The Battle for Afghanistan and Pakistan

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The Battle for Afghanistan and Pakistan​

A Threat Assessment of al-Qaeda and its Allies


Join the New America Foundation for a timely assessment of the threat from al-Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan with three experts on the subject. Michael Waltz recently returned from a one year tour of duty in eastern Afghanistan with U.S. Special Operations Forces and has served as Special Advisor to Vice President **** Cheney for South Asia and Counterterrorism at the White House. Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani political and strategic analyst, is the director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. Peter Bergen, author and leading al-Qaeda authority, has been researching terrorism for more than two decades.

The New America Foundation will also be releasing several research papers in the "Battle for Pakistan" series, launching the "Battle for Afghanistan" series, and celebrating the one-year anniversary of the AfPak Channel, a unique partnership with Foreign Policy Magazine that has become a premier clearinghouse of news and analysis from and about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and issues of transnational terrorism.


PARTICIPANTS

Featured Speakers
Shuja Nawaz
Author, Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within
Director, South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Michael Waltz
Former advisor to Vice President **** Cheney on South Asia and Counterterrorism
Major, U.S. Army (reserve component)

Peter Bergen
Author, Holy War Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know
Co-director, Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative, New America Foundation

Moderator
Susan Glasser
Editor-in-chief, Foreign Policy Magazine

 

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What the new Zawahiri tape means​

On September 15, al Qaeda's as-Sahab Media released a speech by Ayman al-Zawahiri to commemorate the ninth anniversary of "start of the crusader campaign." Although the ninth anniversary of 9/11 clearly influenced as-Sahab's timing, al-Zawahiri's speech never mentioned the attacks on New York and Washington. For the moment at least, al Qaeda aims not to remind viewers of the destruction it caused nine years ago, but to remind potential supporters of the grievances it hopes will motivate them today.

If as-Sahab does not release material explicitly referencing 9/11, it would be an important departure for al Qaeda's media operations, which have in the past sought to remind viewers of the 9/11 attacks with dedicated propaganda around the anniversary. Previous examples include the release of 9/11 hijacker "wills," and statements from Osama bin Laden and American al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn. Last year as-Sahab released a statement from bin Laden addressed to the "American People" that specifically referenced the 9/11 attacks.

Instead of a victory lap or appeal to the West, al-Zawahiri's statement seems intended to frame al Qaeda's fight over the past nine years for supporters and would-be supporters not as a series of bold strikes but as a response to various "crusader" offenses during that period: invasion, religious and cultural insults, and, primarily, support for local regimes that al Qaeda considers unacceptable. The content of al-Zawahiri's speech is rote by al Qaeda standards and is notable primarily because the timing of its release suggests that other themes might have been chosen.

Al-Zawahiri singles out Pakistan in particular for criticism, which is not surprising considering al Qaeda's rhetorical focus on the south Asian state since the 2007 Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) incident that catalyzed anger among anti-Pakistani militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Pointing to a variety of standard failures by the Pakistani government, al-Zawahiri also mentions its poor response to the floods ravaging the country and accuses the Pakistani "ruling class" of preventing jihadis from waging war in Kashmir.

There is little doubt that 9/11 is still al Qaeda's most important calling card, but videos such as al-Zawahiri's suggest that, nine years on, al Qaeda believes its supporters expect more from the group than the memory of that Tuesday morning nine years ago.

Brian Fishman is a counterterrorism research fellow at the New America Foundation.

 

[Tshering22]

In order to keep our country secure, we will have to do something about Wullar lake in Kashmir. That's the only place which cannot be fenced on the Western sector and therefore we need to cover it with mines that form a "shield" around the bordering area. Second thing to do in Kashmir is slash communications between Kashmir state and Pakistan---ALL communications whether internet, telephone, fax, web, newsprint, satellite etc EVERYTHING. Put aggressive blocks on this and keep Kashmir facing towards India alone.

Afghanistan has become hell today because of porous borders with Pakistan. We shouldn't make the same mistake.