The Pakistani army’s campaign in South Waziristan got a boost this week when an American drone attack eliminated an important al Qaeda operative.
The Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, reported that the high-ranking terrorist, Mustafa al-Yazid, an al Qaeda founding member, was killed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It was the first drone attack since the Pakistani army began its offensive into the jihadists’ South Waziristan stronghold last weekend.
The Predator drone, and its larger Reaper version, has been credited with creating conditions favourable for the long-awaited invasion. A retired Pakistani army colonel analysing Operation-i-Nijaat (Path to Salvation), the army’s name for the Waziristan campaign, wrote that the command structure of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was “in disarray” due to the deaths these unmanned missile strikes have caused among its leadership.
The most famous victim of this death from the air was former TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud. Mehsud was killed last August after the United States had put a five million dollar reward on his head in March under its Rewards for Justice Program. A side benefit of Mehsud’s death was the bloody, internecine battle that broke among the Pakistani Taliban for the vacant leadership.
Also last March, two other terrorist leaders had lucrative bounties placed on them. Information leading to Sirajuddin Haqqani, a major NATO opponent in the Afghanistan insurgency, and Abu Yahya al-Libi would net an informant a million dollars for each one.
But while Haqqani and al-Libi have yet to become acquainted with a Hellfire missile, the number and status of those terrorists who have is impressive. Among those now enjoying their promised 72 virgins in paradise are Osama al-Kini, al Qaeda’s external operations chief; Khalid Habib, leader of al Qaeda’s fighting force, the Shadow Army; and Tahir Yuldashev, leader of the Islamic Union of Uzbekistan, which is currently threatening Germany with terrorist attacks.
The drone campaign against al Qaeda’s and the TTP’s leadership got seriously underway only in 2008 after military dictator Pervez Musharraf was replaced as Pakistan’s president by a civilian, Asaf Zardari. Since Musharraf’s political demise, it is estimated Hellfire missiles have killed 700 jihadists in Pakistan, including two dozen senior al Qaeda and TTP leaders.
The reason for the previous Pakistani government’s poor performance was a missile shortage due to the Iraq war and to Musharraf possessing only a lukewarm attitude towards battling the Pakistani Taliban. He viewed the TTP fighters as a military asset in any future war against India and, according to one analyst, did not want to anger them with a deluge of Hellfire missiles. As a result, Musharraf would approve all drone attacks personally.
And the former Pakistani president did not approve many, as statistics bear out. The military news website, strategypage.com, states that while there have been about 50 Hellfire attacks this year, causing 365 deaths by July, and 36 in 2008, killing 317 terrorists, there were only five attacks in 2007, three in 2006 and one in 2005, when Musharraf ruled.
Interestingly, strategypage.com states that al Qaeda and the TTP have probably been hurt worst by the Hellfire’s “decapitation” of “nearly a hundred mid-level” personnel. This echelon is comprised of “old and experienced lieutenants, as well as young up-and-comers” that carry out the terrorist groups’ military operations. Without them, the terrorist leaders’ strategic plans could not be turned into reality.
Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad recently interviewed one such “old and experienced” al Qaeda field commander, Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri. Kashmiri, 45, heads al Qaeda’s military operations branch and commands its elite 313 Brigade. The Pakistani native gained his extensive battle experience fighting against India. Shahzad describes him as possessing “unmatched guerrilla expertise.”
But Kashmieri’s notoriety as a valuable al Qaeda asset has drawn a $600,000 bounty down on his head from the Pakistani government as well as three Hellfire missile attacks. Shahzad writes the first one occurred in May and the other two last month, after which both Pakistani intelligence and the CIA pronounced Kashmiri dead.
In talking to Shahzad, his first interview ever, Kashmiri probably wanted to prove to the Islamist world he was still alive. But probably not for long. Shahzad said that while waiting for Kashmiri in a remote, Waziristan safe house, his al Qaeda escorts told him he would be able to hear “the voices of the drones” above his head.
In a story published this week in the New York Times, journalist David Rohde, who spent seven months in Taliban captivity in Waziristan before escaping, also said he could hear those propeller-driven voices. Rohde actually experienced a Hellfire attack last March when two “deafening explosions” occurred nearby. The missiles had killed seven Arab and Taliban jihadists travelling in two cars.
Besides dead terrorists, what is almost equally as satisfying about the drone campaign is the constant terror it engenders among those jihadists not yet targeted. Life under the Predator is not a pleasant one, as Rohde attests. He writes the drones were a “terrifying presence” for months and their strikes had “created a paranoia among the Taliban.” Rhodes noted the Taliban also “bitterly criticized” President Obama for increasing the missile attacks.
