Zawahiri Dead?....OOOPS! Thank God, Jack Bauer will be back tomorrow night with 24 on Fox-no more mess-ups in the counterterrorism war. I'm
astonished that these incompetent criminals running the government now
continue to get away with this crap. They bomb our allies, threaten to
bomb a news organization, shoot Italian journalists, let the Al Queda
"number one" escape, turn Iraq into a staging crowd for future
terrorists, and then have the nerve to call anybody who questions them
a traitor.
Seems we bombed Pakistan yesterday.
The strike killed at least 17 villagers in the remote northwestern part
of the country along the border with Afghanistan, including a number of
children. Just not our target -- Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama Bin Laden's
second in command.
Pakistan
has not granted American forces in Afghanistan the right to cross the
border, even in pursuit of militants. American-led coalition forces
clashing with militants in the mountainous province of Kunar say they
have often been frustrated by their foes' use of Pakistan as a
sanctuary....
This is the second report of an American attack on
civilians in a Pakistani tribal region in recent days. Eight people,
including women and children, were reported killed last Saturday when a
helicopter fired at the house of a local cleric in North Waziristan
close to the Afghan border.
Pakistan lodged a strong protest
with coalition forces on Monday, but said it was still investigating
whether the missiles had been fired from Pakistani airspace or from
Afghan territory.
AP is reporting
that the Pakistanis have filed a formal protest with the US Ambassador
today, but that an investigation into what happened is still ongoing.
Senior Pakistani officials tell another AP reporter that the CIA was acting on false information, and that thousands of local tribesmen have been protesting the US action.
Zawahiri is certainly a worthy target for capture, having participated
in a substantial amount of the planning for al Qaeda operations with
Bin Laden for years. But we've had enormous problems with intelligence
in this region of Pakistan, where tribal rivalries and desire for
obtaining monetary rewards have played a large part in several
retribution tips that have not panned out.
CNN is funny. They get the Pakistani Foreign Minister on the phone
to talk about if this guy was killed or not. Dude immediately cuts off
Tony Harris and announces Pakistan is launching a formal protest over
the airstrikes. Tony seems a bit shaken. Says, "but, but, but our
sources say the information came from Pakistani intel, isnt that right,
right?" Dude says no, that's not right and oh how bout this: Of COURSE,
mass anti-American protests going on right on in the streets of
Pakistan.
...hmmm hadn't seen that on any US traditional media.
Anyway, Tony tries to get back to if the guy was killed or not and dude pretty much just cuts him off and the interveiw is over.
Then,
unbeleivably, they go to the Asian chick and she spends the next 15
seconds blubbering about if the guys is dead or not and they're doing
DNA testing and conflcting information. Talk about ignoring the
elephant in the room.
CNN running from a huge story dumped
right in their lap. Pakistan says this airstrike a violation of
international law and their sovreignty. Now on to house call with Jerry
Willis...
OBTW, five minutes before this live bit of direct
evidence that CNN is nothing but a mouthpiece for BushCoGOP, they had
some stern looking white guy with a "military expert" type of title
saying:
"It's a big blow to AQ that this guys is dead. It's a
big blow to AQ that this guys is dead. It's a big blow to AQ that this
guys is dead. It's a big blow to AQ that this guys is dead... you
know.. if he's dead."
This sort of
substantial action, if it turns out to have been based on a false tip,
won't make things any better -- and, in fact, may drive more of the
tribal elders who have been sitting on the fence into the anti-American
camp. Just what we don't need, with so many of our intelligence assets
engaged in our Iraqi Adventure at the moment.
Now Pakistan is apparently pissed. The U.S. had agreed not to conduct operations in their territory. So, let's recap:
1. Bad intelligence regarding #2 2. Air strike in Pakistan, where not allowed. 3. Kill mostly civilians.
All the earmarks of a Shrub operation. The modern right, the modern conservative, and the modern Republican
all agree - If you're guilty by suspicion, then you deserve the
punishment!
Seems we 
