[Washington Post] Spencer S. Hsu and Walter Pincus - A threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, titled "Al-Qaeda Better Positioned to Strike the West," concludes that the group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network. While asserting that al-Qaeda is still considerably weaker than it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the report concludes that the group is stronger than it has been in years. The CIA's deputy director for intelligence, John A. Kringen, told a House committee Wednesday that al-Qaeda appears "to be fairly well settled into the safe haven in the ungoverned spaces of Pakistan." Thomas Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, said, "sooner or later, you have to quit permitting them [al-Qaeda] to have a safe haven there," but warned that "there is some risk of turning a problem in northwest Pakistan into the problem of all of Pakistan."
2007-07-12 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive