Registan.net (Free subscription) | 10/01/2008
Arif Rafiq reports that Baitullah Mehsud is dead, apparently of natural causes (Bill Roggio says his sources disagree, claiming it’s misinformation). If true, this leaves the Pakistani Taliban umbrella organization with a big hole at its top, though its ranks remain fully staffed with Pakistanis angry at American attacks in their territory. Luckily, those raids look [...]
The Thunder Run (Free subscription) | 10/02/2008
... the best of the best. You will be the trainers who will run the Live Fire Shoot House." Oh Shit. ()Bill Roggio: - The Taliban denied that its commander in Pakistan died of natural causes. Baituallah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and warlord in South Waziristan, was reported to have died yesterday of complications related to diabetes. The Taliban "media...
The Thunder Run (Free subscription) | 09/30/2008
... don’t like being separated from it, but I don’t really need everything in it during the flight. ()Bill Roggio: - As the Taliban and al Qaeda insurgency rages in northwestern Pakistan, the Pakistani government has stepped up its efforts to engage the local tribes to battle the extremists. The effort to gain the support of the Pashtu tribes in northwestern Pakistan was highlighted when...
PrairiePundit (Free subscription) | 09/25/2008
Bill Roggio: Two senior al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Pakistani terrorists are suspected of being behind the Sept. 20 bombing at the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. The deadly attack killed more than 50 Pakistanis and foreigners and wounded more than 270, and destroyed the once-popular hotel. In recent press reports, Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, and Qari...
Murdoc Online (Free subscription) | 09/23/2008
Pakistani military fires on US helicopters at border Bill Roggio: The Pakistani military fired on US helicopters as they attempted to cross the border in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, according to reports from the region. The latest US incursion comes just two days after a suicide bombing destroyed the Marriott Hotel in the heart [...]
Pundita (Free subscription) | 09/21/2008
"The Marriott is an icon," said Abdullah Riar, formerly an aide to the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, Zardari's wife. "It's like the twin towers of Pakistan. It's a symbolic place in the capital of the country, and now it has melted down." Required reading: Bill Roggio's initial 12:34 AM report on the Marriott Hotel bombing and IHT/NYT one. Both reports provide valuable...
PrairiePundit (Free subscription) | 09/19/2008
Bill Roggio: US Special Operations Forces have stepped up attacks inside Pakistan's lawless tribal agencies in part of an effort to prevent the next major attack inside the United States, senior military and intelligence sources told The Long War Journal . The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said reports that the Bush administration...
Webloggin (Free subscription) | 09/23/2008
... here ) In fact, Pakistani spies heard Al-Qaeda celebrating their success at the Marriott bombing. Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal reports that the complex attack is the latest in a series of al Qaeda attacks that have occurred in the Middle East and South Asia over the last five years. The death toll is expected to rise as more people are believed to have been trapped in the hotel....
Right Truth (Free subscription) | 09/23/2008
... here ) In fact, Pakistani spies heard Al-Qaeda celebrating their success at the Marriott bombing. Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal reports that the complex attack is the latest in a series of al Qaeda attacks that have occurred in the Middle East and South Asia over the last five years. The death toll is expected to rise as more people are believed to have been trapped in the hotel....
Pundita (Free subscription) | 09/15/2008
But that didn't stop John Batchelor from crowing, "Sherman's at the gates of Savannah!" when he got an update last night on the Iraq theater from Long War Journal's Bill Roggio. He added on a more sober note, "The war is over but we still have work to do." Yes, the insurgency is over, and one glance at these maps at LWJ tells the story. What's left? Terroristas. For readers who have supported...
Counterterrorism Blog (Free subscription) | 09/12/2008
Yesterday, Center for Terrorism Research (CTR) adjunct fellow Bill Roggio posted an important report at the Long War Journal . He noted that a series of letters intercepted by Multinational Forces-Iraq—letters that chronicle the communications between al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and Islamic State of Iraq leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi—sheds...
PrairiePundit (Free subscription) | 09/12/2008
Bill Roggio: Al Qaeda's senior leadership has lost confidence in its commander in Iraq and views the situation in the country as dire, according to a series of letters intercepted by Multinational Forces Iraq earlier this year. The letters, which have been sent exclusively to The Long War Journal by Multinational Forces Iraq, are a series of communications between Ayman al Zawahiri, al...
BrothersJudd Blog (Free subscription) | 09/11/2008
Letters from Al Qaeda leaders show Iraqi effort is in disarray (Bill Roggio, September 11, 2008, Long War Journal) Al Qaeda's senior leadership has lost confidence in its commander in Iraq and views the situation in the country as dire, according to a series of letters intercepted by Multinational Forces Iraq earlier this year. The letters, which have been sent exclusively to The Long...
Free Frank Warner (Free subscription) | 09/13/2008
... sometimes impatient and suspicious letters between Zawahiri, in Pakistan, and Masri, in Iraq. Bill Roggio of The Long War Journal helped put the letters in context. Abu Sulayman, once a senior leader in al-Qaida in Iraq, had accused Masri of poor leadership, lying about progress, and making decisions out of anger rather than with rational planning. Sulayman left Iraq last year and...
Business Wire (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
... General George William Casey, Jr. (the 36th and current Chief of Staff of the United States Army), Bill Roggio, and Pam Spaulding. Political bloggers such as Ed Morrissey (Hot Air, Formerly Captains Quarters), Jane Hamsher (Firedog Lake), Hugh Hewitt, Roger L. Simon (Pajamas Media), John Hinderacker (Powerline Blog), Matt Yglesias (Think Progress), and Erin Kotecki Vest (Queen of...
