| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Shahzad a 'lone wolf': Petraeus |
| 2010-05-09 |
| [Dawn] A senior US military commander and a lawmaker said on Friday they believed the man who tried to bomb New York's Times Square was a 'lone wolf'. Gen David Petraeus, who oversees America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, told a US news agency there was no indication that Faisal Shahzad worked with others in concocting the terror attack or the homemade bomb. "We don't know that this individual did something that escaped in some way our ability to pick up on either his trip to Pakistan or some other case," said Congressman Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, when asked at a news conference why US intelligence agencies failed to learn about Faisal's links to the Taliban. Gen Petraeus, however, told AP that Faisal was "inspired by militants in Pakistan but didn't have direct contact with them". On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that US investigators were "increasingly convinced that (Faisal's) accounts to interrogators, in particular his assertion that he was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, are on the mark". The report, quoting anonymous intelligence sources, also claimed that US officials had identified an "overseas courier" who funnelled money to Shahzad for the failed terrorist attack. The Obama's administration believed that drone attacks were not adequate in thwarting militant attempts on the West. And it was considering an "expanded training mission" by US Special Forces to establish enough "confidence" in the Pakistani military to launch offensives against militant strongholds in North Waziristan, a press report said. The US administration did not share the media's enthusiasm, particularly when it came to browbeating Pakistan. "We have dramatically increased our partnership with Pakistan -- intense security cooperation, supporting Pakistan's largest offensive against terrorism within borders -- within its borders in years, an offensive that is focused not just on Al Qaeda, but on the Pakistani Taliban as well," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Mr Gibbs also downplayed the suggestion that Faisal had received training at a camp in North Waziristan. "The specific region was not, as I recall, brought up in great detail today," said the White House spokesman when asked if President Barack Obama had discussed the terror camps in North Waziristan with his war council on Thursday. "Suffice to say that many regions in Pakistan have been the focus of our cooperative work with Pakistan, the government of Pakistan for the length of our administration, understanding that we have a threat that continues from that region of the world." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 If we do not fully understand our enemy, look at him through un-jaded eyes, and call what we see and understand to be facts, despite our social PC blinders, we will certainly lose to our enemy. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-05-10 00:01 |
| #15 A key point is that al Naji specifically calls for Muslims to do this individually as well as through organized networks. It got a lot of intel attention when it was translated. This is a good overview. Thanks for writing that, lotp. I'm beginning to think that one of the main problems we're facing is that we're on the receiving end of a lot of organized and unorganized distributed economic warfare and don't seem interested in recognizing that fact. Dealing with each new shoe bomber or whatnot is proving to be a lot more expensive than the plastic explosives they're equipped with. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-05-09 22:01 |
| #14 "Our political class has to quit warring with the American people--we are not the enemy." In their eyes, we are, John. And right this minute, the reverse is also true. They don't want citizens - they want serfs. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-05-09 21:58 |
| #13 Coughlin's basic argument can be found online here. He has since argued strenuously against the cleansing of references to Islam, terrorism and jihad from official records such as the original report on Hassan's attacks on fellow soldiers. Some are quietly listening but it's a hugely uphill climb with those in office. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-05-09 21:34 |
| #12 BS, no this does not give me much comfort. The major challenge for any free society is how to deal with these insidious threats while at the same time maintaining our free society. It would help if our politicians were guided by the fundamental principles such as our Constitution. We are often mired in trivia and we have politicians -- many of whom are not guided by principle. They are only guided by doing whatever it takes to preserve his or her political career. We must fix what is wrong here while at the same time being under this Islamic threat. If such threats are not addressed we will lose our country and our society. Our political class has to quit warring with each other and agree that there are certain directions that will be maintained regardless of which party is in power. Our political class has to quit warring with the American people--we are not the enemy. We, the American people, are the ONLY friends that our government has or should answer to. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-09 20:13 |
| #11 "How is our government and military addressing the AQ strategies laid out in the above book?" They're obviously not, John. Doesn't that make you feel |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-05-09 17:40 |
| #10 Steve Coughlin lost his job with the Joint Staff for insisting the military pay attention to the way this is playing out. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-05-09 17:23 |
| #9 About 2 years ago the major Islamic warfare theorist for al Qaeda, Sheik Abu-Bakar al Naji, published a book entitled Governance of the Wilderness. lotp: It seems like AQ's playbook is being followed. How is our government and military addressing the AQ strategies laid out in the above book? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-09 15:28 |
| #8 One possibility: About 2 years ago the major Islamic warfare theorist for al Qaeda, Sheik Abu-Bakar al Naji, published a book entitled Governance of the Wilderness. It specifically lays out steps by which Muslims can and should undermine the non-Muslim societies within which they live, starting with things like enforcing the niqab on women, progressing to lawfare and establishing parallel societies/courts/etc, challenging and stressing the state's security systems and then beginning countless physical attacks on infrastructure etc. A key point is that al Naji specifically calls for Muslims to do this individually as well as through organized networks. It got a lot of intel attention when it was translated. This is a good overview. Re: money, our bomber buddy brought in a bunch when he came here, possibly from his well to do and connected father. Before he defaulted on his mortgage and left his job, he took out a home equity loan for $65k, which would have financed his trip to Pakistan, the trip back, buying the car for a couple hundred dollars and buying the bomb materials. So while he may have been connected to and financed by a network, he could well have managed this attempt without help. And remember, his father was a senior military leader trained, as all Pakistani military are trained, using Pakistani Brigadier S. K. Malik's Quranic Concept of War. That book is online at several sites and is well worth a read to see the mindset of the Pakistani leadership and upper class. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-05-09 15:17 |
| #7 Where'd this guy get the money? |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-05-09 14:11 |
| #6 I don't know why Petraeus said this. He is looking a lot like a guy dangling in the wind without much intel--kind of a reflection of the current administration. His troops must be thinking WTF? One might expect this kind of statement from Janet Napolitano, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Baghdad Bob Gibbs, etc. These are the folks you can count on to miss the boat. But Petraeus...just doesn't seem right. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-09 14:02 |
| #5 Have to hand it to him: Petraeus has the best political BS/suckup skills we've seen from a general since, well, I can't think of another military man more astute at this game. Even Powell wasn't as smooth as this man. Makes me think he does have political ambitions after all. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-05-09 13:04 |
| #4 General, your attempt to be supportive to the political message is weak and make you look like a puppet. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-05-09 11:08 |
| #3 'Lone Wolf'....but still a member of the Pak. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-05-09 08:13 |
| #2 Retration in 5..4..3 |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-05-09 04:00 |
| #1 Giggle. Sorry, General, but this one doesn't pass the smell test. Pakistan is a) not on our side b) less reliable than its rival India c) a tottering, made-up BS nation better left hanging in the wind than embraced as a partner d) all of the above |
| Posted by: lex 2010-05-09 01:36 |