With an impending American presidential election in 2004, al-Qaida, the pre-eminent enemy of the Bush Administration, could ill-afford to be relegated to obscurity or forgotten. Having established and discussed the … Continue reading SERIES: Exiles Of Jihad: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Threat To An Election
In late 2003, the collective American consciousness disregarded the war in Afghanistan and observed with intense focus the happenings of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as the militant determined to … Continue reading SERIES: Exiles Of Jihad: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – A Lion Emerges
The captures of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his nephew Ammar al-Baluchi thoroughly disrupted the current and potential mechanics of al-Qaida external operations. Now the two represented an abundant wealth of … Continue reading SERIES: Exiles Of Jihad: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Parrying The Pakistanis
The Karachi raids deprived Khalid Sheikh Mohamed of an adequate cell of men, facilitators, two of his best lieutenants, an enormity of supplies, and of course a series of viable … Continue reading SERIES: Exiles Of Jihad: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Collapse Of The External Structure
After the debacle of Damadola, it seemed unlikely that the US would engage in another unilateral airstrike operation in the populated regions of the FATA in sovereign Pakistan. Thus far … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of Khorasan – Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah
After the strike that killed Hamza Rabia proved that the drone campaign could actually track and assassinate major al-Qaida figures successfully, the efforts were focused to remove larger numbers of … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of Khorasan – The Damadola Incident; A Portent of the Future Drone Campaign
Having discussed the history and circumstances of America’s first drone strike within Pakistani territory, we move to the next phase, in which the CIA began actively hunting major al-Qaida figures … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of Khorasan – Abu Haitham Al-Yemeni; First Al-Qaida Militant Eliminated Via Drone Strike In Pakistan
Amid the story of the internal and external exploits of al-Qaida in the early 2000s, we must detour to discuss their rugged tribal haven and their Pashtun hosts. We must … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of Khorasan – Nek Mohamed Wazir and The Battle of Wana