No sanctuary for al Qaeda on Pakistan border area

Washington Times:

U.S. strikes against terrorist suspects in Pakistan's tribal region have become more accurate in the past few months, leading to the confirmed deaths of eight senior al Qaeda leaders and a decrease in civilian casualties that have roiled U.S.-Pakistani relations, The Washington Times has learned.

Among those killed was the mastermind of a 2006 plot to detonate liquid explosives aboard planes flying across the Atlantic and the man thought to have planned the Sept. 20 bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, that killed 53 people, including two members of the U.S. military.

"The strikes have become increasingly accurate," a senior Pakistani official told The Times on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. The official, who has worked closely with U.S. authorities, also said fighting was escalating between the foreign militants and members of native Pakistani tribes in the area along the Afghan border. As a result, he said, Arab al Qaeda members "are increasingly isolated."

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden apparently remains at large, judging from an audio recording released Wednesday. In the message, the terrorist mastermind called for a holy war against Israel because of its Gaza offensive and questioned whether the United States could succeed in Afghanistan. It was the first such recording since May and appeared to be authentic.

Still, officials from the outgoing Bush administration said they have scored significant hits.

"Within the last year or so we've had a very significant impact on senior al Qaeda leadership," Vice President Dick Cheney told PBS' "NewsHour" on Wednesday without elaborating.

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden told reporters Thursday that al Qaeda is feeling a backlash from Pakistani tribes and is under strain because of the loss of senior leaders.

Pakistan's tribal region, which was once a safe haven for the group, is not "safe nor a haven" anymore, Mr. Hayden said.

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There is more.

In some ways these strikes are like the targeted killing used by Israel to break the second intifada. The masterminds who were sending the kids out to explode were killed and the killings largely stopped. Killing the leaders of al Qaeda rather than trying to capture them and put them on trial makes a lot of sense. Hopefully the Democrats want blow it by going back to their failed lawfare policies of the past.