike. This is a blow that could hurt them short-term, and therefore it is time we press the advantage both in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 6:20 PM
1 Comments:
The facts of the air strike result is so confusing, I relying on you and the other bloggers to give me the results I can rely on. Thank you. Rawriter
Post a Comment
<< Home