Even more irritating for al Qaeda and TTP adherents than the strikes are the informers who sell them out by telling authorities the terrorists’ whereabouts. Even when in the wilds of Waziristan, Shahzad’s escorts told him informers were everywhere. Besides bad nerves, their constant presence and the terrorists’ inability to do much about it must cause them extreme vexation.
Drone attacks have done much to disable the Taliban and al Qaeda, killing an estimated third of their leadership. Many valuable and irreplaceable terrorist cadres have been lost. And as the Pakistani army continues its march into Waziristan, smoking the common enemy out of their lairs, the Hellfire missile will ensure more will suffer Mustafa al-Yazid’s fate.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Irak an so on… When will this war stop???
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Irak an so on… When will this war stop??? http://thalassoplaisir.com/
When the Muslims wave the white flag and say they surrender.
Passivism is just as bad as war. You have no moral high-ground.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/14/afg…
To Sandrine112, you ask when will these wars stop? When these misguided heathens stop trying to kill every one who does not think as backward as they do. 72 Virgins? Give me a break!
On judgment day, as they stand mute before Jesus, they will really be angry when they find out who they wasted their life for.
We can't hate them, but shoild feel sorry for them and pray for them to learn the truth before their fateful deaths…..
Until then, we have to protect other ennocent people from these barbarian's. Go talk to them about stopping the wars….
Thank you for uplifting, hopeful, encouraging and joyful report!!! You even provided important details and you made my day!!!
On and on Stephen Brown!!!
Would somebody tell these religious morons that they ran out of virgins in paradise.
Huffer:
I agree. Its time we started looking past the religious facade these gangsters hide behind – and call spade a spade. A gangster is a gangster regardless of how many times a day he prays.
RobW
The psychological impact on a terrorist from a drone attack must not be underestimated.
Since he cannot hear the attacking missile approaching at speeds greater than sound – he never knows from one moment to the next when he will be blown to pieces. Since he cannot know if he is being watched – even over a 24 hour period – he finds himself subject to the same psychological gamesmanship he likes to wield over his victims.
The fact that there is not even a human pilot on board to capture only heightens the maddening iron of it all for him.
The charge that these attacks increase resentment toward America from native Pakistanis belies a complete lack of understanding about the cultural and religious programming they are under. Pakistani's would hate the US regardless.
Awesome stuff! I saw a taliban video recently, they were shooting some old man for god knows what. at NIGHT. they move around now only at night.
Please dont tell em about infra-red, OK!……….
When these animals who behead innocent people, “honor”murder their women and put dynamite belts around the waists of children are all DEAD and in hell where they belong.
You know it's not as simple as continuously killing people you've just managed to tag as Taliban, right? In some of the latest articles I've read (don't remember where this one came from, I'll have to look for it if you ask), the Taliban leadership is scared of the predators and they are very paranoid. They recognize that inside leaks are what are getting them killed. However, we cannot rely on inside leaks as the permanent source of information – ie, setting bounties and waiting for clues. There will always be someone else waiting to step up. Furthermore, we'll have rather unacceptable collateral damage as people cash in on the bounties by giving incorrect information tagging someone they have a feud with. That kind of thing doesn't endear us to the ones who aren't currently fighting us.
No, what we need to look for is a way to align more of the tribes with the central government and armies of their respective nations – Afghanistan and Pakistan. Only through this can the region see some stability, stability which we desperately need since Pakistan has nuclear weapons.
Generalizations here are self-defeating by the way. I suppose I should generalize less…in any case, if you see all Muslims as bad people who strap on dynamite belts, behead people, etc, then really, you are just as radical as their right wing. It means you really are no different than they are. The terrorists work this way – they see themselves as a group they have to protect. They see another group, and if one of their group suffers an injury at the hands of the other group, then any member of the other group can serve as a target to get justice.
If we are not careful, we will be over there forever, or we will eventually withdraw without accomplishing a damn thing. The reason will be because we stooped to that level. We will not have provided a better system.
I'm not so sure about that. I think it is possible to wield some manner of positive image. It is true that we have those Mickey Mouse imitations, references to little Satan, big Satan, people who want to attack us, etc. However, you'll normally find that in the under-educated places. Kind of like here in the US where in the under-educated places you always have people who go into the Marines or what-not with the idea that they'll get to shoot terrorists. They might get lucky, but rather than exercising their individual judgment, they'll be doing whatever the hell a college educated officer tells them to do.
What you won't find is an outlet like this one or Fox News EVER discussing the differences between the various types of Muslims and Arabs and how disparate they are. The idea of them working together as a group of countries against a common enemy, well, it doesn't quite work.
