AQ Today

The organization announced some housekeeping moves today:

The sources said Adnan al-Kashri had been made in-charge of the general information affairs. Muhammad Nasir al-Washi Abu Nasir has been made in-charge of al-Qaeda Africa affairs, while Muhammad Adam Khan Afghani has been appointed as in-charge of Afghanistan-Waziristan affairs. The sources said Fahad al-Qava had been appointed as the Urgent Operational Commander. The command of al-Qaeda has now been transferred to Egyptians. None of sons of Osama Bin Laden has shown willingness to join any post in the al-Qaeda.

Gee, wonder if their staff meetings are as boring as the ones many of us have to attend? "Mahmoud" how many times do we have to tell you to turn off the Zune during Shura meetings!?"

Anyway, the appointment of al-Adel as interim leader is interesting and probably a bluff to keep the pressure off Zawahiri (whom we're told everyone hates), but it does signify an Egyptian tilt to what's left of AQ. It's also odd in that al-Adel has variously been described as either under "house arrest" in Iran or AQ's liaison to Tehran over the past 10 years. Somehow he ended up in Pakistan and is now the leader of AQ. Just remember--these guys are rootless and stateless.

Meanwhile Thomas Joscelyn is asking why--why did the Pockistonis release a jihadist that tipped them to the notorious courier al-Kuwaiti who tipped them to bin Laden..

Why was Hassan Ghul freed? Did US authorities agree that he should be freed (doubtful), or did the Pakistanis unilaterally decide to free him?

Ghul not only provided key information regarding bin Laden's courier, but also gave up information on other al Qaeda operatives. For instance, the leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment of Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani - a high-level al Qaeda operative who worked for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and, along with his brother, ran guesthouses in Pakistan where many of the 9/11 hijackers stayed - refers to Ghul. The file lists Ghul as one of several high-level sources who identified Rabbani as a "member of al Qaeda."

While pondering that, ponder this. In Dalton Fury's book "Kill bin Laden" he notes a strange call for a cease-fire by one of General Ali's eastern alliance subordinate commanders just as our Special Forces were making progress pushing AQ troops (and bin Laden) further into the mountains to their Tora Bora deaths, which caused much consternation because it gave them time to regroup. Or perhaps something else. On page 272 he tells of an Afghani fighter who told a strange story:

The Afghan told a dramatic yarn of a helicopter swooping fast and low to land in a small village down in the Wazir Valley. Although the muhj's memory was admittedly hazy, he told Ski the event happened about eight days earlier, and in his opinion the helicopter had belonged to Pakistan. Ski knew for sure it had not been an American helicopter. Could it have picked up a special passenger and whisked him away?

Fury also noted that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar told a Pakistani TV station his guys helped bin Laden and two of his sons escape, for what it's worth, but he left open the question as to whether that helicopter--if it existed--was toting off bin Laden. If Pakistan actually took him into house arrest to protect their investment in the Taliban then Obama's call to pluck him out of Abbottobad and out from under their noses looks even gutsier.

But that's assuming binny hadn't simply outlived his usefulness. Stories of high level talks with the Taliban are now cropping up while AQ refocuses their organization into an Egyptian-centered outfit just as the Muslim Brotherhood rises over Egypt. Our leaving Afghanistan wouldn't be terrible for Pakistan seeing as how they created the Taliban in the first place and they still proudly have nukes thanks to Al Qaeda Khan, which would probably require us to keep some money flowing. And we know how it would be spun for O right before 2012.

Actually, leaving wouldn't be the worst thing in the world so long as Pakistan could be made to understand their exposed coddling of UBL and other terrorists would leave a huge-ass bullseye on them should anything terrible occur after our departure. That is, if we can depend on certain politicians to make and uphold such threats.