"A Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials were looking into the possibility that tribal leaders had tipped off the Qaeda suspects, enabling them to inflict the heavy losses on the Pakistani troops."

"The deaths of 10 Pakistani soldiers in a firefight with al Qaeda forces are the most telling sign yet that the war in Afghanistan has expanded eastward into Pakistan, a development that could have far-reaching consequences for the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf."

"Sandwiched between U.S. demands and dangers within his own country, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is announcing bold initiatives to counter fundamentalism but is falling short in their execution. If Musharraf is skimping on political actions, it may not bode well for his cooperation against extremist elements in Pakistan."

"Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf faced a torrent of criticism on Thursday over proposed constitutional changes that would give him sweeping new powers to dictate the country's affairs."

"US troops won't be leaving the scarred battlegrounds of Afghanistan any time soon. Far from crumbling after the destruction of the Taliban's national government, Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have proved to be tenacious guerrilla warriors, lying low, launching hit-and run-attacks – and fighting back when confronted."

"The Americans are here in Kunar ... but I can't say for sure whether there are al-Qaeda here," said local government spokesman Saeed Mohammed Safi.

"We have a lot of mountains and gorges and forests where (al-Qaeda) can hide. But I haven't seen any," he said Wednesday.

"Senior senators from both parties urged the Bush administration today to support expansion of an international security force in Afghanistan to cities other than Kabul, citing the growing power of regional warlords and a rise in rural lawlessness."

"Israel's foreign intelligence chief has warned against the nuclear capabilities of Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria at a meeting with top Nato officials, the Haaretz daily reported Thursday."

The Bush Doctrine calls for preemptive action.

"Nine months after President Bush said he wanted Mr. bin Laden "dead or alive" and declared war on the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan who refused to hand him over, the most wanted man in the world is still on the run.

And though US officials are now talking more about the dangers posed by midlevel Al Qaeda operatives, their leader, inspiration, and ideologist remains a key quarry."

"The planned pullout of British and Canadian forces from Afghanistan this summer signals an end to the military phase of the war on Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, Pentagon officials and terrorism experts say. It is now up to intelligence operatives, law enforcement officials and covert commando units to scour for al-Qaeda cells that have dispersed around the globe."

But bombing has worked so well...

"Assistant commissioner David Veness, head of special operations at the Metropolitan police, said that there was now evidence to show that Britain had been a base for terrorist communications, recruitment, propaganda and logistical support, and that the activity dated to the mid-1990s."

"As for me, I am in the best of states, and I swear I am not a prisoner, but rather, in a five-star hotel, thank God," wrote Abdullah Kamel, 28, an assistant engineer at the Ministry of Electricity who, like most Kuwaitis captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan, insists that he was there only to do charity work.

"The American government has been accused of trying to undermine the International Criminal Court because it wants prosecution immunity for its troops on UN missions in Bosnia and elsewhere."

"A former women's affairs minister in Afghanistan fears for her safety because she is opposed by the country's powerful religious establishment."

"The Americans are making mistakes; they should take notice," said Mohammed Naeem, 38. "They are receiving disinformation from people who have personal grudges or other reasons. They go raid and people get killed because they are pointed out as al-Qaida or Taliban."

"We have a duty to keep our Muslim brothers out of the hands of the American infidels and their Pakistani puppets," says barber Ikhlaq Bakhtiar, 36, owner of the Marhaba Salon. "These Arab brothers are doing the work of God. Their work is far from finished."

"Is Pakistan taking Afghanistan's place as the new fulcrum of transnational terrorism?"

Yes.

"Officials of FBI, combing Pakistan for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations targetting American interests, have been able to detain huundreds of foreigners, mostly Arabs, by tracking calls made by them on satellite phones."

"The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, has called for a joint operation by Afghanistan, the United States and Pakistan to capture Osama bin Laden, who he believes is in hiding."

"The US military yesterday dismissed as 'wishful thinking' new threats from an al-Qaida spokesman who said Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was still intact and preparing new attacks."

"Osama Bin Laden and '98%' of the al-Qaida leadership are still alive and planning fresh attacks on the US 'in the coming days and months', a spokesman for the organisation said in a taped broadcast yesterday."

