Word: qaeda
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...Which still leaves the nagging question: What is the right thing to do in Afghanistan? It should be remembered that we invaded with cause: the Taliban government was providing safe havens for al-Qaeda, from which the Sept. 11 attacks were launched. Having routed the existing Afghan government, we had a responsibility to restore order. We have bungled that responsibility for eight years, attempting a Western version of order: central governance, the appearance of democracy - but largely ignoring traditional Afghan ways of social organization. The national-security challenge still exists, although its locus has shifted across the border to Pakistan...
...program's defenders, most notably former Vice President Dick Cheney, have long claimed that "high-value detainees" like al-Qaeda operatives Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, initially resistant to interrogation, broke down under the coercive techniques and gave up crucial tips. The information they supplied, Cheney and other defenders have argued, helped to foil specific, imminent terrorist plots against the U.S. homeland, and thus saved thousands of American lives. (See TIME's pictures: "Do-It-Yourself Waterboarding...
Whether or not the harsh techniques loosened their tongues, the three men did give up a great deal of information. One of the CIA memos, dated July 13, 2004, described Mohammed as "a key intelligence source for the U.S. government on al-Qaeda plots and personalities." It says he provided "information on al-Qaeda strategic doctrine, probable targets, the impact of striking each target, and likely methods of attacks inside...
...massive drought - accelerated by khat cultivation - and the resultant population displacement could have a devastating impact in one of the most fragile countries in the Middle East. A separatist insurgency in the south is threatening to break the country apart, while pirates from Somalia are menacing the coast. Al-Qaeda, meanwhile, has long seen the lawless tribal lands in the northern mountains as a potential sanctuary...
...Bush Administration Office of Legal Counsel suggest that interrogators didn't get much actionable information out of the detainees. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said last week that the truth lies somewhere in between: that the program achieved "modest success" - providing the agency with useful information about al-Qaeda organization and leadership, but not necessarily information about attacks. If the IG report says no specific attacks were prevented because of information gleaned by the use of waterboarding and other harsh methods, that would be a major embarrassment for Cheney. (Read "CIA's Secret Program: Why Wasn't Panetta Told...