U.S. and Pakistani Officials Point The Finger At Al Qaeda For Islamabad Bombing

According to the report here at Reuters, U.S. and Pakistani officials are saying that al Qaeda is responsible for the Marriott bombing in Islamabad - the Pakistanis are a bit quicker to say al Qaeda IS responsible while U.S. officials say it APPEARS it is al Qaeda. At this point in time, I'm not so positive that al Qaeda, Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Omar aren't all sitting down at the same table on matters like this. Quite awhile ago, just before Mullah Dadullah was killed, he coducted an interview in which he basically admitted that al Qaeda and the Taliban acted as one.

Here's some of the article:

The suicide bomb attack that killed 53 people at the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital on Saturday bore the hallmarks of an operation by al Qaeda or an affiliate, Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials said.

"The sophistication of the blast shows it's the work of al Qaeda," a Pakistani intelligence officer told Reuters.

"They're giving a very clear, unambiguous message that if the government pursues these policies, this is what they will do in response," said Talat Masood, a retired general and analyst.

The issues in Pakistan are not just the renewed efforts of al Qaeda and the Taliban to take out retribution on Pakistani targets, but the fact that the intelligence services, the military and the government itself is full of sympathizers to the very terror they are supposedly keeping watch over. This is a country in chaos especially with a new government that has struggled for any definition in their terror policy. They have gone from total appeasement to the Taliban to calling on a full court press on them...they have gone from threatening to shoot American aircraft down over Pakistan to working with the Americans on air strikes. It is madness and in the middle of the madness, al Qaeda and the Taliban thrive. Chaos is, afterall, the goal of al Qaeda and the past few days has shown that they are reaching their goals - at least in Pakistan they are.

Al Qaeda suspected of Pakistan's Marriott bombing

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The suicide bomb attack that killed 53 people at the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital on Saturday bore the hallmarks of an operation by al Qaeda or an affiliate, Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials said.
Searchers combing the burnt shell of the hotel found more charred bodies the morning after the blast which ignited a blaze that swept through the hotel, part of a U.S.-based chain and a favorite haunt of diplomats and rich Pakistanis.
Four foreigners were killed including the Czech ambassador, his Vietnamese partner and two Americans, while 266 people were wounded, 11 of them foreigners, the Interior Ministry said. A Danish diplomat was missing, the Danish Foreign Ministry said.
Internal security in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a country vital to the war against al Qaeda and other Islamist militant groups, has deteriorated alarmingly over the past two years.
"The sophistication of the blast shows it's the work of al Qaeda," a Pakistani intelligence officer told Reuters.
Pakistan's army is in the midst of an offensive against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border while the United States has intensified attacks on militants on the Pakistani side of the border.
Militants have launched bomb attacks, most on security forces in the northwest, in retaliation.
"They're giving a very clear, unambiguous message that if the government pursues these policies, this is what they will do in response," said Talat Masood, a retired general and analyst.