"Senators say Al Qaeda spokesman confirms what they already thought."

"The head of the US Senate intelligence committee on Sunday said Washington believes Osama bin Laden is hiding out in western Pakistan, hours after an al-Qaeda spokesman said bin Laden is alive and warned the United States to 'fasten its seat belt' for more attacks."

"President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has appointed a controversial cabinet in which he has yielded even greater political and military powers to the already dominant faction of Tajiks from the Panjshir valley and other warlords."

"They (G8 nations) are responsible for more than 80% of all new weapons reaching the developing world. Many of these are destined for unstable regions, Amnesty says. Its report adds that armed groups such as al-Qaida and countries such as India, Pakistan, Israel and Zimbabwe have acquired huge arsenals that can be traced back to G8 nations."

"British troops in Afghanistan have seized a huge arsenal of suspected Taleban arms."

Remixed propaganda posters, courtesy of the Ministry of Homeland Security

"The United States is no longer dropping bombs in Afghanistan and few al-Qaida fighters have been captured in recent weeks. The country is stabilizing a bit, but the 7,000 American soldiers there won't be leaving any time soon.

One reason is the fear that if the troops left, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida fighters who fled across the border to Pakistan would go right back in, U.S. officials said.

What's more, the thousands of U.S. troops sent to countries surrounding Afghanistan — such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan — are digging in for the long haul, too."

"... questions remain over what ministers and officials enthusiastically billed as the largest deployment of British troops since the 1991 Gulf war - the despatch of the commando brigade, spearheaded by the Royal Marines, to the mountains of south-eastern Afghanistan. In particular, why after weeks of gruelling effort, untold millions of pounds of tax payers' money and much government hype, was not one al-Qaida fighter caught?"

"The Pentagon has approved a plan to send American troops on patrol with Philippine soldiers battling Islamic rebels in the southern Philippines, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday."

"Two rockets were fired near the US embassy in Kabul on Tuesday night, a reminder of the culture of violence still plaguing the country and the tough task President Hamid Karzai faces in his efforts to unite its fractious ethnic groups."

"The commander of American troops in Afghanistan said today that he expected to need at least one more year to complete his mission here, namely to crush the remnants of Al Qaeda and the Taliban and to build the foundations of an Afghan national army."

"The Bush administration has concluded that options short of an all-out military assault against Iraq, including military support to opposition forces or fomenting a coup, should be tried over the next few months to dislodge President Saddam Hussein from power.

But many in the administration expect those attempts to fail, and there is disagreement over how to proceed with a more robust military strategy."

"Kurds in northern Iraq will refuse to cooperate with any US-inspired covert action to topple Saddam Hussein, a Kurdish leader said yesterday, responding to reports that Washington is stepping up secret efforts to oust the Iraqi president."

"In an exclusive account of their narrow escape, published in yesterday’s Sydney Daily Telegraph, they blamed much of the problem on inadequate US air power, poor intelligence and faulty technology."

Remember what Tommy Franks said about Anaconda: the operation "an unqualified and absolute success."

"Classified investigations of the Qaeda threat now under way at the F.B.I. and C.I.A. have concluded that the war in Afghanistan failed to diminish the threat to the United States, the officials said. Instead, the war might have complicated counterterrorism efforts by dispersing potential attackers across a wider geographic area."

"International aid workers are threatening to leave northern Afghanistan after a female worker was gang raped, gunmen attacked a clinic and a vehicle carrying food for the hungry was shot up, the United Nations said today."

"A new outbreak of lawlessness in northern Afghanistan has threatened to shut down humanitarian relief work as loya jirga delegates work on ways to solidify the peace elsewhere in the country.

The region around Mazar-e-Sharif has been the scene of violence in recent days as three rival commanders have been taking part in the gathering in Kabul - and presumably supervising incursions into their adversaries' territory on the assumption that those rivals would let down their guard while attending the conference."

"President Bush has directed his top national security aides to make a doctrine of pre-emptive action against states and terrorist groups trying to develop weapons of mass destruction into the foundation of a new national security strategy, according to senior administration officials drafting the document."

"Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, is becoming so frustrated at being undermined by the White House that he may stand down after the mid-term elections, according to some American diplomats."

"The Allies are still on the hunt in Afghanistan—and the locals aren't happy"

"United States officials have sought to allay concerns among Dutch politicians after the US Senate approved a law authorising use of force if a US citizen was held by the International Criminal Court in The Hague."

"Powell and Rumsfeld have very different ideas, and that has lead to some friction."

"THE Bush Administration is likely to take military action against Iraq by next winter and hopes that British forces will fight alongside US troops."

"Several men believed to be American citizens have been taken into custody here during the past few weeks on suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda, senior Pakistani officials said today."

"Senior German officials said today that they did not know the whereabouts of an important figure in the Hamburg plot that led to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, and they speculated that he was being held in a third country at the request of the United States."

Army Private Matt Guckenheimer was quoted in the May 25th issue of the Ithaca Journal that during Operation Anaconda, his unit was "told specifically that if there were women and children to kill them." He has since cleared things up.

"U.S. reports specific indications that Al Qaeda has rebounded from allied attacks to again become a deadly organization with an intact leadership based in northwest Pakistan."

In hindsight, bombing the hell out of Afghanistan made a lot of sense.

"Since al-Qaida and Taliban came to our country and killed our people, we had to come here and face them," said Sgt. Allan Toney, 23, of Oxnard, Calif. "But they're running to Pakistan like cowards. We are here and they are hiding, they won't fight face-to-face like men."

"Coalition forces have launched a new operation in southwestern Afghanistan to root out remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Tuesday."

"British and European security officials are highly sceptical of American claims that the alleged 'dirty bomb' plotter, Abdullah al-Muhajir, was preparing to unleash a radioactive attack.

Despite claims by the Attorney General, John Ashcroft, that the FBI had disrupted a plan to launch a radioactive attack against Washington, other officials conceded yesterday that there was no evidence that any such plot had progressed beyond the most basic stages.

British security sources, who believe Mr Muhajir might have been acting as a courier, said the Americans investigated Mr Muhajir's activities and tried to find a terrorist network he may have been involved with inside the US. The highly publicised announcement of the arrest only came after the failure to find anything more incriminating."

"The warlords of Afghanistan rallied behind their interim leader, Hamid Karzai, yesterday in a display of unity that came after America engineered a climbdown by the country's former king."

Jose Padilla couldn't even spell bomb, let alone make one.

"The United States will not shy away from first strikes when it acts against terrorists, Vice President Dick Cheney told a group of world conservatives Monday."

"President Bush made a case Monday for pre-emptive strikes against terrorists that seek weapons of mass destruction for use against the United States and other nations, saying 'we will oppose the new totalitarians with all our power.'"

"Eight months after launching a lightning military campaign in Afghanistan, the United States is in danger of losing the peace unless it takes swift action to defuse ethnic rivalries, limit the powers of warlords, ensure wider security, improve aid distribution and cope with the flood of returning refugees, warn an array of officials and experts."

"Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a 'world-class liar' who is trying to fool the world into thinking he has no interest in weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told U.S. troops Monday on this island nation in the Persian Gulf."

Germany: Against Us.

"The Bush administration is developing a new strategic doctrine that moves away from the Cold War pillars of containment and deterrence toward a policy that supports preemptive attacks against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons."

"They know that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar very possibly remain at large, that Qaeda and Taliban soldiers still roam the wild borderlands with Pakistan, that terrorists continue to issue threats. The job seems unfinished, and many say that bothers them."

"Privately, officials on both sides acknowledge that the real purpose was to rescue Martin and Gracia Burnham, the missionary couple, who came from Kansas, and to deal a decisive blow to Abu Sayyaf.

But Mr. Burnham and a third hostage, Ediborah Yap, are dead. Abu Sayyaf has not been wiped out, and its hard-core leaders appear to have escaped."

"There appears to be a dispute over the United States' role in the botched rescue operation of hostages, with Manila insisting that the US had prior knowledge."

