Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Al Qaeda in Lodi?

It's still too early to say much about this story, except to make two points:
  • The jihadist training camp where Hayat is alleged to have undergone jihadist training, is just about adjacent to Rawalpindi, one of Pakistan's big cities, and not far from the capital of Islamabad. That means the Pakistani government had to have been tolerating the camp's presence, even well after September 11th. Of course, Musharraff comes from a political party that has long favored jihadist camps, particularly with respect to Kashmir. Just another example of the murky politics at work in Pakistan, particularly with respect to terrorism.
  • It's remarkable just how few arrests we've heard about in the U.S. regarding Al Qaeda. There were the Lackawanna, NY, arrests, of course, but surprisingly few, all things considered. Three possibilities suggest themselves: 1.) the arrests have been many but secretive; 2.) the FBI has made few arrests because they know so little; or 3.) the FBI has made few arrests, in order to gather more intelligence. I lean to #2, but who knows?

No comments:

Post a Comment