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Winning the War, One Day at a Time

British Raid Nets Al Qaeda Leader: bq. A key al Qaeda figure who had access to the surveillance data that led authorities to increase the terror alert level was among those arrested in raids in Britain on Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. national security official. He said the arrests were made on information obtained following the arrests of al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan. Two Men With Suspected Ties Ansar al-Islam Arrested in Albany Mosque Raid bq. Federal agents and Albany police raided a Muslim mosque overnight Wednesday and arrested two men for helping someone they thought was a terrorist, a law enforcement official confirmed to FOX News on Thursday. The war on terrorism. It's working, despite attempts to ridicule/demonize it.

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» Terror Suspects Arrested in England Targeted Heathrow? from Backcountry Conservative
CNN: The leader of an al Qaeda group in Britain is among 12 people arrested in anti-terrorist raids in Britain, Pakistani intelligence officials have told CNN. British newspapers reported Thursday that the target of an al Qaeda cell in Britain... [Read More]

» 2 arrests at Albany mosque in terror sting from Backcountry Conservative
Newsday: Federal agents and city police raided a Muslim mosque overnight Wednesday, with armed officers sealing off a block in downtown Albany for several hours. Authorities declined to immediately discuss the raid at Masjid As-Salam mosque. An FBI spo... [Read More]

» Terror Watch from Wizbang
All of the sudden the "no new information" meme that some are trying to attach to last weekends terror alert is crumbling.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration learned from a third person, separate from two prisoners identified this week, that... [Read More]

» Albany Plot attempt to kill Pakistani Ambassador from Backcountry Conservative
Fox News just received a report that the Albany plot was going to be an attempt to use SA-7 missiles to assassinate Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations. Other info: 2 arrests at Albany mosque in terror sting Pataki Press... [Read More]

» Thursday's Terrorism Wrap-Up from Backcountry Conservative
I'm posting this now before I head out to take my last final exam for summer school. Please add links to this post from any and all terrorism-related posts you made today (Thurs. Aug. 5) and send a trackback (manually... [Read More]

Comments

They're still going to chip away at us for a long time, but these types of arrests will slow them down.

As long as we stay ahead technologically, we'll probably be in good shape.

Oh, the best is yet to come. The cries of 'Republican Timing!' will eventually pave the way for the most creative of leftist conspiracy theories. That's what I'm here for. It's like watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, it's where the entertainment value resides.

The war on terrorism isn't a republican or a democratic thing, it's a worldwide thing.

It won't stop because John Kerry is President next year.

Well, it won't stop for one side of it, that's for certain....

You can arrest, detain, or kill every leader out there. That will only lead to a dangerous, angry populace with potential for mass riots when this mobb is dissatisified and also leaderless.

Leaders often times serve as an abeyance institute. Abeyance institutions are important. I would argue Al Sadr is now an abeyance leader, not instituting violence of his own, AND keeping his supporters satisified, and fairly pacified. If you were to take Al Sadr away, those people would be up in arms, and i don't mean their limbs.

Now obviously not all leaders are keeping their rank and file quiet, and some are obviously actively engaging in ne'er-do-well actions. but how do you deal with it all? Chop off the head, rank and file are angry. Leave the head, pacify the rank and file, and the strength of the head dissipates.

I don't know.

So, don't arrest the leaders and pacify the terrorists that work for them? That's how you deal with terrorism, Rawb?

It seems that since the Israelis began targeting terrorist leaders that attacks by them have gone 'way down. How does that fit your theory, rawb?

There's another theory out there. Cut the head off a snake and the body dies.

No that's not how I deal with terrorists. I was just making observations. If the rank and file are annoyed, they will still rise up on their own without leaders.

Although arresting leaders obviously often times has a demorializing affect, so it's not pointless. Then the rank and file can be more easily pacified.

Usually when I end a post with "I don't know" or "I got nothin", it generally means I'm not drawing any conclusions,... just rambling.

The real reason I came back to post was that it seems Al Sadr is no longer an abeyance leader, as of this morning on the front of the new york times. The truce just broke.

Any such arrest is a cause for celebration. But its a big country out there, and an even bigger world.

Lots of places in it are not nearly as cooperative as Pakistan and Britain, and not every terrorist wannabe here is dumb enough to fall for a sting.

Until we start mending the worldwide friendships that we have marred, picking off our enemies one foot soldier at a time is not very efficient.

I can't disagree more, rawb. Terrorist leaders don't pacify their followers, they incite, organized, and focus them. Unfocused anger without leadership is just going to cause a few riots. To get more then that you need someone who knows how to raise some money, build bombs, acquire weapons training, etc. You often hear that 9/11 was cheap, using our own resources against us, but even if it only cost $100,000, that's still $100,000 more then the average al Qaeda member can spare. In my opinion, targeted police actions like these are the real hope for the war on terror.

I have to say that the timing of this leak to the press is very suspicious.

I bet Booosh has known about this all along and has been planning this August surprise for some time.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=206

Overwhelming majorities in Jordan and Morocco believe suicide attacks against Americans and other Westerners in Iraq are justifiable. As a point of comparison, slightly more people in those two countries say the same about Palestinian suicide attacks against Israelis.

About half of Pakistanis also say suicide attacks on Americans in Iraq – and against Israelis in the Palestinian conflict – are justifiable.

Fewer respondents in Turkey agree, but slightly more Turks view suicide attacks on Americans in Iraq as justifiable as say the same about Palestinian attacks on Israelis (31% vs. 24%).

And these countries are your allies. Just imagine how Iraqis are feeling after you bombed, invaded and tortured them.

Maaan, you create terrorists fast...

Overwhelming majorities in nations like Jordan, Egypt believe that honor killings are justifiable.

100% of Islamists (terrorists and their many Arab financers) believe that slavery is justified under Allah’s laws. They believe that homosexuality and apostasy and adultery should be punished by death.

A large percentage of Palestinians rush into the streets and fight over the trophy of body parts (liver, head, etc) after one of their leaders has been slain. Most Palestinians want to live in a nation ruled the same sort of Shariah law that the Taliban followed. They regularly persecute Christians.

Most of the Arab world believes that the genocide in the Sudan should continue in the name of ‘peace’.

In related news, most of the world believes that the performance of their local soccer team should have a deep effect on their personal lives. Most of the world believes that Brittney Spears has talent.

The world is full of idiots. If these idiots, especially the certifiable fascists, are our enemies, than we’re doing something right.

Any news like this is good, but we can't let this lull us into a false complacency. There was an earlier example of how Israel's targeting of terrorists leaders is resulting in a decrease in attacks. I don't doubt that will happen here as well, but we'll never win if we don't get after some of the sources. We have to fight this war on every front. That means killing and capturing today's terrorists while preventing tomorrow's. Even Rumsfeld said "The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan." He asked the right questions in his leaked memo from way back when.