"What is likely to unfold is a week of bewildering allegiances, treachery, and backroom deals between warlords who should not be there, local militiamen who have bribed and intimidated themselves onto the floor, and a Loya Jirga assembly that some monitors claim will produce a pre-determined outcome favoured by the United States — a result that would enrage the already disaffected majority Pashtuns."

"Arabs captured with Taliban and al Qaida forces were freed for ransom by a U.S.-backed Afghan warlord following the bitter siege of the last Taliban holdout in Northern Afghanistan last year, lawyers and government officials told United Press International Wednesday."

"Segments of Saudi society have never been so radical as they are now," says Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi exile who runs the Virginia-based Saudi Institute. A handful of "radical teachers" have been "infected by bin Laden," he says, "so we are going to have another young generation of bin Ladens."

President Bush set to dismiss his administration's report later today.

"Senators accused the Bush administration of giving conflicting statements on its Cuba policy even as a State Department official Wednesday sought to clarify U.S. views."

"Iraq poses an increasing threat that must be met, the defense chiefs of the United States and Britain said Wednesday, showing growing impatience with Saddam Hussein."

"A substantial number of al Qaeda fighters remain in Afghanistan despite the eight-month war waged against them by allied forces, a top U.S. army intelligence official said on Wednesday."

"New York-based Human Rights Watch said Afghan civilians in many areas were facing growing repression and lawlessness that threatened to dash hopes for the June 10-16 meeting of the Loya Jirga tribal council intended to set the course for Afghanistan six months after the fall of the Taliban regime."

dack.com translation: "We have failed to kill or capture bin Laden, nor do we have any idea where he is, but that's OK because he's not in charge anymore."

Rummy giving aid and comfort to our ememies?

"Mr. Rumsfeld said that while American forces might have brought good will and improved living conditions to Basilan, their presence had not necessarily resulted in more dead or captured terrorists.

'You can improve the situation in one place by your presence, but unless you get the terrorists, you have not improved the situation net in the world,' he said. 'And there has been very little of getting terrorists in the Philippines thus far.'"

"A small number of US troops are understood to be searching for al-Qaeda and Taliban diehards along with Pakistan troops in northwest Pakistan."

"Yesterday, Dr Woods carried out eight operations in a single sweep of Afghan villages around the provincial capital, Khost.

'We have advanced units out front. Kids run up to us asking politely for water and sweets, sometimes holding a sore tooth. That is when we jump in,' he said."

On yesterday's Meet the Press, Robert Mueller boasted it took the Bureau just six weeks to determine those responsible for 9-11 "were Al-Qaeda, leading back to Osama bin Laden." That's two weeks after the start of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan.

"Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, one of the world's most wanted men, is alive and spending much of his time outside Afghanistan, the interior minister of the interim Afghan government said Monday."

"THE United States must be prepared to take the War on Terror to up to 60 countries if weapons of mass destruction are to be kept out of terrorists’ hands, President Bush said at the weekend."

"By labeling Iran part of an "axis of evil," the United States is losing its few friends in the Islamic republic, with President Mohammad Khatami the latest to join the camp of adversaries."

"U.S. troops swept onto a mountain ridge near the Pakistani border, ready to face perhaps dozens of al-Qaida or Taliban fighters. But they found no one, only caves and buildings that hadn't been lived in for weeks."

"The United States may need to reassess its military mission in Afghanistan (news - web sites) because of the threat of nuclear war between India and Pakistan, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday."

"Grieving villagers readily acknowledge that they are glad to be rid of the Taliban. But they are puzzled and angry about the United States' reluctance to apologize or provide compensation. More than seven months after U.S. planes began dropping bombs, pain and recriminations endure in villages across Afghanistan."

"Delivering his toughest foreign policy speech in months, President George Bush said he reserved the right to take pre-emptive military action against any rogue nation suspected of involvement in terrorism."

"International donors are failing to live up to their pledges for Afghanistan, with the short fall running into hundreds of millions of dollars, the United Nations has said."

"The United States refused Iraqi offers to hand over a suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Iraq's foreign minister says."