Pakistanis Claim They Tried To Kill Al-Zawahiri ...
But according to Allah @ Hot Air, that may not be the case. Bill Roggio that may not be the case. Mr. Roggio admits that al-Zawahiri was present at the meeting (a fact in dispute by the WaPo, which claims he was gone by the time the strike occurred), and he believes that it is possible he might have still been there.
In addition, Mr. Roggio does not buy the credit claim by the Pakistanis:
While the Pakistanis are taking credit for this strike, the question arises as to whether this may have been conducted by Task Force 145, the U.S. special operations terrorist hunter-killer teams. Task Force 145 was responsible for the April raid in Danda Saidgai on the al-Qaeda’s training camp for Osama bin Laden’s Black Guard, his elite praetorian guard. Pakistan initially took credit for the Danda Saidgai strikes, but the Washington Post later revealed this was indeed a U.S. mission. Dawn notes the raid occurred “at around 5:00 am,” which means it was conducted in the dark. Pakistani helicopter pilots would need night training in flight and targeting.
I am not up-to-speed on Task Force 145. That would be Thomas's forte. He keeps a close eye on our special forces units hunting down the al-Qaeda animals. Mr. Roggio obviously knows a bit more about the Pakistanis than the WaPo. His statement makes it clear that the Pakistanis lack the flight training necessary for such a strike. Meanwhile, it is more plausible that Task Force 145 had a hand in blowing up that meeting.
The Pakistanis believe they did not kill al-Zawahiri, citing that he was not present, but they do believe that they did nail another deputy--Maulana Liaquat. And there is a possibility that Faqir Mohammed, a chief al-Zawahiri deputy might have been killed. But the WaPo states that he left about a half hour before the strike.
The Bajaur region is speculated to be another stronghold of al-Qaeda's in Paskistan. This is unconfirmed speculation, but if that is true, then the problems with Pakistan continue to mount. They have already virtually ceded the Waziristan region to them. I was going to point out that had the Pakistanis carried out this strike, it is entirely plausible that someone in Musharraf's government could have tipped al-Zawahiri off to the raid, and he and his deputy departed. But that would be giving credence to a report that already does not seem right. And yes, I am aware that it sounds like some nutty conspiracy theory, but we would be remiss in not entertaining the idea.
Regardless of who carried it out, they missed. Al-Zawahiri was not there. And the hunt still continues for him and Osama. But, I will take Bill Roggio's word on the matter, and chalk this up to our boys in the field. Which means that the Democrats claim that we have given up on trying to catch or kill Osama and al-Zawahiri holds no water. Not that it did, in the first place. But I like stories like this to runb their noses in misplaced allegations.
Marcie
But according to Allah @ Hot Air, that may not be the case. Bill Roggio that may not be the case. Mr. Roggio admits that al-Zawahiri was present at the meeting (a fact in dispute by the WaPo, which claims he was gone by the time the strike occurred), and he believes that it is possible he might have still been there.
In addition, Mr. Roggio does not buy the credit claim by the Pakistanis:
While the Pakistanis are taking credit for this strike, the question arises as to whether this may have been conducted by Task Force 145, the U.S. special operations terrorist hunter-killer teams. Task Force 145 was responsible for the April raid in Danda Saidgai on the al-Qaeda’s training camp for Osama bin Laden’s Black Guard, his elite praetorian guard. Pakistan initially took credit for the Danda Saidgai strikes, but the Washington Post later revealed this was indeed a U.S. mission. Dawn notes the raid occurred “at around 5:00 am,” which means it was conducted in the dark. Pakistani helicopter pilots would need night training in flight and targeting.
I am not up-to-speed on Task Force 145. That would be Thomas's forte. He keeps a close eye on our special forces units hunting down the al-Qaeda animals. Mr. Roggio obviously knows a bit more about the Pakistanis than the WaPo. His statement makes it clear that the Pakistanis lack the flight training necessary for such a strike. Meanwhile, it is more plausible that Task Force 145 had a hand in blowing up that meeting.
The Pakistanis believe they did not kill al-Zawahiri, citing that he was not present, but they do believe that they did nail another deputy--Maulana Liaquat. And there is a possibility that Faqir Mohammed, a chief al-Zawahiri deputy might have been killed. But the WaPo states that he left about a half hour before the strike.
The Bajaur region is speculated to be another stronghold of al-Qaeda's in Paskistan. This is unconfirmed speculation, but if that is true, then the problems with Pakistan continue to mount. They have already virtually ceded the Waziristan region to them. I was going to point out that had the Pakistanis carried out this strike, it is entirely plausible that someone in Musharraf's government could have tipped al-Zawahiri off to the raid, and he and his deputy departed. But that would be giving credence to a report that already does not seem right. And yes, I am aware that it sounds like some nutty conspiracy theory, but we would be remiss in not entertaining the idea.
Regardless of who carried it out, they missed. Al-Zawahiri was not there. And the hunt still continues for him and Osama. But, I will take Bill Roggio's word on the matter, and chalk this up to our boys in the field. Which means that the Democrats claim that we have given up on trying to catch or kill Osama and al-Zawahiri holds no water. Not that it did, in the first place. But I like stories like this to runb their noses in misplaced allegations.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:41 PM
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