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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani officials are making it increasingly clear that they have no interest in stopping cross-border attacks by militants into Afghanistan, prompting a new level of frustration from Americans who see the infiltration as a crucial strategic priority in the war in Afghanistan. On Wednesday night, the United States fired its fourth Predator missile strike since January, the most visible symbol of the American push for a freer hand to pursue militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban who use Pakistan’s tribal areas as a base to attack Afghanistan and plot terrorist attacks abroad. In Afghanistan, cross-border attacks...

A senior American counter-terrorism official has declared that the demise of al-Qa'eda is in sight because its failure to adapt its violent ideology and tactics has provoked growing dissent across the Islamic world. The uprising by Sunni tribes against al-Qa'eda in Iraq, protests in northern Africa against suicide bombings and dissent from clerics and former terrorists have put the group's leadership on the defensive as never before, said the official. "If al-Qa'eda maintains its current state of play of attacking civilians and Muslims, and continuing to not change its philosophy, it will start to fizzle." He said the end of...

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2008 – Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 19 suspects during a series of operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq operatives in central and northern Iraq today, military officials said. -- Coalition forces killed one insurgent and captured another during an anti-al Qaida operation near Khan Bani Saad, about 20 miles north of Baghdad. -- In Baghdad, coalition forces detained one suspected terrorist. -- In Mosul, coalition forces captured an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq financier and seven other suspects. -- In Tikrit, coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists. -- Near Balad, coalition forces detained five suspected terrorists...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army lodged a formal protest Friday to "allied forces" in neighboring Afghanistan over a suspected U.S. missile strike this week that killed 14 people in a Pakistani border village. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Pakistan concluded that Wednesday's attack on a house in Damadola village was launched by drones from Afghanistan. Abbas said a formal protest was lodged Friday with "allied forces" in Afghanistan, an apparent reference to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force that is fighting the Taliban-led insurgency there. The U.S. is among the nations contributing to ISAF. Abbas said 14 people...

French arrest 10 in connection with terror probe By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Authorities in France, Germany and the Netherlands on Friday detained at least 10 people suspected of helping to fund al-Qaida-linked militants with roots in Uzbekistan, officials said. One suspect was detained in Germany, another in the Netherlands, with the rest detained in France, said a senior French police official who was only authorized to discuss the arrests on condition of anonymity. The suspects' nationalities were not given but officials said they were Turkic-speaking. French police suspect they collected funds for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a...

Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials tell NBC News that Wednesday’s Predator attack on a village in northwest Pakistan was not insignificant, that a “high-value target … an Arab” was among those killed. U.S. officials believe the unnamed target was planning attacks outside Pakistan, “so we nailed him,” in the words of one.

Excerpt - DUBAI, May 16 (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden vowed in an audio tape marking Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations to continue the fight against the Jewish state and its allies and not give up an inch of Palestinian land. "We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their allies ... and will not give up a single inch of Palestine as long as there is one true Muslim on earth," the al Qaeda leader said in the tape posted on an Islamist website on Friday. Bin Laden said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at the heart of...

An radical jihadist Web site has announced that a new message from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is forthcoming. A banner announcing the message says he will address the 60th anniversary of Israel. His message is titled, "The reasons for the struggle in the remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the rising of the occupier nation of Israel." Developing...

Al-Qaeda could be planning to attack this summer's Euro 2008 football championships in Switzerland and Austria, it was reported today. "The Euro 2008 tournament is a target cited by the Islamist terrorist network," a police spokesman reportedly told Swiss newspaper La Liberte. A flurry of messages have been monitored, by police and security officials in Switzerland, on two Islamist internet forums - sos minbar and As-Sahab - which are favoured by the extremist terrorist group as a means to awaken dormant cells. One message is reported to say: "Let’s transform these two countries, the safest in Europe, into hell -...

NEW YORK (AP) — Terror leader Osama bin Laden will release a new Internet message dealing with Israel and the Palestinians, a terrorism monitoring group said Thursday. The announcement of the impending comments by the head of al-Qaida was posted on Web sites often used by terror groups, the SITE Intelligence Group said. Bin Laden's statement will be titled, "The Causes of Conflict on the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State of Israeli Occupation" and will be addressed to the "Western peoples," SITE said. Al-Qaida messages usually follow within 72 hours of such announcements. The terror network has...

BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured a terrorist in western Mosul, Iraq, May 15.The ISOF conducted the operation to capture a member of the Islamic State of Iraq, a front organization for al-Qaeda in Iraq, responsible for improvised explosive device emplacement and providing information to the ISI about the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police. Six other suspects were detained in the operation.This operation is expected to disrupt the ISI cell’s terrorist activities and diminish future attacks on IA and Coalition forces in western Mosul.“Iraqi Special Operations Forces, partnered with Coalition forces, will continue to pursue terrorists who threaten...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces detained 16 suspected terrorists Wednesday in central and northern Iraq during operations to disrupt the al-Qaeda in Iraq network. Coalition forces captured a wanted man and five additional suspects during two operations targeting AQI cells in Mosul. The wanted man is believed to be a cell leader who plans and conducts bombing attacks against Coalition forces. In a precision operation west of Samarra, which is about 65 miles north of Baghdad, Coalition forces captured an alleged associate of senior AQI leaders in Salah ad-Din province. Northwest of Balad, which is about 50 miles north of...

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2008 – Coalition forces caught 16 suspected terrorists today in central and northern Iraq during operations to disrupt the al-Qaida in Iraq network. Coalition forces captured a wanted man and five other suspects during two operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq cells in Mosul. The wanted man is believed to be a cell leader who plans and conducts bombing attacks against coalition forces. West of Samarra, about 65 miles north of Baghdad, coalition forces captured an alleged associate of senior al-Qaida in Iraq leaders in Salahuddin province. Northwest of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, coalition forces...

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country. Also Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, Iraqi police...

PESHAWAR: The government started withdrawal of Army troops from the Mahsud-inhabited areas of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and agreed to swap prisoners. Also, both the sides would sign yet another peace agreement, which the government suggested should not be in written form. However, top military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said the troops would be readjusted in the region. The sources said the troops would begin leaving Spinkai Raghzai town on May 16. The process of a complete withdrawal from the Mahsud-dominated areas would be complete by May 19.And once the troops are withdrawn from these areas, the jirga member...

US slashes reward for al-Qaida Iraq leader By MATTHEW LEE and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has slashed its reward for the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq from $5 million to $100,000 because it feels he's lost effectiveness and is no longer worth such a steep price, officials said Tuesday. Over the course of the last year, the government first reduced the bounty for Abu Ayyub al-Masri from $5 million to $1 million and then removed him entirely from the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program, which pays tipsters for information leading...

It is the latest issue of Covert Radio and the LongWar Journal.Org. Today Brett speaks with Bill Roggio and Bill Ardolino. Bill Roggio breaks down the latest from the front lines in the war on terror, including Al Qaeda terrorists who have moved from Iraq to Afghanistan. Then Bill and Brett are joined by Bill Ardolino who was embedded in Iraq until a few days ago. Bill Ardolino, brings us the latest stuff from the ground, including the growing anger among Iraqis at Iranian meddling, and the degree to which the US Military is taking out the Mahdi Fighters. Finally...

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces expanded their operations about 70 kilometers north of Basra, Iraq, into Qurnah today, as the Iraqi army continues to develop its capabilities for tactical maneuvers over long distances. Operation “Charge of Knights,” which began in March in Basra, launched in Qurnah with a drop of 100,000 leaflets over the small village encouraging residents’ cooperation. The operation involves Iraqi security forces operating with coalition air and ground support. United Kingdom and U.S. military transition teams are embedded with their Iraqi counterparts. In other operations in Iraq today: -- Coalition forces captured a...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2008 – Violence in Iraq’s Kirkuk province has dropped by 70 percent, and coalition and Iraqi forces have “virtually destroyed” al-Qaida in Iraq in the region, the commander of the U.S. brigade combat team in the area said today. Video Army Col. David Paschal, commander of 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, said that as security improves in the strategic northern province, changes are happening in the economy and in governance that help cement the security progress in place. Four developments have helped the battle against insurgents in the Rhode Island-sized province of 1.5 million, Paschal told...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces nabbed 20 terrorism suspects in operations yesterday in Baghdad and Mosul. Forces caught 19 suspects in the West Rashid and Kadhamiyah districts of Baghdad. Seven were caught while troops were talking with citizens in Kadhamiyah. Two others were caught during a search there, and four others suspected of planning bombing attacks were caught. Iraqi forces caught two suspects in Kadhamiyah. Four suspects were nabbed as part of Operation Tusker Chamberlain in West Rashid. Iraqi special operations forces advised by U.S. Special Forces soldiers yesterday caught a terrorism suspect wanted for murder...

