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POPS Hunt For 9.11 Killers Finds Trail In Pakistan
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 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. 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
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POPSPakistan Dawn, Pakistan Trutherism Obama's military problem is getting worse President Obama is presiding over a slow-motion civil-military crash occasioned by his meandering Afghanistan strategy review. The crash has not yet happened and is avoidable, but it also foreseeable. Of concern, the latest reports out of the White House suggest that Obama's team is not yet fully aware of the dangers. If it happens, it will be a problem entirely of Obama's own making and it could have a lasting impact on the way his administration unfolds. As Rich Lowry has observed, President Obama rarely misses a chance to blame a challenge he is confronting on his predecessor. This rhetorical tic served Obama well during the campaign and probably still resonates with partisans who post anonymous comments on blogs or who suffer from chronic Bush Derangement Syndrome. . . .
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POPSBomber Strikes at Pakistan Air Force On Thursday morning, a senior army officer, Brig. Moinuddin Haider, was assassinated by two gunmen who attacked his jeep during rush-hour traffic in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. The Taliban had warned before the start of the campaign in South Waziristan that they planned to unleash attacks against Pakistan’s military assets. The Taliban attacked the headquarters of the Pakistani Army, in Rawalpindi, in a commando-style raid on October 10. The insurgents took more than 40 civilians and soldiers hostage for 20 hours, and more than 20 people were killed in the siege.
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POPSWaziristan Displaced Crave for Help "“Everyone was running from here to there to get transport. Through there were a few vehicles owned by local people they were useless because of the curfew as all main roads are closed for traffic,” he added. “All had to travel on feet to reach here, with women carrying their kids and men carrying their belongings on their heads and shoulders.” Khan said the journey was difficult. “We would rest for a few minutes after every two to three hours as we could not risk our lives due to the bombings and artillery shelling.” The UN Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says that around 250,000 out of South Waziristan’s total population of 800,000 left. However, independent sources believe 60 percent of the populace has been displaced in the new operation."
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POPSAl-Qaeda Want Our Oxfam Shops "Without this education, many are committing suicide because they see no future for themselves", he sighed. "I'm sure you'll all agree this is a global tragedy and your money will help bring it to an end", he concluded. Many thanks...
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POPS Hammer Wants An Anvil Fawning “Inconvenient Truth Teller” article inside paints him as a sort of goof savant … a bit like Chauncey Gardiner of “Being There,” he’s been in Washington DC his entire life, everyone likes him, and suddenly they think he’s a genius. The three-decade gaffe-and-reverse record requires some acrobatics, though. The Newsweek scribblers clearly like his go-lite, wack-a-mole strategy though they are big enough to admit at the end that people who actually know what they are talking about say it won’t work. It’s not exactly the Joe Biden embed that I wished out loud NYT’s Dexter Filkins would do as a counterbalance to his McChyrstal piece earlier this week,* but close. Some administration officials, led by Biden, appear to hope that American forces can rely more on counterterrorism operations"attacks by Predator drones and small elite units on terrorist hiding places"to hold Afghanistan together and defeat Al Qaeda. But critics call this “splitting the baby" and say . . .
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POPSGunmen Hold Hostages In Pakistan Army Headquarters The spasm of violence was confirmation that the militants had regrouped despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack in August. His replacement vowed just last week to step up attacks around the country and repel any push into Waziristan.
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POPSWhite German al-Qaeda insurgents 
According to German foreign ministry officials a growing number of German families, many of North African descent, have taken up the offer and travelled to Waziristan where supporters say converts make up some of the insurgents' most dedicated fighters. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which has a foothold in several German cities, has capitalised on growing concern over the rising profile of German forces in Afghanistan. Their role has become increasingly controversial in Germany in recent weeks after dozens of civilians were killed in an air strike ordered by German officers. Last night a foreign ministry spokesman told The Daily Telegraph they were now negotiating with Pakistani authorities for the release of six Germans, including "Adrian M", a white Muslim convert, his Eritrean wife and their four year old daughter, who were arrested as they were making their way to the "German village". They are particularly concerned about the welfare of the child.
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POPSBaitullah Mehsud Dead; Hakeemullah New Leader of Pakistani Taliban Two senior Pakistani Taliban leaders thought to have been at odds have confirmed that the former leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan is dead. The leaders also confirmed that Hakeemullah Mehsud is now the new leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, dispelling the rumors of rampant infighting to choose Baitullah’s successors. Hakeemullah and Waliur Rehman Mehsud said that Baitullah died on Sunday night from wounds suffered in the Aug. 5 US Predator strike in South Waziristan. The two Taliban leaders spoke via the phone from the same room to an The Associated Press reporter. "He was wounded. He got the wounds in a drone strike and he was martyred two days ago," Hakeemullah Mehsud told The Associated Press. Waliur repeated the statement to confirm that Baitullah had been killed. Both leaders stated that Hakeemullah is now the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Waliur would take command of the Taliban in South Waziristan.
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POPS'Baitullah Mehsud is Alive' - US Intelligence Official The late night airstrike on a compound operated by Ikramuddin Mehsud, Baitullah's father-in-law, in the village of Zanghra in the mountains near Baitullah's home town of Makeen, killed Baitullah's second wife and two other Taliban fighters. One of Baitullah's two brothers was also reported to have been killed. "We suspect he was killed in the missile strike," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Geo News. "We have some information, but we don't have material evidence to confirm it." Pakistan's chief military spokesman later denied reports that Baitullah was killed. Later in the day, a US intelligence official told ABC News today that "there is strong indication" Baitullah was killed. "Efforts are underway to determine for certain whether it was Mehsud, but there are hopes that it is him," the official told the television network. The Taliban have not issued a statement to confirm or deny Baitullah's death. In the past, the Taliban and al Qaeda have released . . .
