As far as I know, this is the first concrete evidence of Pakistani Taliban direct involvement on an attempted terror attack on the United States of America as a video has surfaced showing the Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, meeting and embracing and briefly speaking with Pakistani Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
The further significance of this, at least to me, is that this is proof positive that the Pakistani Taliban have now joined the ranks of al Qaeda as a enemy of America - al Qaeda gained that position by the 9/11 attacks while now, the Pakistani Taliban have been fully implicated in a terror attack attempt on New York City - sure, it's a much smaller scale but an act of war, is an act of war.
I would further propose that this means the U.S. has very little standing in its way of a full assault upon the Pakistan Taliban INSIDE of Pakistan - we do not have to rely totally on drones anymore and while we need to work with the Pakistan government, it must be known to the Pakistanis that the Taliban committed an act of war and we have the right to find them and kill them all.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
Failed Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad is seen embracing and shakingNow, the significance of this is that U.S. officials initially totally discounted Shahzad's claim that he was sent to do his dirty deed by the Taliban. Sure, he claimed it but no one, not even me, believed it. Well, we now see that we were wrong.
hands with Pakistani Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud in a short videoclip.
In the previously unseen video, published by Flashpoint Partners
yesterday, Shahzad and Hakeemullah are shown in front of a banner of the
Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan [view video at Flashpoint Partners]. They
rise, embrace , and shake hands, while Shahzad's voice is overlaid on the tape
saying he executed the attack under the command of Hakeemullah, who answers to
Mullah Omar.
"Today, along with the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
Hakeemullah Mehsud and under the command of Amir al-Mumineen Mullah Mohammed
Omar Mujahid (may Allah protect him), we are planning to wage an attack on your
side, inshallah (god willing)," Shahzad said.
The further significance of this, at least to me, is that this is proof positive that the Pakistani Taliban have now joined the ranks of al Qaeda as a enemy of America - al Qaeda gained that position by the 9/11 attacks while now, the Pakistani Taliban have been fully implicated in a terror attack attempt on New York City - sure, it's a much smaller scale but an act of war, is an act of war.
I would further propose that this means the U.S. has very little standing in its way of a full assault upon the Pakistan Taliban INSIDE of Pakistan - we do not have to rely totally on drones anymore and while we need to work with the Pakistan government, it must be known to the Pakistanis that the Taliban committed an act of war and we have the right to find them and kill them all.
Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad seen on video with Pakistani Taliban commander Hakeemullah Mehsud
Failed Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad is seen embracing and shaking hands with Pakistani Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud in a short videoclip.
In the previously unseen video, published by Flashpoint Partners yesterday, Shahzad and Hakeemullah are shown in front of a banner of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan [view video at Flashpoint Partners]. They rise, embrace , and shake hands, while Shahzad's voice is overlaid on the tape saying he executed the attack under the command of Hakeemullah, who answers to Mullah Omar.
"Today, along with the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakeemullah Mehsud and under the command of Amir al-Mumineen Mullah Mohammed Omar Mujahid (may Allah protect him), we are planning to wage an attack on your side, inshallah (god willing)," Shahzad said.
"Amir al-Mumineen" means "the leader of the faithful." Mullah Omar is recognized as the Amir al-Mumineen by Taliban commanders on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Shahzad had previously told the FBI that he had met Hakeemullah in the Waziristan region in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas.
Some US intelligence officials were dismissive of Shahzad's claims that he met Hakeemullah, and initially doubted that the Pakistani Taliban were even involved in the Times Square bomb plot.
It is unclear if the videoclip released by Flashpoint Partners is part of the 40-minute martyrdom tape that emerged on July 14. Al Arabiya released clips of the Shahzad martyrdom tape, but the full version has yet to be published. In that video segment, Shahzad said that waging jihad was a pillar of Islam and that Muslims had a duty to take up arms against the West and Muslim governments.
Background on the Taliban's involvement in the Times Square plot
On May 3, Shahzad was detained by the FBI when he tried to flee the country, just two days after attempting to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in New York City. He has pled guilty to 10 counts of terror activities, including attempting to detonated a weapon of mass destruction, and has cooperated with the FBI. Shahzad will be sentenced in October.
Shahzad has admitted to the FBI that he was trained in a Taliban camp in Waziristan beginning in late 2009, and that he received money from the organization twice after returning to the US in early 2010.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, claimed credit for the failed Times Square bombing within hours of the failed attack. Two top leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who are currently thought to be sheltering in North Waziristan released tapes claiming the attack and threatening more attacks in the US. But senior US officials initially dismissed the reports and speculated that the attack was carried out by a "lone wolf."
In the early morning of May 2, a person identifying himself as a member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel sent The Long War Journal the location of an audiotape made by Qari Hussain Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban master trainer of suicide bombers. In the tape, which had been uploaded to a YouTube site created by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel, Qari Hussain took credit for the failed bombing.
Significantly, Qari Hussain's audiotape was uploaded on April 30, one day before the failed attack, and the Taliban news channel was also created on April 30. On May 2, YouTube quickly removed the audiotape and shut down the site.
Sixteen hours after receiving the initial Taliban contact, The Long War Journal was contacted by a person using a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan email address who pointed to the location of a new YouTube website with both an audio and a video tape of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. In these tapes, Hakeemullah officially broke his months-long silence, denied that he had been killed in a US strike in Pakistan on Jan. 14, and threatened more attacks in the US.
US officials initially described the Times Square plot as a lone wolf attack and downplayed links to to the Pakistani Taliban despite the existence of the tapes. But one week after the attack, the Obama administration admitted that Shahzad was indeed linked to the Taliban.
1 comment:
We should have sent the military into Pakistan to chase Bin Laden and Co. back in 2001-2002. W. broke a promise and Osama slipped away.
I'd fully support an invasion of Pakistan to kill as many Mehsuds as possible.
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