Osama bin Laden, left, sits with his adviser and successor Ayman al-Zawahri, on November 10, 2001. Zawahiri, an Egyptian, is now the head of Al-Qaeda. REUTERS/HAMID MIR/EDITOR/AUSAF NEWSPAPER FOR DAILY DAWN
Jeff Stein, Newsweek: Ayman al-Zawahiri: How a CIA Drone Strike Nearly Killed the Head of Al Qaeda
He has been the forgotten man in the West’s desperate campaign to obliterate the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). He didn’t even merit a cameo in the celebratory coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs in 2011. For several years, he has been described as the leader of a spent force.
Yet Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s mentor and successor, remains a key player in an attack threat to America that retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, the U.S. homeland security secretary, says is "worse today than what we experienced 16 years ago on 9/11.” And if officials in the Donald Trump administration have their way, al-Zawahiri’s name will soon be as familiar to the world as bin Laden’s once was.
The White House signaled a new, tougher approach to eliminating al-Zawahiri and his militant allies in early April with the appointment of Lisa Curtis to head the South Asia desk for the National Security Council. A well-known former CIA analyst, congressional staffer and foreign policy hawk in Washington, D.C’s think-tank circuit, Curtis caused a stir in February when she co-authored a piece arguing that the U.S. “should...hold Pakistan accountable for the activities of all terrorist groups on its soil.”
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WNU Editor: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has always been a high priority target for U.S. intelligence and the military, doubly so if theses reports are true .... An Islamic State - Al Qaeda Alliance? (April 18, 2017). But if reports that Pakistan is protecting him are true .... Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's successor, sheltered by Pakistan's ISI: Report (IBTimes) .... he is not going to be an easy target to get.
1 comment:
"But if reports that Pakistan is protecting him are true .... "
Which is 50% of the reason you need to abandon Afghanistan.
You just give as a reason for throwing in the towel.
You say that it might not be casus belli but it is damn near. The only reason why it would not be cause for war is that other nations falsely and vindictively would say it is not and cause problems. They same would be said of a certain percentage of the population.
To hurt Pakistan in a war you do not need to invade them. Just wipe out their Air Force and navy and a few thing s, like that. Wipe out their tanks and they will be afraid of India, Iran and Russia. Forget what laguini spine Colin Powell said about the pottery barn rule. Who is Colin? In the final analysis he was a punk.
Powell went after Scooter Libby? Really? It was Powells' lieutenant Armitage leaked the Valerie Plame stuff and then stood aside. Armitage is a punk too.
Or you enact trade and cultural sanction on Pakistan. Like no Pakistani student going to the U.S.
There are good people in Pakistan but they do not seem anywhere near as numerous as the bad ones. Screw the Pakistani government.
The other 25% to 50% would be that the Afghans seem by and large seem uninterested or incapable of helping themselves. The current Afghan President seems solid. I like him. But what about the next election. Will we get another Karzai mother ______?
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