Al-Qaeda has reportedly called on its operatives to go to Lebanon and defend what it called the Sunni community of the country. The report came while some Arab media outlets described the current clashes in Lebanon as a fight between Sunni and Shia communities. In an interviews with Sunni clerics with links to Saad Hariri's pro-government bloc, Al-Arabiya TV network described the ongoing clashes as a sectarian strife. Sheikh Ali al-Jozo, Mufti of the Jebel region, who is well known for his harsh stance against Hezbollah told the TV network that the clashes are a battle between Lebanon's Shia and...

A prominent member of al Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Sunday. Abu Suleiman al-Otaibi, formerly one of the group's leaders in Iraq, was killed in a "fierce battle with the worshipers of the cross" in Paktia, it said without giving the date of the battle. Another al Qaeda member, identified as Abu Dejana al-Qahtani, also died in the fighting, it added. Afghan officials said they had no information on the report. But the government earlier said in a statement that "five opposition" fighters...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces conducted an operation targeting associates of an al-Qaeda in Iraq foreign terrorist facilitator in northern Iraq Saturday. Information from detainees led Coalition forces to a location south of Mosul where they were targeting associates of a suspected AQI facilitator. Surveillance teams observed a vehicle leave the target building and followed the suspected terrorists. After the suspects’ vehicle made several stops at other locations, dropping off and picking up additional men, Coalition forces attempted to stop the vehicle. Coalition forces fired three warning shots, but the driver refused to stop and one man made threatening movements...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2008 – A U.S. Hellfire missile killed an insurgent near the site of a roadside-bomb attack in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district today, U.S. military officials said. A vehicle was destroyed while another insurgent fled the scene. “Our soldiers, along with the Iraqi security forces, continue to meet with the local populace to identify these criminal elements and eliminate the threat they pose,” said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division spokesman. “We will continue to use precision fire to defend the Iraqi people and ourselves against these criminal elements.” In yesterday’s operations:...

Ayman (rhymes with hymen) al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s aging and enfeebled second banana, has once again denounced fellow Muslim terrorist. Ayman delivered an audio presentation dull enough to drive a man to suicide (perhaps this is how Al Qaeda is creating new bombers). In this presentation Ayman criticized Iran of discrediting Al Qaeda. Isn’t that like Hillary accusing Barack of being liberal? .... It is normal for people with tightly wound turbans to accuse Israel of every atrocity, from eating small children to not recycling old copies of The Protocols. ... This reassignment of blame for 9/11 offended Al Qaeda more...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces detained 12 suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists during operations targeting the terrorist network in central and northern Iraq today. Coalition forces captured a wanted man and one additional suspected terrorist during an operation in Baghdad. The wanted man is believed to be an associate of an al-Qaeda in Iraq – or AQI – senior leader in the Northern Belt around the city. Targeting the AQI network in the Abu Ghraib area, 25 miles west of Baghdad, Coalition forces used information from an operation April 20 to detain three suspected terrorists. Iraqi and Coalition forces detained...

Since yesterday, the Macedonian police is in action at various locations in Skopje, due to the tip it received for suspicious money transfer. Our sources confirm, a Macedonian bank had tipped off the Authorities since January 2007 of suspicious money transfers. An Albanian, Bekir Halimi has been receiving 2,115 euros payments from Kuwaiti Organization "Revival Islamic Heritage Society". "The Revival Islamic Heritage Society has been blacklisted by the United Nations because of their close ties to terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda", said Interior Ministry's spokesperson, Ivo Kotevski. The money transfer through a swift account was done via Kuwaiti and two...

The third civil war has begun in Lebanon. The first war was a short one. Sunni Arab Nationalists in thrall to Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser wanted to attach Lebanon to the United Arab Republic – a brief union of Egypt and Syria. An even larger bloc of Maronite Christians resisted. A nation cannot hold itself together when a large percentage of its population – roughly a third – wish to be annexed by foreign powers. The second war was a long one. This time, Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization formed a state-within-a-state in West Beirut and South Lebanon and...

(CNSNews.com) - Using a video montage showing mass executions, bomb-making, and a promise to "slit the throats of Americans and Jews," two U.S. lawmakers unveiled a report that says homegrown violent Islamic extremism poses an increasing threat to the safety of the American people. (See Video) The bipartisan report by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs was unveiled by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday. Lieberman and Collins told reporters that al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups are using the Internet to recruit and train extremists...