What you have, and what will not ever be admitted, is a grass-roots movement. It's contrary to their governments, and like the situation behind the War on Drugs, it is fueled by a scarcity of resources. I guarantee you that if we got off oil as our primary fuel, we would no longer have a major problem with terrorism. The reason for that is that their style of government would very likely change almost overnight.
We would no longer be financing their strong men. That would change the entire equation.
“Besides bad nerves, their constant presence and the terrorists’ inability to do much about it must cause them extreme vexation.”
There is one thing they can do to solve these problems, and it's simple: go home and earn an honest living.
Diginess:
So generalizations are self-defeating?
What does
“However, you'll normally find that in the under-educated places. Kind of like here in the US where in the under-educated places you always have people who go into the Marines or what-not with the idea that they'll get to shoot terrorists. They might get lucky, but rather than exercising their individual judgment, they'll be doing whatever the hell a college educated officer tells them to do”
sound like?
You sound like someone who is embarrassed to be an American, what with our ignorance about all different shades of Islam, dependence on oil, and our hordes of under-educated, and drooling louts–clamoring for a chance to “shoot terrorists.”
I envy your sense of moral superiority, intelligence, and entitlement; because after all, you wouldn't want to dirty your hands by riding herd on our ignorant service members –to serve as the college-educated officer who tells them what to do.
A pity you haven't the moral courage to act upon your apparent convictions. You should re-locate to Waziristan and help al Qaeda and the Taliban develop countermeasures to the Hellfire-administered “Death from Above” campaign. Then, perhaps in a fit of avarice, some under-educated Waziri might drop the dime on you and you'd get a 7-inch Hellfire warhead right up your morally superior, highly educated, and culturally-sensitive ass.
The world would be poorer for your loss, but I'd sleep just fine.
Hey jackass, apparently you spoke too soon. I'm already in the military. Where are you?
You in the Air Force?
And to answer at the level of education you display, me and 20 of my drooling buddies will meet you behind the BX after PT to kick your pansy ass.
Base? In any case, think about this one – the guy who's site you are on, David Horowitz, obviously a Jew…the irony of that is incredible. Supporting a family of Nazi sympathizers, sending their grandson to be president? Seriously? And then there's guys like you. You think that anybody who's different is morally inferior. You can't see their point of view. My grandfather, who was a Marine in WWII, loves to sit in front of Fox all day. They definitely don't teach you guys to think independently.
Obviously the Muslims will never all abandon their religion in favor of yours. If that's the goal you're going after, you're seriously mistaken. Your goal should be to maintain control of the nukes in the region and make sure no single tribe destabilizes the government, while taking out the top leadership of the Taliban and other extremist groups. That's about all you can do. There is no single objective to take all.
If you want to go for the harder goals, well, you probably shouldn't be saying a lot of the things you say then. So self defeating.
You want to win? There's a reason why Democrats deliberately ignore religion and race when something like the acid throwing or head chopping happens in our country. You can deal with the individual as a criminal. That's about it.
You think I don't know that Christianity today is morally superior to Islam? It is. To the vast majority of locations Islam is at. Simply because those people are still fairly primitive in their culture.
Can you divide and conquer when you have a self-replenishing rebellion that spans multiple countries? There will always be more people coming. You guys have to re-evaluate your approach. If you cannot see your enemy as a human being, you are doomed to always have to sit in the middle as we are now. That's something we can't afford to do forever. I'm talking about money here.
David Horowitz's actions are ultimately self-defeating, but he's way too smart of a guy to be doing that purposefully. I really don't think he's your friend guys. His actions are aimed at you, and I have yet to figure out why.
You in Air Force Intelligence? Or Human Resources?
At least I feel better knowing you are a Marine. Now I'm not as angry. Now I know why you are close minded. It's ok. You don't have to think about anything, it's hard enough to just do your job. Don't forget about your GI Bill though.
I'm honored that you think I'm a Marine. I thought you might be Air Force because of your contempt for other branches of service. I've noticed that attitude is common among Air Force officers. It's a pity.
Think about modifying your views while you're trying to perfect your golf swing.
Killing these savages is the responsibility of the civilized world. The sooner we kill them the better.
Isn't it interesting that the missile used to kill these terrorists is called the “hellfire”. How appropriate. A little hell before the eternal hell.
Not an officer. I just have the college education I worked on while in. Don't like golf. So you're not a Marine. Back to my original opinion of you – an old fat white guy.
Congrats on your degree.
I'll share a one-liner with you that an old Royal Navy Captain told me, “Please don't tell my family I'm in the Air Force, they think I play piano in a brothel.”
Have a good life.
Under-educated places? your home town?
We should use the gas in your head for fuel. There would be plenty to go around.