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| India-Pakistan |
| Al-Guardian on the al-Zawahiri hit |
| 2006-01-15 |
| The missiles were deadly accurate. In the pitch dark of a night in Pakistan's sparsely populated North West Frontier Province, they not only located the three targeted houses on the outskirts of the village of Damadola Burkanday but squarely struck their hujra, the large rooms traditionally used by Pashtun tribesmen to accommodate guests. Yesterday some of the results of the strike were very clear: three ruined houses, mud-brick rubble scattered across the steeply terraced fields, the bodies of livestock lying where thrown by the airblast, a row of newly dug graves in the village cemetery and torn green and red embroidered blankets flapping in the chilly wind. Four children were among the 18 villagers who died in the brutally sudden attack on their homes. Yet evidence emerging appeared to indicate that, though the technology that guided the missiles to their targets at 3am on Friday was faultless, the intelligence that had selected those targets was not. Even as American military and intelligence sources spoke of the possible death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda and the man considered to be the brains behind the militant group's strategy, Pakistani officials said that there was no evidence any 'foreigners', shorthand locally for al-Qaeda fighters, were among the 18 victims, though they said that 'according to preliminary investigations there was foreign presence in the area'. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #9 And, then we do what we need to do to find and bring to justice (dead or alive) the SOBs who are urging terror on innocents around the world. That's also for our own sakes .... |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-01-15 17:11 |
| #8 I understand the MOAB sentiments, but think on balance Steve is right. For OUR sakes We are precise. We work off the best information we can find, and we always work to get more. We don't deliberately target civilians. We take great care not to harm innocents. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-01-15 17:10 |
| #7 AP and all make good points. Those goat herding warrirs think they are an independent country until someone pops their cap. Bunch of pussies. In any case...the message now should loud and clear in the wilds of that goat-buggering Province. No more Mister Nice Guy. If you and your family harbor AQ, or taliwhackers you are in trouble. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-01-15 14:49 |
| #6 And whoever the dinner guests were who got zapped were legitimate targets. I tend to agree with Steve White's sentiments, but I believe that whever the terrorist leader is, that venue is a legitimate target. People need to understand that the terrorist leader is a liability and that even his presence will hurt them if they let him hang around them. Finding these ideal venues to zap a terrorist leader is extremely difficult and time consuming. Take Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, for example. He hid around civilians, making himself almost impossible to take out. Then he was finally taken out, pretty clean hit, but the Paleos hate the Israelis anyway. In the case of hits in the NWFP, they will always be difficult to impossible, because the venues will never be ideal. Intel is so hard to get and maintain without compromise. The terrorists are protected by the tribes and the ISI. But it is still a sanctuary for terrorist heirarchy and it cannot allowed to fester. Tough calls, but the terrorist leadership must always be pressured and on the run. The tribes living in the NWFP need to realize that their are harboring a liability and not an asset. Fine line on hits, but judgements must be made and we must keep the pressure on the leadership. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-01-15 12:57 |
| #5 Two things happenedthat night. First, if we did not get Z we got someone important enough to be removed like the article posts. Second we have sent a very clear message to every Pak that lives in a mud hut that if you provide sanctuary to AQ leaders we will send in the helfires. This was a win at the end of the day. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-01-15 09:03 |
| #4 hours before the strike some unidentified guests had arrived at one home and that some bodies had been removed quickly after the attack. This was denied by villagers I got 10000 dinars and 7 goats for each of you gents who denies we wuz here. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-01-15 06:28 |
| #3 its amazing--the pakis say we didn't get him--yet yet they don't know where he is--so how do they instantaneously know he's still alive?--can anyone say isi--i believe the villagers--there is no lying in islam--oy--more taquiyya for the kufr--i hope he's paste and mist and some residual dna for id purposes only |
| Posted by: SON OF TOLUI 2006-01-15 02:36 |
| #2 No, no, no. No MOAB. We are precise. We work off the best information we can find, and we always work to get more. We don't deliberately target civilians. We take great care not to harm innocents. We treat people well when they deserve to be treated well. We punish our own when they fail to abide by our moral code. Splattering a whole village to get Zawahiri isn't worth it. We'll get him eventually. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-01-15 01:32 |
| #1 Should have just used a MOAB on the village and not told anybody.. After the snow melts somebody might have missed them but by then no evidence... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-01-15 01:12 |