Professors Against the War on Terror by: Bethany Stotts, May 09, 2008 The complaint that the Iraq War is the result of a neoconservative conspiracy to unduly expanded U.S. interests abroad has become popular among professors and antiwar activists, as is the assertion that the War on Terror has undermined American civil liberties and destroyed America’s reputation abroad. A new policy report by Politics professor Ian Lustick, published by the Independent Institute, is no different. However, the University of Pennsylvania professor’s report is unique in that he derives most of his inflammatory material from news outlets, including ABC News, the...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq today killed nine enemy fighters and detained 13 suspects during a series of operations across the country that targeted al-Qaida and its foreign-terrorist network, military officials said. -- In Baghdad, coalition detained a wanted man who allegedly is part of al-Qaida operations north of the city. Another suspect also was detained. -- Sixty miles west of Baghdad, coalition forces captured a wanted man linked to the movement of terrorists into Iraq. -- Coalition forces detained 10 more suspected terrorists during operations in northwestern Iraq. -- Coalition forces used Hellfire missiles to...

Why are the presidential candidates—and so many counterterrorism experts—afraid to say that the Al Qaeda threat is overrated? Michael Sheehan is on a one-man mission to put terrorist threats into perspective, which is a place they've rarely or ever been before. Already you can see it's going to be a hard slog. Fighting the inflated menace of Osama bin Laden has become big business, generating hundreds of billions of dollars for government agencies and contractors in what one friend of mine in the Washington policy-making stratosphere calls "the counterterrorist-industrial complex." But Sheehan's got the kind of credentials that ought to...

DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has been arrested, the Arabic television station al-Arabiya reported on Friday, quoting the Iraqi Defense Ministry. Arabiya said Muhajir had been detained in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The U.S. military said it had no information on the reports at this stage.

DUBAI, March 9 (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has been arrested in Iraq, the Arabic television station al-Arabiya reported on Friday, quoting the Iraqi Defence Ministry. Arabiya said Muhajir, successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been detained in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation in Mosul in northern Iraq.

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – The people of Sadr City are cooperating with Iraqi forces, but clearing the crowded portion of Baghdad is a painstaking procedure, an Iraqi government spokesman said in Baghdad today. Tahseen al-Sheikhly and Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a coalition spokesman, discussed ongoing operations in Sadr City during a news conference. “We see some places in Baghdad like Sadr City, suffers from the control of the criminal gangs and make those people suffer,” Sheikhly said through a translator. “The Iraqi government exerted a lot of effort to provide the needs for the people of Sadr City.”...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – Coalition forces killed a wanted terrorist and detained 23 suspects in two days of operations targeting terrorist cells around Iraq. Coalition forces targeted the wanted terrorist during an operation west of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The man refused to comply with an interpreter's instructions and, perceiving hostile intent, coalition forces engaged and killed him. The terrorist was a leader in the al-Qaida in Iraq network in Salahuddin province, coalition officials said. Another wanted man, believed to be part of the same network, was detained with an additional suspect in a separate operation...

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2008 – Iraqi and coalition forces detained 15 suspected terrorists, including two wanted individuals, while targeting al-Qaida operations throughout Iraq today. -- In two coordinated operations 60 miles north of Baghdad, coalition forces detained nine suspected terrorists, including a wanted man believed to work in the foreign-terrorist-facilitation network. When coalition forces arrived at the target building, three suspects crept out the back and into tactical positions behind a vehicle. Coalition forces perceived hostile intent from the men and called for supporting aircraft to engage them. One suspected terrorist was wounded in the engagement and taken to a...

Soldiers from the 3/31/8 IA Div. and Co. B, 2-502nd Inf. Regt., wait to begin a raid of several houses in Jabella, Iraq, May 2. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda McBride. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — In an effort to clear out criminals in the area, Iraqi Army Soldiers raided several houses in the city of Jabella, Iraq, May 2. With support from Coalition forces, the raid resulted in the detainment of 29 suspected insurgents.Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th IA Division, led the early morning raid, with help from Soldiers with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – Office of Management and Budget officials today urged Congress to act quickly on the White House’s request for $102 billion in supplemental funding to cover military operations in the war on terror through fiscal 2008, which ends Sept. 30. If Congress doesn’t act by the Memorial Day recess on the fiscal 2008 supplemental budget request, the Defense Department may have to begin furloughing civilian employees by the end of June, OMB officials said. The White House sent a $70 billion fiscal 2009 supplemental budget request to Congress on May 2 to carry the war effort...

