Journalist Ahmed Rashid wrote: “On February 8, 2010, the ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] infuriated [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai by arresting [Taliban co-founder] Mullah Baradar in Karachi [Pakistan], along with a dozen senior Taliban figures who were loyal to him. It was a joint ISI-CIA operation, but senior Pakistani military officials told me later that the […]
2/5/2010
“Two senior Taliban leaders have been arrested in recent days inside Pakistan… Afghan officials said the Taliban ‘shadow governors’ for two provinces in northern Afghanistan had been detained in Pakistan. Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s leader in Kunduz, and Mullah Mir Mohammed of Baghlan were captured about two weeks ago [early February 2010] in a […]
2/5/2010
“While at the height of power in the late 1990s, al Qaeda was made up of about 3,000 to 4,000 fighters. Today [February 5, 2010], bin Laden’s ranks are down to about 400 to 500. According to the most credible intelligence estimates, perhaps 100 al Qaeda operatives are in Afghanistan and another 300 in neighboring […]
2/4/2010
“The 9/11 attacks forced the United States to intervene directly in Afghanistan’s civil war on the side of the Northern Alliance. This is precisely what bin Laden wanted: to re-create the struggle he had fought against the Soviet Union in the same place and with the same result, the enemy ground down in a quagmire, […]
1/29/2010
On January 29, 2010, in testimony before the inquiry into the U.K.’s involvement in the war in Iraq, former Prime Minister Tony “Blair told the inquiry he had been ‘determined’ to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the U.S. despite their differing opinions over the reasons why war was necessary. ‘The Americans, in a sense, were […]
1/29/2010
On January 29, 2010, in testimony before the inquiry into the U.K.’s involvement in the war in Iraq, former Prime Minister Tony “Blair said he believed ‘beyond doubt’ his controversial pre-war claim that Iraq was capable of launching chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes and said concern over Iraq’s ambitions to develop weapons of […]
1/24/2010
On January 24, 2010, “An audio message purportedly from al-Qaida’s leader [Osama bin Laden] claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound plane and vowed further attacks. In the recording, carried by al-Jazeera, Bin Laden addressed the US president, Barack Obama. ‘The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic […]
1/24/2010
As evidence that Osama bin Laden was still alive, journalist Peter Bergen wrote: “In late January [24] 2010, bin Laden released a tape praising the Nigerian who had recently tried to blow up the Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, saying, ‘The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab […]
1/20/2010
From an interview with Omar bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden: ” ‘Will there be more attacks?’ I [journalist Guy Lawson] ask. ‘I don’t think so,’ Omar says. ‘He [Osama] doesn’t need to. As soon as America went to Afghanistan, his plan worked. He has already won.’ ” – Guy Lawson, “Osama’s Prodigal […]
1/20/2010
From an interview with Omar bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden: ” ‘I was still in Afghanistan when [President] Bush was elected… My father was so happy. This is the kind of president he needs–one who will attack and spend money and break the country. Even Bush’s own mother says he is the […]