U.S. weighs new covert push in Pakistan - NY Times

It seems slightly preposterous this wasn't already happening.

Just how many other tools in the toolbox are not being used against al Qaeda and the Taleban?

Sort of makes me curious just how serious Dim Son is taking all this.

Senior U.S. officials, concerned over intelligence reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban are more intent on destabilizing Pakistan, are considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations there, the New York Times said on Sunday.

Citing senior Bush administration officials who spoke off the record, the Times said that while no decisions had been made, the options under discussion included the CIA working with the military's Special Operations forces.

Several participants in a meeting on Friday argued that the threat to President Pervez Musharraf's government was now so acute that Musharraf and the country's military leadership were likely to grant Washington more latitude, the Times said.

Among those reported at the meeting were Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top national security advisers to President George W. Bush.

Via Reuters.

Pissing in the wind, but...

Just another post about getting on with your fucking life and ignoring the terror threats from Bush.

Fox News: Al Qaeda is causing the CA wildfires.

In the wee small hours of the morning, there are literally thousands of miles of US Interstate highways virtually empty. It would be easy to plant IEDs to later be detonated by cell phone from miles away.

In the Philippines, there was a "bomb" at a mall which killed 10 and injured 100 (nice round numbers). Later reports said it was not a "bomb", but structural integrity of the mall. However, a small, well placed bomb could have done the same damage.

Folks, there are probably hundreds if not thousands of low-tech ways to kill you, but they don't happen.

You still are more likely to die commuting to work than you are from a terrorist attack. Live with it.

And then there's the inadequacy of agencies to deal with a higher-tech dirty bomb. Muahahaha.

If you want to hide under your bed or in the closet, be my guest.

This is a periodic public service announcement from SPIIDERWEB™.

Don't get me started on fast food.

Al-Qaida Links Cited in Bhutto Bomb

I'm sorry, but I just can't accept all attacks anywhere in the world have a link to al Qaeda.

There are two reasons for my thinking this way. The first is Russia, the US, China have enormous militaries and they can be defeated everywhere by a rag tag group? Give me a break.

The second reason is simpler. No one can duplicate the al Qaeda style? Jesus H Christ with spinach in his teeth, this is just nonsense. How much training and expertise does it take for someone to strap on some explosives and blow shit up? Duh.

A top provincial security official said Friday that the suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaida-linked, pro-Taliban warlord based near the Afghan border.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf labeled the attack part of a "conspiracy against democracy," reaching out to the former prime minister with whom he is trying to forge a pro-U.S., anti-militant alliance.

The "signature at the blast site and the modus operandi" suggested the involvement of militants linked to warlord Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaida, said Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem, the head security official in the province where Mehsud is based.

Via AP.

War on terror seen fuelling al Qaeda

Jesus H Christ with dark glasses, why am I struggling at near poverty when I could be raking in the big bucks just by writing reports on things we all know?

I do have to start my own think tank.

Six years after the September 11 attacks in the United States, the "war on terror" is failing and instead fuelling an increase in support for extremist Islamist movements, a British think-tank said on Monday.

And apparently I wouldn't even have to get dressed. Kewl.

Via Reuters.

Iraqi Shi'ite bloc cutting ties with majority alliance

A very unfortunate event. This will weaken the Iraq government and now puts al-Sadr out there to do whatever he wants (as if he hadn't already). I won't link, but I've mentioned often al-Sadr has to be dealt with. Maliki is a puppet compared to al-Sadr.

The Iraqi government's Parliament base fragmented yesterday with the defection of a hard-line Shi'ite bloc.

The followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced that they were withdrawing from the Shi'ite alliance in Parliament, where they hold 30 of the 275 seats.

Separately yesterday, an Al Qaeda front group threatened to assassinate Sunni leaders who "stained the reputations" of their people by supporting Americans.

