The Political Conundrum!

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new audio recording produced by Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation of Al-Qaida Deputy Commander Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri titled, "A Message to My Muslim Brothers and Sisters in Pakistan." During the recording, al-Zawahiri appealed to Muslims in Pakistan to support Al-Qaida and the Taliban, urging, "It is the individual duty of every Muslim in Pakistan to join the Mujahedeen, or at the very least, to support the Jihad in Pakistan and Afghanistan with money, advice, expertise, information, communications, shelter and anything else he can offer. It is also the duty of every noble person in Pakistan’s army and security agencies to give the orders of Allah and His Messenger precedence over the orders of the Crusaders’ slaves, and to refrain from killing, pursuing or harming in any way Muslims and Mujahedeen." Nonetheless, Dr. al-Zawahiri boasted of "a solid, cohesive Jihadi nucleus taking form in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This emerging jihadi force is resisting – by the grace of Almighty Allah – all efforts to eliminate and extinguish it. The treasonous Pakistan army has tried much, but by the grace of Allah, it has all been in vain."

An English transcript of Dr. al-Zawahiri's remarks can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website.

This afternoon, the Washington Institute published a piece by Gregory Johnsen, the co-author of the Waq al-Waq Yemen blog, assessing whether Yemen is once again becoming an al Qaeda safehaven. Johnsen also offers his recommendations on what the US government to improve the rapidly deteriorating situation.

Here is an excerpt:

Recent reports suggesting that al-Qaeda fighters are leaving Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the group has suffered serious setbacks, have renewed international concerns that Yemen is reemerging once again as a major terrorist safe haven. Although the assessments of al-Qaeda's resurgence in Yemen are accurate, the deteriorating situation is not due to U.S. successes elsewhere; rather, it is the result of waning U.S. and Yemeni attention over the past five years. Renewed cooperation between Sana and Washington in tackling al-Qaeda and addressing Yemen's systemic problems could help reduce the terrorist organization's appeal in this troubled country.

The Apparent Defeat of al-Qaeda in Yemen

By late 2003, al-Qaeda in Yemen had been largely defeated through the close cooperation of U.S. and Yemeni security forces. This cooperation reached its zenith in November 2002 when the CIA assassinated the head of the organization, Abu Ali al-Harithi, but the Pentagon bypassed the agreed-on cover story and leaked the operation to the press. Washington needed an early victory in the war on terror and the assassination of an al-Qaeda leader was too good to go unacknowledged.

Yemen, however, believed it was sold out to U.S. domestic concerns. Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salih paid a high price for allowing the United States to carry out the attack -- something al-Qaeda still uses to great propaganda effect -- and it took more than a year for the government to publicly admit that it had authorized Washington to act.

In November 2003, the United States was still paying for this mistake when Yemen arrested al-Harithi's replacement, Muhammad Hamdi al-Ahdal, on the streets of Sana. Instead of being granted direct access to al-Ahdal, U.S. officials were forced to work through Yemeni intermediaries; however, with its leadership dead or in jail, its infrastructure largely destroyed, and its militants more attracted to the insurgency in Iraq than jihad at home, al-Qaeda in Yemen appeared largely defeated.

Al-Qaeda Rebuilds

The United States and Yemen both treated this victory as absolute, failing to realize that a defeated enemy is not necessarily a vanquished one. In effect, al-Qaeda was crossed off both countries' list of priorities and replaced by other, seemingly more pressing, concerns. For Washington, democratic reforms and anticorruption campaigns dominated the bilateral agenda as part of the Bush administration's desire to mold a new Middle East. For Yemen, attention was increasingly diverted by a five-year-old sectarian civil war in the north and more recently by threats of secession from the south. Over the next two years of relative calm, the threat from al-Qaeda, while not necessarily forgotten, was certainly ignored. Tourism flourished, and the U.S. State Department initiated a Yemen study-abroad program.

To read the rest of the piece, click here:

Veterans Affairs Department hospitals and clinics aren't always making sure women veterans have privacy when they bathe and receive exams, government auditors said. The GAO reported that no VA hospital or clinic under review is complying fully with federal privacy requirements.

A helicopter on contract to NATO-led forces crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing six civilians on board and an Afghan child on the ground. NATO said the cause of the crash was under investigation but the owner reported it was shot down.

A U.S. warship anchored off Georgia for joint military exercises Tuesday while Russian jets pounded mock targets nearby in a sign of lingering tensions over the former Soviet nation turned U.S. ally.

A Spanish court on Tuesday threw out charges against three U.S. soldiers in the death of a Spanish journalist in Iraq six years ago and recommended the case be closed.

Congressional demands for an investigation are growing over new disclosures that a secret CIA program to capture or kill al-Qaida leaders was concealed from the U.S. Congress for eight years, perhaps at the behest of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Two U.S. Soldiers have been charged with filming and photographing female members of their unit taking showers at Fort Dix, Calif., authorities said.

The Department of Defense announced today the deployment of two units to Afghanistan. The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy, have been alerted to replace forces currently deployed in Afghanistan, in order to maintain the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, will deploy with approximately 3,800 troops to Afghanistan in late fall 2009. The 173rd Brigade Combat Team, with approximately 3,700 troops, will deploy to Afghanistan in the winter of 2009-2010. Both units will conduct the full spectrum of combat operations.

The United States continues to be NATO-ISAF’s largest troop contributor, and remains committed to leading the offensive in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, training and equipping the Afghan national security forces and assisting with reconstruction. Force levels in Afghanistan are conditions-based and will be determined in consultation with the Afghan government and NATO.

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano announced the formation of a task force to conduct a 60-day review of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS).