Attacks in Pakistan to disrupt attacks in US

Bill Roggio:

US Special Operations Forces have stepped up attacks inside Pakistan's lawless tribal agencies in part of an effort to prevent the next major attack inside the United States, senior military and intelligence sources told The Long War Journal.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said reports that the Bush administration is focused on "getting Osama bin Laden," the elusive leader of al Qaeda's global network, are overblown.

"Getting bin Laden would be nice, and it would clearly be a victory, but at the end of the day, al Qaeda's network will still exist," one source told The Long War Journal. "We need to take down that network to stop the next attack on US soil. Al Qaeda is more than bin Laden."

The cross-border raids are designed to disrupt al Qaeda's training camps and safe houses that aid in preparing for attacks against the West, sources say. The US is also targeting al Qaeda's Taliban allies in Pakistan, such as the powerful Haqqani family in North Waziristan and the Taliban forces of Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan.

"The Haqqanis, Nazir, Baitullah [Mehsud], Faqir [Mohammed], and others in the tribal areas not only facilitate attacks against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, they play a critical role in facilitating attacks against the West by providing safe havens and sponsoring camps that train foreign terrorists," a military intelligence source said.

Many of the major post-Sept. 11 plots and attacks against the West have been traced back to Pakistan's tribal areas. Western Arabs and South Asians have traveled to Pakistan's tribal areas for approval, guidance, training, and support to conduct their attacks.

"We believe the next major attack will be carried out by someone carrying a Western passport," one official said, clearly worried at the security situation in northwestern Pakistan. "It is imperative we stop the next [Sept. 11] attack. This is what we are trying to do."

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While the sources refused to provide specific details on the targets in Pakistan due to operational security concerns, a look at the strikes inside Pakistan this year shows that several of the targets clearly were involved in the portion of al Qaeda's network designed to strike at the West. Many other of the targets support al Qaeda and Taliban operations inside Afghanistan.

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There is much more.

Roggio makes some good points here. We need to continue to disrupt al Qaeda operations and their protectors. The Pakistan government is not up to the job or lacks the will to do it. We have to protect our own sovereignty by preventing attacks on us from Pakistan.