NEFA Foundation: Al-Qaida Loses Yet Another Sunni Insurgent Ally in Iraq Amid Allegations of "Threats" and "Blackmail" The Army of al-Mustafa (a.k.a. “Jaish al-Mustafa”)—a Sunni insurgent group which has claimed credit for at least three joint operations with Al-Qaida’s “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) since January 2008—has suddenly broken off relations with the ISI, accusing its local commanders of engaging in “threats” and “blackmail.” In a statement released on April 15, a Jaish al-Mustafa field commander known as “Abu Muslim al-Mosuli” acknowledged a past relationship with the ISI but added, “something has occurred that we never expected would happen: some...

U.S. Frustrated By Elusive Justice Served to USS Cole Plotters May 04, 2008 It's been called "the forgotten attack" but it's one of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history. Eight years after the USS Cole was attacked by a motorboat packed with explosives, all of the six men convicted of the strike have escaped from prison, or been freed by Yemeni officials. Seventeen sailors were killed and 40 more wounded in the strike, blamed on Usama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Jamal al-Badawi, who helped organize the Cole plot, has reportedly escaped from Yemeni prisons twice. He is supposedly...

Thousands of Somalis took to the streets Sunday to protest a US bombing that killed a man said to be Al-Qaeda's chief in the country, and 11 other people, organisers and residents said. The protest took place at Dhusamareb, a trading post of about 100,000 people, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, where Thursday's attack took place. Abdirasak Moalim Ahmed, one of the organisers of the protest, said that in the days since the attack, people had been vomiting. "We believe the Americans used poisonous bombs," he said. The US air strike killed at least 12 people...

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured dozens of enemy fighters and terrorists during operatrions conducted throughout Iraq over the past three days. Coalition forces captured two suspected Iranian-trained insurgents early this morning in the Rashid district in Baghdad. Intelligence information led coalition forces to the location of an individual suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons. He is also suspected of providing information to other insurgent leaders that led to rocket attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces. The terrorist surrendered without incident. Coalition forces conducted a follow-on mission to capture another suspect. There, they detained an...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Approximately 120 men of the Chalabi tribe returned to their homes recently in the Sayafiyah region, about 25 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, more than a year after being driven out by al-Qaeda in Iraq extremists. Escorted by Sons of Iraq leader Jumah al-Kazarji and Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), a large convoy of cars and trucks ushered the Chalabi men back to their abandoned village. Their reclamation of homes signaled the hopeful beginning of a new era of peace and...

This is a FReeper made video based off the Al Qaeda document found and posted here at Free Republic by Jveritas. I plan to post it also at Googlevideo and Liveleak. I will present these links as they become available.

TOMAHAWK MISSILES fired by a U.S. Navy ship demolished a house in central Somalia on Thursday and killed a vicious militia leader and al-Qaeda operative. It was a victory for the Bush administration's counterterrorism operations in Africa -- and a demonstration of the limits of a strategy based almost entirely on "over the horizon" military strikes. Aden Hashi Ayro, the man who was killed, deserved the label of "evildoer." As chief of the extremist al-Shabab militia, he supervised and probably participated in the murder of foreign aid workers, teachers, an Italian nun and a British journalist while directing al-Shabab's insurgency...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed at least three enemy fighters, captured 55 suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. In Iraq today: -- Coalition troops detained four suspected terrorists during raids in Mosul targeting members of the local al-Qaida in Iraq network responsible for attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces. -- Using information gleaned in previous operations, coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists in a separate raid in Mosul. -- Iraqi and coalition forces captured two wanted men and two additional suspects 15 miles northwest of Baghdad. One...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 – No nation can solve the problem posed by radical extremism by itself, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the 102nd annual meeting of the American Jewish Committee here last night. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at the 2008 American Jewish Committee annual gala at the National Building Museum, in Washington, D.C., May 1, 2008. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “In this extraordinary time of fast-paced change, the challenge of violent extremism underpinned...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured suspected terrorists in various operations around Iraq over the past two days, military officials reported. During operations in Iraq today: -- Coalition surveillance teams in the Tigris River Valley, 85 miles south of Mosul, saw armed men entering a vehicle behind a targeted building. Coalition aircraft engaged the vehicle and killed five of them. The vehicle then erupted with secondary explosions, indicating that weapons and ammunition likely were inside. Ground forces killed an additional suspected terrorist in the raid and detained another. -- An air weapons team used...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2008 – U.S. Central Command conducted a strike against a known al-Qaida target in Somalia yesterday, a Pentagon spokesman said today. The strike was near Dusa Mareb, north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. U.S. officials would not confirm news reports that the strike killed Aden Hashi Ayro, the head of al-Qaida in Somalia, nor the means used in the strike. “When you have something like this, there is a certain amount of analysis that goes on,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. “While you are conducting that analysis, you want to be careful not to...