Barack Obama is warned to beware of a ‘huge threat’ from al-Qaeda

Barack Obama is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists.

General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, this week acknowledged that there were dangers during a presidential transition when new officials were coming in and getting accustomed to the challenges. But he added that no “real or artificial spike” in intercepted transmissions from terror suspects had been detected.

President Bush has repeatedly described the acute vulnerability of the US during a transition. The Bush Administration has been defined largely by the 9/11 attacks, which came within a year of his taking office. Read more

US drone strike kills 12 in Pakistan

A pre-dawn missile strike by a US drone on a suspected militant hideout in Pakistan’s volatile north Waziristan tribal region has killed at least 12 people. Read more

CIA Chief: Iraq Not Main Front

But Hayden Says Al-Qaeda Remains Greatest Threat to U.S.

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said yesterday that al-Qaeda remains the single greatest threat to the United States but that Iraq is no longer the central front in the broader war on terrorism. Read more

Warning of new bin Laden attack

OSAMA bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will “outdo by far” September 11, an Arab newspaper in London has reported. Read more

US Drone Strike Kills at Least 13 in North Waziristan

US drones launched yet another unilateral air strike into Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency today, hitting what was described as a “suspected al-Qaeda compound” with multiple missiles and killing at least 13 inside. Information travels slowly in this remote part of Pakistan, but an intelligence officer said “eight Pakistani Taliban and five guests” were among the dead. Read more

A Mandate to End the War

Not a mandate for more wars

Let’s be clear about the nature and meaning of the mandate we’re going to be hearing so much about: President-elect Barack Obama has a clear mandate to end the Iraq war as expeditiously as possible. His campaign was energized by and differentiated from Hillary Clinton’s by his emphasis on correcting that horrific mistake. Hillary equivocated, refused to recant her vote for war, and coyly suggested that we might withdraw only as far as Kurdistan. Obama, on the other hand, pledged to get us out in a year, albeit adding weasel words about “residual” forces guarding our bigger-than-the-Vatican ambassadorial compound. He gained his initial momentum by grabbing on to this issue and holding on for dear life, as the Clintons self-destructed and the economy did, too. Obama arrived at this moment not only on the strength of his pledge to end the present war, but also the implicit promise to refrain from involving us in any further hostilities. Read more

Pakistan warns US general against missile strikes

Pakistan warns top US general Petraeus against more strikes targeting militants in border area

Pakistan on Monday urged the American general taking charge of the war in Afghanistan to halt missile attacks on militants in its border badlands to avert a backlash against the U.S. in this vital ally in the war on terrorism.

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Next President Will Face Test on Detainees

They were called the Dirty 30 - bodyguards for Osama bin Laden captured early in the Afghanistan war - and many of them are still being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Others still at the much-criticized detention camp there include prisoners who the government says were trained in assassination and the use of poisons and disguises. Read more

US soldiers attacked building inside Syria: report

DAMASCUS (AFP) - American helicopter-borne troops launched an assault on Sunday on a building in a Syrian border village with Iraq, killing eight civilians, official Syrian media reported.

“Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 16:45 local time (1345 GMT) on Sunday,” state television and the official SANA news agency said.

“American soldiers” who had emerged from helicopters “attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths,” the reports said. Read more

Al-Qaida-linked Web site backs McCain as president

WASHINGTON (AP) - Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.

The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, “impetuous” Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more

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