CIA Rains Hellfire on Al Qaeda
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James Joyner | Friday, January 9, 2009 |
A story on the front page of today’s NYT reports on the killing of two very senior al Qaeda officials in Pakistan.
In my New Atlanticist piece “Marriot Bombing Planner Killed in CIA Strike,” I argue that it actually matters this time.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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"It matters now", James, suggests it didn't before. I'm not so sure of that. At the least, I would suggest looking at it this way; Without all the AQ eliminated previously, this one wouldn't matter so much, either. They coudl simply hand off operations to (Insert mega-Islamic space cadet here) without any real loss. The very reason this one cost them so much is the ones before aren't there to hand off to. That lack of leadership due to previous strikes also tends to explain much about why we're now getting the intel required.
Of course, I have my doubt that trend will continue after the 20th.
