May 9, 2008

Exclusive: CRC Open Sources

W. