IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO SWITCH MEN ON WHITE HORSES?:

Pakistan Pressures Al Qaeda: Military Operation Results In Terror Alert and Arrests (Kamran Khan and Dana Priest, August 6, 2004, Washington Post)

An intense Pakistani military operation directed at suspected al Qaeda hideouts along the Afghan-Pakistan border has led to the seizure of a number of al Qaeda suspects and the discovery of a cache of computer information that contributed to last weekend's decision to increase the terror alert in several U.S. cities, Pakistani officials said Thursday.

The Pakistani operation has employed sophisticated American eavesdropping technology and computerized identification systems, they said. Three wanted al Qaeda operatives have been arrested, and computer files were found with detailed surveillance reports on terrorist targets and information about the whereabouts of other al Qaeda members, according to the officials.

The military effort has forced the fighters out of the rugged remote tribal areas, just inside Pakistan, and into more urban areas, where they are more visible and vulnerable to capture, they said.

The operation is being paid for with millions of dollars from the CIA, supported with equipment from the National Security Agency and carried out by Pakistani soldiers and intelligence units. It has netted more than 100 suspects in recent days, the officials said. Eighteen detainees have been identified by the officials as al Qaeda members, according to Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pakistan's interior minister.

"We have a bead on some people," a U.S. military officer said in a comment echoed throughout the U.S. government on Thursday.

Let us take Bill Clinton's word for it that he and Al Gore and company were all over Osama like ugly on an ape, mustn't we conclude that a contributing factor in the success of the 9-11 attack was the time it takes to ramp up a new administration? Does it make sense then--looking only through the lens of geostrategic calculations--to switch now?

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 6, 2004 8:50 AM