Posted on 01/14/2006 5:18:02 PM PST by Dog
WASHINGTON: The Washington Post has quoted a source as saying that Pakistan was “heavily involved” in the air strikes in Bajaur Agency on Friday.
“This would not have happened without Pakistani involvement,” the Washington Post quoted an unnamed source as saying about the missile attack on the Pak-Afghan border that killed 18 civilians, including women and children.
Earlier reports that Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri was among those killed, have been discredited by now.
The same source said that the attack was planned and executed by a combination of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers in Pakistan and Pakistani officials. “This would not have happened unless they had pretty precise information that the right target was at that location,” a US military source told the newspaper. He cautioned, however, that it was possible that Zawahiri got out of the building before it was hit. The source said that US forces, which had been tracking Zawahiri for the past two weeks, will probably know more once the bodies are examined.
A Defence Department official claimed that there were “no coalition military aircraft in the area”.
Ping!
They were political coverage for the 20-30% of their population that is anti-west.
Thanks Dog.
I don't and I have never. I think the US should just put the cards on the table and avoid this bs from Pakistan.
Never believed them in the first place. Is the body count still at 18 civvies, 11 hajji's, and 1 player to be named at a later date?
That means the CIA conducted it with specially vetted elements of the Pakistani forces. Most everyone in Pakistan and the US military were out of the loop.
The people talking now are the people who don't know anything.
the predators have cameras, wouldn't they have seen AZ and his entourage fleeing the building before it was hit?
I agree, Pakistan needed to say what they did, otherwise we risk Musharaff being ousted by the jihadists. Musharaff may not be great, but he is better than the alternative.
I'm sure they're letting the Musharraf administration show some indignation at the hit for their own safety. We really don't need to say anything until the DNA tests come back.
superping
Heh heh heh...
Wouldn't have to be "in the area". Could have launched missiles from Kandahar, or Diego Garcia for that matter.
not for this one - this was an "up close and personal" airstrike - cameras from the predators monitoring the compound, picking a best time to strike.
but they missed??
who says they missed? who even knows if AZ was the target.
From the video looks to me they hit the target....question is was the intended recipent of that calling card in one of those three buildings.
The WP "builds" lots of stories using unnamed sources.
Really wish I could have written my college papers without having to cite sources.
So Kerry was there meeting with the President and the CIA was 'bombs away' in another part of Pakistan? Ha! Was Ter-ay-zuh there too?
In another thread, one of the natives said they heard aircraft then the explosions. How low are they flying those Predators, anyhoo? Too low if targets on the ground hear them coming.
> We really don't need to say anything until the
> DNA tests come back.
But even those may not be conclusive if (big if) Debka
is correctly reporting that locals made off with 5
corpses before Pak officials arrived.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.