CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida confirmed Sunday the death of a top commander accused of training the suicide bombers who killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole eight years ago.

Abu Khabab al-Masri, who had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, is believed to have been killed in an airstrike apparently launched by the U.S. in Pakistan last week.

An al-Qaida statement posted on the Internet said al-Masri and three other top figures were killed and warned of vengeance for their deaths. It did not say when, where or how they died but said some of their children were killed along with them.

Pakistani authorities have said they believe al-Masri is one of six people killed in an airstrike on July 28 on a compound in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal region near the Afghan border.

The U.S. military has not confirmed it was behind the missile strike. But similar U.S. attacks are periodically launched on militant targets in the tribal border region.

Both Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed to be hiding in the rugged and lawless region along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The U.S. Justice Department has accused al-Masri, an Egyptian militant whose real name is Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, of training terrorists to use poisons and explosives.

Terrorism experts downplayed the significance of al-Masri's death.

"A big name does not mean a big impact on the ground," said Mustafa Alani, director of national security and terrorism studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "The bottom line is that those people are replaceable. The organization has developed in such a way that it can survive and fill in any gap even if Osama bin Laden was to die."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93236744

Hey wait a minute, wasn't that Obama's idea? Strike at high value target in Pakistan?

And didn't McCain jump all over Obama and call him "niave" and said he (McCain) would not do that as Pakistan is a soveriegn nation?

WTF?

When I first read this story last week there was a comment that I couldnt find in this article.
I guessed it had been edited out, and as I searched and searched I still couldnt find it.
I began to think maybe I was mistaken when I finally found an (one) article with the comment still in it!

dated July 29th,

Although CIA officials declined to comment on the attack, CIA-operated Predator drones are known to have carried out several successful missile strikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders inside Pakistan's autonomous tribal region this year, including a January attack that killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander.

The incident threatened to overshadow Gillani's first trip to the United States as Pakistan's prime minister, a visit in which both he and President Bush sought to play down growing tensions between the two nations. During meetings between the two leaders, Gillani secured a pledge from Bush to respect Pakistan's sovereignty, in exchange for promises from Islamabad to increase efforts against insurgents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/28/AR2008072800361.html

I swear,
IMO
The Bush Administration is controlling the media, everything they say and everything they print!

Dearest Fanta ~ How are you, Brother ?

you are so "up" on all the latest current events

and all the complete details of the News...

political & otherwise, it seems all the time


sooo, what can we trust...

Just who can we believe ???

Pinocchio. He never lies!!

Believe and trust in yourself my dear.
Take nothing at face value from Politicians nor the Media.
Check the facts and believe in truth!

There's a quote from Ben Franklin that says it best,

"Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see."

Here's another for you Rapunzel,


Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

- Buddha

thank you sooo much, Fanta...


that is sound advice & excellent wisdom

of course the U. S. has not confirmed....

we shot missiles into Pakistan......

Dave