The two developments cast doubt over prospects for political and military progress in Iraq as the US Senate gears up for a debate this week on Democratic demands for deeper and faster troop cuts than President Bush plans.

The threat against Sunni leaders came from the Islamic State of Iraq, which claimed responsibility for the assassination Thursday of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the organizer of the Sunni Arab revolt against Al Qaeda in Anbar Province. Bush met Abu Risha at a US base in Anbar this month and praised his courage.

In an Internet posting, the Islamic State said it had formed "special security committees" to track down and "assassinate the tribal figures, the traitors, who stained the reputations of the real tribes by submitting to the soldiers of the Crusade" and the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

BTW, where was I? When did Islamic State of Iraq become an operative term? I was just getting used to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Via Boston Globe.

US bribe insurgents to fight Al-Qaeda

What? Blackwater can't supply enough mercenaries? What is this world coming to?

AMERICAN forces are paying Sunni insurgents hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to switch sides and help them to defeat Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The tactic has boosted the efforts of American forces to restore some order to war-torn provinces around Baghdad in the run-up to a report by General David Petraeus, the US commander, to Congress tomorrow.

And the koinky-dinks just keep piling up. The New Osama tape (includes transcript)? Thompson's candidacy? Remembrance of 9/11?

No, I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories, well, not most, but I do point out Koinky-dinks. This seems like one gigantic dog and pony show to take people's minds off the "Petraeus" report.

Isn't this a perfect convergence of news for some people? Just asking.

Via BlackListedNews.

Bush to say Iraq is front line against Iran, Al-Qaeda

Here comes another shot over the bow of Iran. Bush is ruthlessly relentless in painting Iran as an enemy. One that will have to be dealt with (read attacked) sooner or later.

US President George W. Bush on Tuesday will describe Iraq as the front-line against Shiite extremism championed by Iran and the Sunni extremism of Al-Qaeda, an aide said Monday.

Bush was due to level the charge in a speech to the American Legion veterans group, the second of two presidential addresses meant to bolster support for the war in Iraq ahead of a critical September 15 progress report.

"The president will talk about Sunni extremism and Shia extremism. Neither represents Islam. They represent a brutal and heartless ideology of death and destruction," a senior aide told reporters in a preview of the speech.

"Sunni extremism is embodied by Al Qaeda and its many affiliates. Shia extremism by Iran and its support of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban and its pursuit of nuclear technology," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Via Agence France-Presse.

Lieberman Shrugs Off Failed Iraq Predictions, Now Claims ‘Road To Victory’ Goes Through Syria

True Blue Liberable has this little gem from dopey Lieberman. Which, when juxtaposed against this, suggests dopey is about to fall over because of how far he's leaning to the right.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) writes today in the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. “road to victory” in Iraq goes through Damascus, and urges Congress to “send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime“:

The United States is at last making significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq–but the road to victory now requires cutting off al Qaeda’s road to Iraq through Damascus. […]

Why isn't the MSM picking this up?

And how many other things are being kept from Americans. Americans aren't perfect and most know it. The government and the military aren't perfect and most know it. Be honest.

US attacks in Somalia killed al Qaeda fighters.

Attack helicopters strafed suspected al Qaeda fighters in southern Somalia on Tuesday, witnesses said, following two days of air strikes by U.S. forces — the first U.S. offensives in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed here in 1993.

In Washington, a U.S. intelligence official said American forces killed five to 10 people in an attack on one target in southern Somalia believed to be associated with al Qaeda. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity, said a small number of others present, perhaps four or five, were wounded.

To be fair, the story does say "suspected".

There has been no confirmation so far of any targeted al Qaeda suspects being killed in Somalia, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday.

Ethiopia is working closely with the United States to identify Islamist fighters killed in neighbouring Somalia in recent clashes, including U.S. air strikes, Meles said.

"We do not have definite information on a number of the key al Qaeda targets. There are reports that one or two of them might have died but we have no confirmation," he told the FT.

(read more)