Word: zawahiri
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...days leading up to 9/11, Hamdan joined a small motorcade of al-Qaeda leaders, including bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who drove into the mountains above Khost to watch the hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on satellite TV. Hamdan was also at bin Laden's side - as a driver - in the weeks that followed, while the motorcade moved from one guesthouse to the next as bin Laden and al-Zawahiri readied their remaining fighters for America's imminent invasion...
Every Thursday morning, President George W. Bush gets an intelligence briefing from CIA chief General Michael Hayden. Invariably, according to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, the President asks, "How are we doing on No. 1 and No. 2?"--meaning Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. The answer, more often than not, amounts to "Same as last week, Mr. President." Despite a seven-year manhunt along the lawless frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, al-Qaeda's leader and his deputy remain at large, thanks to their superior knowledge of the terrain and the protection of local tribes. Now bin Laden...
...theory, though, bin Laden should not feel safe. U.S. special-ops teams have a standing order to capture or kill him and al-Zawahiri whenever the opportunity arises--even if that means crossing the border. But going after second-tier commanders requires lengthier approvals that are not always granted. "Are you willing to go after them, boots on the ground or high collateral damage, and potentially be politically counterproductive?" asks a senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "That's the political struggle the U.S. government has right...
...Pakistanis privately say they will tolerate a U.S. incursion if it is directed specifically against bin Laden or al-Zawahiri--but nobody else. A senior Pakistani official tells TIME that this will be the message Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani delivers to President Bush when they meet in Washington at the end of July. "If they do a raid and they find No. 3 or No. 4 or No. 5 but don't get bin Laden, it's going to be a real problem," says the official. Risking Pakistan instability, however, may be the only way for the President...
...Qaeda militants. However, similar Predator drone attacks in the area seem to indicate a certain level of cooperation between Pakistani and U.S. intelligence. In January of 2006, a botched American air strike in the town of Damadola, meant to take out al-Qaeda number two Ayman al Zawahiri, killed his son-in-law and some 16 civilians - earning Musharraf widespread criticism for allowing the U.S. to attack targets within Pakistani borders. Another strike in October, on a suspected militant training camp in nearby Baijur district, killed some 80 men. The Pakistani government took responsibility for the attack, but many...