New Report Shows Al Qaeda Strenghtening

British think tank says they've rebuilt ability for major US attack

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda has revived and is capable of pulling off another 9/11, a London think tank has concluded. The US has “failed to deal a death blow to al-Qaeda,” which has extended its influence and is now stronger than it was six years ago, the British strategic institute warned at a press conference yesterday. More»

It may be creating more terrorists than it's killing: Gary Kamiya

(NEWSER) - Before 9/11, if the US president had announced that the government was going to "play God, reaching down from our high-tech heaven to kill whoever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want"—including US citizens, without a trial—the news would have been met with uproar. But that is indeed what we are doing today with our drones, "and nobody cares," writes Gary Kamiya in an extensive piece on Salon . As long as the government kills for the good of national security, the majority of Americans apparently have no problem with it, Kamiya writes. But how did this come about? He traces the shift in attitude back to the war in Afghanistan—which he calls "justified" in the wake of 9/11. Once the US established a precedent of killing Taliban members wherever they were found in Afghanistan or Pakistan, "it was a small step to killing bad guys in Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya." More»

Dozens have left, US officials say

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda fighters from Pakistan have started leaving isolated tribal areas and moving far afield to Somalia and Yemen, the New York Times reports. Some US officials point to stepped up drone attacks against militants in Pakistan for the development, which involves relatively small numbers so far. But the growth of jihadist campaigns in Somalia and Yemen—both countries where the government is weak—is another explanation. "I am very worried about growing safe havens," said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. More»

(NEWSER) - Pakistan’s president suggested today that Osama bin Laden could be dead, an assertion the US strenuously objects to, the New York Daily News reports. “He may be dead. But that’s been said before,” Asif Ali Zardari said. “It’s still between fiction and fact.” Zardari offered no proof for his claim. More»

Daily News probed evidence, confirmed findings

(NEWSER) - Washington isn't talking about it, but since 2006 the search for Osama bin Laden has focused on a remote region of Pakistan, the New York Daily News reports in an "exhaustive" investigation. The "impenetrable" Chitral region is home to some of the tallest mountains in the world, the Hindu Kush, the Daily News notes, and a review of bin Laden tapes, Predator flight patterns, and expert opinion pinpoint it as bin Laden's likely lair. US and foreign officials confirmed the conclusion. More»