Nov 23 2008

Got Us A Big Name Terrorist In Pakistan!

In these last days of the Bush presidency it is no surprise President Bush is going all out to kill as many known, high valued terrorists as he can before the pacifist Dems take control. The good news is the efforts are paying off as the US is now launching regular attacks on terrorist hideouts in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The attacks have been primarily in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), where the remaining large sanctuaries are located for al-Qaeda and their radical Taliban allies.

A recent attack nailed a top level, infamous al-Qaeda terrorists who changed the face of air travel across the world in a close, but failed attack on commercial flights in 2006:

A British militant who was a liaison to Al Qaeda and was a main suspect in the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners in 2006 was killed Saturday in a missile strike by an American aircraft in northern Pakistan, senior Pakistani and American officials said.

The militant, Rashid Rauf, was among the five people killed in the attack by a remotely piloted aircraft in North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, the officials said. He is perhaps the best-known of the figures killed in an American airstrike campaign there that has intensified since August and has caused increased strains between the United States and Pakistan.

In August 2006, Mr. Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent, was detained in Pakistan, leading to the arrest of 25 suspects in Britain in connection with what prosecutors said was a plot to destroy seven airliners headed for the United States and Canada. This September, a British jury convicted three of eight defendants of conspiracy to commit murder, failing to reach verdicts on the more serious charge of using beverage bottles filled with liquid explosives to blow up the aircraft.

I was traveling the day this happened, August 10th 2006. It was a nightmare for a while as security at airports across the world changed overnight. In fact I have an entire category of posts dedicated to this one attack. In the annals of history, this will always be a historic event because of how it changed the world, even though the attack itself was thwarted.

It was an attack that would have made 9-11 look pale in comparison. The idea was to have a thousands of bodies dropping from the skies across American cities. It is a testament to President Bush and his administration that this attack was foiled and it was amazing to see how security changed over night to protect the flying public.

Sadly, this was also the year the GOP got drubbed by the voters because of their inability keep the conservative governing coalition together. The far right was unreasonably harsh on George Bush from that time onward, giving the Dems the opening they needed to win Congress and then, this year the Presidency (which apparently Obama won because the self absorbed ‘true conservatives’ sat home and did not vote). It is a testament to the ‘true conservatives’ that on the heels of this amazing event, President Bush and the GOP were rewarded with falling public support from their supposed ‘base’.

Well, while some folks fiddle in the face of terrorism, Bush has been waging a war for the history books. It is good to see justice being brought against the man who forced airlines to change their rules overnight as a result of his almost successful attack on the West. It is also good to see Bush pushing to the bitter end, as he promised he would do. Since 9-11 al-Qaeda has gone from being the future of Islam to being the enemy of Islam to many (if not most) Muslims in the Middle East and inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. That too is an amazing turn of events it seems we will need to wait on history to recognize, since we as a people are absorbed with other, lesser issues at the moment.

13 responses so far

13 Responses to “Got Us A Big Name Terrorist In Pakistan!”

  1. crosspatch says:

    Apparently some British MPs are worried the UK intelligence services provided us with information that might have led to “the execution of a British subject” and it seems they are going to launch an investigation. Maybe we were supposed to drop leaflets urging him to report immediately to the nearest police station.

    The reaction of the Brits is outragious if you ask me:

    Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP for Newark and former shadow security minister, said Rauf’s killing raised serious issues. “This raises the question of how much co-operation the British intelligence agencies provided in what is ultimately the execution of a British subject. The government must explain its involvement and its future policy in this area.”

    At Rauf’s family home in Birmingham yesterday the only response came from a bearded man in his twenties. The man, who would not identify himself, said: “I’m very angry right now, so you should leave for your own safety.”

  2. crosspatch says:

    And now it appears that Iran is actively supporting Al Qaeda and was instrumental in supporting the attack on the US Embassy in Yemen.

  3. joe six-pack says:

    I do not see us being so successful in comming years. I do not like the stragetic defensive at all.