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POPSBig Hush-Hush Secret: U.S. Plotted To Kill AQ Leaders In fact, when the U.S. military blew up Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the CIA started lobbing Hellfires into Yemen and Waziristan, I thought that was the basic idea. Kill al-Qaeda leaders. It’s not like they’re the legitimate vile dictators of a legitimate vile enemy state like, I dunno, Nazi Germany, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic Iran or Baathist Iraq … where you’ll recall the United States specifically did try to drop missiles on Saddam’s head. Something’s not right here. Better read on … The official noted that Congress had long been briefed on the finding, and that the CIA effort wasn’t so much a program as “many ideas suggested over the course of years.” It hadn’t come close to fruition, he added. Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said little had been spent on the efforts " closer to $1 million than $50 million. “The idea for this kind of program was tossed around in fits and starts,” he said.
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POPSMeanwhile, Back In Waziristan under the banner of the Taliban. In early 2008, Bahadur's group struck a peace deal with the local administration in North Waziristan, a mountainous tribal region along the Afghan border where the Pakistani government exerts little control. But a spokesman for his group announced Monday that because of U.S. drone bombings and Pakistani military activity, that peace has been shattered. The BBC has coverage and a helpful map, with Afghanistan as an oceanic blue off in the North-west: And a bit more from ABC News: A militant commander who had a non-aggression pact with the Pakistan military has officially scrapped that pact, following a series of CIA drone attacks in the region including one that killed more than 65 at a funeral last week. Posted by Tom Maguire on July 02, 2009
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POPSTaliban commander shot dead in northwest Pakistan "Whatever Baitullah Mehsud and his associates are doing in the name of Islam is not a jihad, and in fact it is rioting and terrorism," Zainuddin told the AP after a mosque suicide bombing attack, blamed on Mehsud, killed 33 people. "Islam stands for peace, not for terrorism." Zainuddin's motive for criticizing Mehsud was not clear, but there was speculation that he was trying to portray himself as a more moderate alternative to the Taliban leader, although there appeared to be little or no differences between the two over fighting U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Daily bombing runs and artillery barrages have been softening up militant targets in South Waziristan for about a week and ground troops have moved into position, the military says, though it says the main offensive has not yet started.
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POPSWhy Does Oprompter Hate America? Which prompts the question: why does President Pantywaist hate America so badly? Daddy issues? Growing up in a third world toliet? Its amazing that America has elected as President somebody who really seems to hate the place.
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POPSPakistani Claims Of Taliban Casualties 'Wildly Exaggerated' - US Officials Meanwhile, the military continues its heay-handed approach to counterinsurgency in the northwest. Multiple reports from the region indicate the Army is shelling villages indiscriminately without allowing civilians to flee the area and with little or no intelligence on the Taliban presence in the region. As the fighting continues in Swat and neighboring Dir and Buner, the Taliban have expanded their operations into the tribal areas and in neighboring districts. Large Taliban forces, operating at the company and battalion level, have conducted attacks on military bases and convoys in Mohmand and South Waziristan, and have been interdicting military convoys in Mardan and Malakand. "The military's engagements in Mohmand and South Waziristan have been defensive in nature," the military officer said. "They're responding to Taliban attacks, not taking the fight to them."
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POPS Pakistan Says 700 Taliban Dead in Swat "The operation will continue until the last Talib," Mr. Malik said in the capital, Islamabad. "We haven't given them a chance. They are on the run. They were not expecting such an offensive." Mr. Malik's casualty number -- which exceeds that given by the military on Sunday by at least 200 -- and his claims of success could not be independently verified. The military is restricting access to the battlefields and many local journalists have also left. The government has not given figures for civilian casualties, but accounts from refugees suggest they are significant. Swat lies near the Afghan border as well as the wild Pakistani tribal areas, where al Qaeda and the Taliban have strongholds and where U.S. officials believe al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden may be hiding. The army says 12,000 to 15,000 troops in Swat face 4,000 to 5,000 militants, including small numbers of foreigners and hardened fighters from the South Waziristan tribal region.
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POPSTribal Violence On the surface this is not an unusual occurrence. What got me thinking is the oft repeated reference to "tribal violence". How does a Westerner relate to this? The only logical connection I came up with that seemed relevant to the present day was street gangs in the US.
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POPS Obama And The CIA He cynically subordinated the national interest to his partisan desire to embarrass the Republicans. Then he had to rush to Langley, Virginia to try to reassure a demoralised CIA that had just discovered the President of the United States was an even more formidable foe than al-Qaeda. "Don't be discouraged by what's happened the last few weeks," he told intelligence officers. Is he kidding? Thanks to him, al-Qaeda knows the private interrogation techniques available to the US intelligence agencies and can train its operatives to withstand them - or would do so, if they had not already been outlawed. So, next time a senior al-Qaeda hood is captured, all the CIA can do is ask him nicely if he would care to reveal when a major population centre is due to be hit by a terror spectacular, or which American city is about to be irradiated by a dirty bomb.
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