The Threat From Al Qaeda - The Atlantic
Intersting post by Marc Ambinder on a recent WaPo article on the CIA shifting Predator strikes against Al Qaeda from pakistan to Yemen and what that may mean.
Speaking of the CIA, the piece today in the Washington Post about the agency ramping up its operations in Yemen is curious for a few reasons. The lead seems to be sort of buried:
Indeed, officials said it was largely because al-Qaeda has been decimated by Predator strikes in Pakistan that the franchise in Yemen has emerged as a more potent threat.
This is an interesting statement. If this is true, it’s a major development. The CIA has, by administration estimates, killed 200 or so Pakistan Taliban and Al Qaeda members in the past few years. But there is not a consensus in the intelligence community about whether these strikes have been at all effective in contributing to Pakistan’s stability or in deradicalizing Taliban cells. Indeed, there is a core conflict between the Predator program, which military intelligence officials believe continues to radicalize young Muslim men in the tribal regions of the country even as it kills potential terrorists, and the administration’s regional strategy, which seeks to engage Afghans and legitimize Pakistan’s civilian government.