Today's Article
Has Bush
Administration's
focus on Iraq
allowed Al Qaeda to
re-group?
Administration's
focus on Iraq
allowed Al Qaeda to
re-group?
The American Spark
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Bush Officials Admit Al Qaeda Regaining Power
By Cliff Montgomery - Feb. 23rd, 2007
Top leaders of al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established primary control over their once-battered
worldwide terror network, and in the past year have even set up a band of training camps in tribal regions near
the Afghan border, according to a recent New York Times article quoting U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism
officials.
After long denying its possibility, American officials are acknowledging growing evidence that Osama bin
Laden and al Qaeda's top operations man, Ayman al-Zawahri, have been steadily building a base in the
mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.
The Bush Administration has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one
that officials add might be training operatives for eventual strikes against targets outside Afghanistan.
American analysts said recent intelligence reveals that the compounds function under a loose command structure
and are operated by groups of Arab, Pakistani and Afghan militants allied with al Qaeda. They receive guidance
from their commanders and Zawahri, the analysts added. Bin Laden, who in fact has always provided more of an
organizational and monetary role than an operational one, again appears to have little direct involvement in daily
operations.
Groups of 10 to 20 men are being trained at the camps, the officials added, and said the Qaeda infrastructure in
the region is gradually becoming more mature.
The new warnings seem to go in tandem with those made in recent months by intelligence officials and terrorism
experts, who have discussed the growing abilities of Taliban forces and Pakistani militants to launch attacks into
Afghanistan. But the new intelligence is focused on al Qaeda, and points to the prospect that the terrorist network
is gaining in strength, say American officials.
Though not many in Washington will directly admit it, one of the reasons for this resurgence was the Bush
Administration's mad desire to suddenly switch the primary American target in the terror war from al Qaeda to
Saddam Hussein and Iraq, not long after the vicious U.S.-led attack on Tora Bora in 2002. Such a switch
allowed top al Qaeda leaders to regroup and rebuild their organizational structure, at the very moment which had
seemed their darkest hour.
The intelligence and counterterrorism officials would discuss the classified intelligence with the Times only on the
condition of anonymity. They would not provide the paper with some of the evidence which led them to their
assessments, adding that revealing the information may disclose too much about their sources and methods of
intelligence collection.
The worry about a resurgent al Qaeda has been the subject of intensive debate at high levels of the Bush
Administration, the officials acknowledged. The discussions have re-ignited debate about how to best address
Pakistan’s role as a haven for militants without weakening the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the
Pakistani president.
But administration in-fighting about the matter has yet to yield any reasonable solutions, said Washington
officials. One counterterrorism official told the Times that some within the Pentagon were advocating American
strikes against the camps, while others said that such raids could result in civilian casualties.
Some of the Times interviews with officials were granted after John D. Negroponte, then the director of national
intelligence, told Congress last month that “Al Qaeda’s core elements are resilient,” and added that that the
organization was “cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their
leaders’ secure hide-out in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.”
“The chain of command has been re-established,” added one American government official, who said that the
Qaeda “leadership command and control is robust.”
American officials and analysts say numerous factors in Pakistan have come together to allow “core al Qaeda”--a
reference to Bin Laden and his immediate circle--to regain much of its strength. The emergence of a relative
haven in North Waziristan and the surrounding area has allowed senior operatives to more effectively stay in
touch with the outside world through both courier and the Internet.
Experts also question the seriousness of Pakistan’s commitment. They point out that elements of Pakistan’s
military still support the Taliban, which they see as a valuable counter to the rising influence of India, Pakistan’s
regional rival.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, agrees with these new assessments. He recently
told the House Armed Services Committee that al Qaeda “is on the march.”
“Al Qaeda in fact is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it,” because
Qaeda leaders are planning major attacks and inspiring militants to carry out attacks around the globe, he said.
By Cliff Montgomery - Feb. 23rd, 2007
Top leaders of al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established primary control over their once-battered
worldwide terror network, and in the past year have even set up a band of training camps in tribal regions near
the Afghan border, according to a recent New York Times article quoting U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism
officials.
After long denying its possibility, American officials are acknowledging growing evidence that Osama bin
Laden and al Qaeda's top operations man, Ayman al-Zawahri, have been steadily building a base in the
mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.
The Bush Administration has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one
that officials add might be training operatives for eventual strikes against targets outside Afghanistan.
American analysts said recent intelligence reveals that the compounds function under a loose command structure
and are operated by groups of Arab, Pakistani and Afghan militants allied with al Qaeda. They receive guidance
from their commanders and Zawahri, the analysts added. Bin Laden, who in fact has always provided more of an
organizational and monetary role than an operational one, again appears to have little direct involvement in daily
operations.
Groups of 10 to 20 men are being trained at the camps, the officials added, and said the Qaeda infrastructure in
the region is gradually becoming more mature.
The new warnings seem to go in tandem with those made in recent months by intelligence officials and terrorism
experts, who have discussed the growing abilities of Taliban forces and Pakistani militants to launch attacks into
Afghanistan. But the new intelligence is focused on al Qaeda, and points to the prospect that the terrorist network
is gaining in strength, say American officials.
Though not many in Washington will directly admit it, one of the reasons for this resurgence was the Bush
Administration's mad desire to suddenly switch the primary American target in the terror war from al Qaeda to
Saddam Hussein and Iraq, not long after the vicious U.S.-led attack on Tora Bora in 2002. Such a switch
allowed top al Qaeda leaders to regroup and rebuild their organizational structure, at the very moment which had
seemed their darkest hour.
The intelligence and counterterrorism officials would discuss the classified intelligence with the Times only on the
condition of anonymity. They would not provide the paper with some of the evidence which led them to their
assessments, adding that revealing the information may disclose too much about their sources and methods of
intelligence collection.
The worry about a resurgent al Qaeda has been the subject of intensive debate at high levels of the Bush
Administration, the officials acknowledged. The discussions have re-ignited debate about how to best address
Pakistan’s role as a haven for militants without weakening the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the
Pakistani president.
But administration in-fighting about the matter has yet to yield any reasonable solutions, said Washington
officials. One counterterrorism official told the Times that some within the Pentagon were advocating American
strikes against the camps, while others said that such raids could result in civilian casualties.
Some of the Times interviews with officials were granted after John D. Negroponte, then the director of national
intelligence, told Congress last month that “Al Qaeda’s core elements are resilient,” and added that that the
organization was “cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their
leaders’ secure hide-out in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.”
“The chain of command has been re-established,” added one American government official, who said that the
Qaeda “leadership command and control is robust.”
American officials and analysts say numerous factors in Pakistan have come together to allow “core al Qaeda”--a
reference to Bin Laden and his immediate circle--to regain much of its strength. The emergence of a relative
haven in North Waziristan and the surrounding area has allowed senior operatives to more effectively stay in
touch with the outside world through both courier and the Internet.
Experts also question the seriousness of Pakistan’s commitment. They point out that elements of Pakistan’s
military still support the Taliban, which they see as a valuable counter to the rising influence of India, Pakistan’s
regional rival.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, agrees with these new assessments. He recently
told the House Armed Services Committee that al Qaeda “is on the march.”
“Al Qaeda in fact is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it,” because
Qaeda leaders are planning major attacks and inspiring militants to carry out attacks around the globe, he said.