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Sept. 10 in Waziristan: What Will Be Done about Al-Qaeda's Camps?

[Washington Post] David Ignatius - The National Intelligence Estimate released July 17 put the problem plainly enough: Al-Qaeda has "regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability" using a new haven in the lawless frontier area of northwest Pakistan known as Waziristan. Al-Qaeda, the intelligence analysts explained, has "the goal of producing mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks and/or fear among the U.S. population." What should the U.S. do about al-Qaeda's new haven, from which it may already be plotting attacks that could kill thousands of Americans? Henry Crumpton, a former CIA officer who was one of the heroes of the agency's campaign to destroy al-Qaeda's haven in Afghanistan in late 2001, argues that the U.S. must take preventive action but should do so carefully, through proxies wherever possible. The right model for a Waziristan campaign is the CIA-led operation in Afghanistan, not the U.S. military invasion of Iraq. Teams of CIA officers and Special Forces soldiers are best suited to work with tribal leaders, providing them weapons and money to fight an al-Qaeda network that has implanted itself brutally in Waziristan through the assassination of more than 100 tribal leaders during the past six years. "The United States has an obligation to defend itself and its citizens," says Crumpton. "We either do it now, or we do it after the next attack." Crumpton proposed a detailed plan last year for rolling up these sanctuaries, which he called the Regional Strategic Initiative. It would combine economic assistance and paramilitary operations in a broad counterinsurgency campaign.
2007-08-03 01:00:00
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