March 22, 2009

US Missile strikes take heavy toll on Al Qaeda central leadership

This report in the LA TIMES lifted my spirits today when I read it...all those Predator strikes are taking a massive toll on AQ central. If this report is to be believed they(AQ) are now hunting each other...suspecting the other of being the source to our hitting so many senior target.

-- An intense, six-month campaign of Predator strikes in Pakistan has taken such a toll on Al Qaeda that militants have begun turning violently on one another out of confusion and distrust, U.S. intelligence and counter-terrorism officials say.---"This last year has been a very hard year for them," a senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said of Al Qaeda militants, whose operations he tracks in northwest Pakistan. "They're losing a bunch of their better leaders. But more importantly, at this point they're wondering who's next."

U.S. intelligence officials said they see clear signs that the Predator strikes are sowing distrust within Al Qaeda. "They have started hunting down people who they think are responsible" for security breaches, the senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said, discussing intelligence assessments on condition of anonymity. "People are showing up dead or disappearing."

Cheers me up it does.

By Matt Damon at 04:08 PM | |