Beyond Incompetence

This Administration has been so hoodwinked, it's flabbergasting. McClatchy (06.27.07):

"While the U.S. presses its war against insurgents linked to al Qaida in Iraq, Osama bin Laden's group is recruiting, regrouping and rebuilding in a new sanctuary along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, senior U.S. military, intelligence and law enforcement officials said.

The threat from the radical Islamic enclave in Waziristan is more dangerous than that from Iraq, which President Bush and his aides call the 'central front' of the war on terrorism, said some current and former U.S. officials and experts."

US:Al Qaida regroups in new sanctuary on Pakistan border

"The remote Pakistani region 'is the real heart of the war on terror, and we’re losing,' said a U.S. intelligence official who, like most of his colleagues, requested anonymity because intelligence reports on the matter are highly classified and because their pessimism conflicts with the administration's public statements. 'We took our eye off the ball when we went into Iraq.'"

Remember this? "A truce last Sept. 5 between the Pakistani government and pro-Taliban tribes and Islamic radicals provided al Qaida with its new sanctuary in which to plot terrorist operations and train an influx of fresh foreign recruits, U.S. officials and experts said."

"The deal, in which the Pakistani army returned control of the region to tribal leaders, ended three years of fighting in which some 70,000 Pakistani troops deployed at Washington’s behest failed to crush the insurgents while causing extensive civilian casualties and losing hundreds of their own men."

"Pakistani forces withdrew to major bases in return for the tribes’ promise to eject foreign jihadis. The deal, however, left Waziristan in the hands of the Islamists, who've imposed strict Islamic law."

Gee. Who ever would have figured that'd happen?

And guess who helped fund it? McClatchy (09.01.06):

"The United States reportedly has spent more than $1 billion underwriting the border fight, but when the military failed to crush the separatists, the Bush administration agreed to support Pakistan's truce-making efforts and pledged millions of dollars in additional aid."

Truces fueling resurgence of Taliban, critics say