*Awan*
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- Mar 3, 2009
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WASHINGTON (Agencies)-The leadership ranks of Qaeda network have been reduced to just two figures whose demise would mean the groups defeat, US counterterrorism and intelligence officials told The Washington Post.
Ayman al-Zawahiri and his second in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi, are the last remaining high-value targets, US officials said, although lower-level fighters and other insurgent groups remain a focus of Predator surveillance and strikes.
The groups weakened condition has raised questions for the CIA about its deployment of personnel and resources. The agencys station in Islamabad remains one of its largest in the world, and the bulk of the CIAs drone fleet continues to patrol that countrys tribal region, even though US counterterrorism officials now assess al-Qaedas offshoot in Yemen as a significantly greater threat.
The CIA has resisted moving operatives, drones or other resources away from Pakistan more than temporarily, largely because CIA Director David Petraeus and other senior officials - mindful that al-Qaeda has regrouped in the past - think their unfinished priority is to extinguish the networks base. Now is not the time to let up the pressure, a US official familiar with drone attacks said. Weve got an opportunity to keep them down and letting up now could allow them to regenerate. US officials stressed that al-Qaedas influence extends far beyond its operational reach, meaning that the terrorist group will remain a major security threat for years.
Still, US officials who described al Qaeda as being on the verge of defeat after Osama bin Laden was killed said they have been surprised by the pace and extent of the groups contraction in the six months since then.
Need for biggest CIAs office in Islamabad questioned | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online
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hope people will understand now why america give so called aid.they give $$, govt allow cia to operate in Pakistan.
Ayman al-Zawahiri and his second in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi, are the last remaining high-value targets, US officials said, although lower-level fighters and other insurgent groups remain a focus of Predator surveillance and strikes.
The groups weakened condition has raised questions for the CIA about its deployment of personnel and resources. The agencys station in Islamabad remains one of its largest in the world, and the bulk of the CIAs drone fleet continues to patrol that countrys tribal region, even though US counterterrorism officials now assess al-Qaedas offshoot in Yemen as a significantly greater threat.
The CIA has resisted moving operatives, drones or other resources away from Pakistan more than temporarily, largely because CIA Director David Petraeus and other senior officials - mindful that al-Qaeda has regrouped in the past - think their unfinished priority is to extinguish the networks base. Now is not the time to let up the pressure, a US official familiar with drone attacks said. Weve got an opportunity to keep them down and letting up now could allow them to regenerate. US officials stressed that al-Qaedas influence extends far beyond its operational reach, meaning that the terrorist group will remain a major security threat for years.
Still, US officials who described al Qaeda as being on the verge of defeat after Osama bin Laden was killed said they have been surprised by the pace and extent of the groups contraction in the six months since then.
Need for biggest CIAs office in Islamabad questioned | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online
.....................
hope people will understand now why america give so called aid.they give $$, govt allow cia to operate in Pakistan.