  4. kathie says:

    General Patraus made this happen by putting pressure on the new Pakistani General. So it could keep happening if this report is true.

  5. Mark_for_Senate says:

    kathie,
    Yes. That would be true if the General is allowed to stay at his current position, but seeing how he has basically embarrassed the democrat party (by being successful), I’m sure the new administration will ‘reassign’ him. Pray for America.

  6. kathie says:

    Mark, of course we have no idea what Obama will do, but he is not stupid, and I think he likes to win and the General is a winner. My hope is that Petraus would resign before he would pursue a loosing strategy.

  7. dave m says:

    I think that General Petraeus will resign quickly and be the Presidential
    candidate maybe with Sarah Palin in 2012. He will be running against
    President Pelosi. (who happened to be out of town at just the right time)

  8. jimmylewis2007 says:

    At last … a positive and truthful report on our nation’s 43rd President: George W. Bush … I applaud you Strata-Sphere, as I applaud our President for never wavering as the wind blew (unliike some other(s) before him).

    In addition … I just wanted to take this opportunity today, as we arise this Monday on the verge of a new Thanksgiving and Christmas season, to remind all my fellow Americans to proudly display your Christmas ornaments, trees, as well as, the nativity … to say the words “Merry Christmas” … and to pray for our nation and each other.

    Jimmy Lewis
    SCS, Michigan
    Blog: . http://rougerevival.blogspot.com/

  9. Redteam says:

    JimmyLewis, I agree with you on George Bush, I think he has done a great job in every respect except illegal immigration and border security.

    But I disagree on why the Repubs lost the presidency this year. I don’t think it had anything at all to do with George Bush, I think it was only because they ran a very weak Republican candidate. While I didn’t sit home, I voted for McCain because ANY Republican in the whole US would have been better than Obama. But I do agree that many Repubs sat home, not just the far right, rather than vote for a candidate that was almost as weak as Obama and really no different on some issues, illegal immigration, bailout, global warming, ANWR, ESCR and maybe some I’m overlooking. McCain was certainly far superior on National Security and a far superior VP candidate.
    I’m not sure that the Repubs would have won no matter who they ran, the MSM was ready for a change and thats all that seemed to matter.

  10. crosspatch says:

    This is kindof off topic for this post but I thought I would share it with the users here. Lately I have been reading Iraqi news at Aswat al Iraq’s English service and found something extremely interesting. In their articles about such mundane subjects as a weapons cache found in Karbala are placed additional facts that tell the history and culture of the places involved. The above is only one article of many where they do this. The reading of these articles often serve as little mini lessons on Iraq.

    I recommend stopping by there are reading the articles from time to time. They are quite valuable in the insight they often give that is in addition to the expected subject mater.

  11. dave m says:

    As we’re off topic, ya all might find this interesting.

    http://polarik.blogtownhall.com/

    That Polarik guy has released a final report in which he
    produces all his evidence for the now infamous COLB forgery

    It’s very long. You might want to download it for future reference.

    I found this even more interesting.
    There was a press conference at the WH yesterday.
    A site called americamustknow picks this out:

    11/24/08 – Question for Tony Fratto, Deputy Press Secretary: “Good. The CEO of WorldNetDaily has called on the President-elect to release a birth certificate listing the hospital and names of parents. The White House believes that this would fully satisfy the constitutional requirement, don’t you?”

    Mr. Fratto’s response: “I don’t think I have anything to say on that, Lester, and I think we’re going to end it right there. Thank you.” And that’s the end of the press conference.

    Wow! Not an unnoticeable push the question away. He could have
    just sidestepped and said something like : The President thinks
    Senator Obama is a great American and is sure he will make a
    good President.

    Instead he freaks and tells the journo to SHUT UP.

    What in the world is going on?

  12. […] we saw the US take out a host of top al-Qaeda targets in that very tribal region. One of them was the mastermind behind the UK Airline Bomb Plot which changed the rules about liquids on airlines across the globe. […]