Pockets of al-Qaida fighters in Pakistan are beginning to communicate with one another to regroup and conduct terrorist attacks against targets in Afghanistan and elsewhere. U.S. intelligence has detected communications between these fighters and some Taliban allies, who are operating in small groups on the Pakistani side of the Pakistan-Afghan border. It is unclear who is be leading the effort. A number of senior al-Qaida and Taliban leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, are unaccounted for. The fighters probably number in the hundreds. Many fled the U.S. bombing but are showing signs of planning to regroup.
Shutting down the Talibs was kinda like turning on the light - all the cockroaches that could scurried out of sight. We killed a bunch, but our "allies" decided they could let Cousin Abdul and his friend Mahmud go home if they promised to sin no more. Some actually won't, in fact. Those who do will fall back into the Talifold. Leadership doesn't have to come from Binny or the One-Eyed Ex-Potentate. The Pak nutbags "holy men" are quite happy to help organize a resistance to any kind of civilizing influence, especially when it endangers their cash flow. The same bunch who were sending the truckloads of jihadis across the border in October and November are the ones trying to help the Talibs and the Osamanauts regroup. Musharraf can holler "crackdown" all he wants, but until they're either in jail and incommunicado for long periods or they all have yard-long necks, they're going to present a danger to both countries. |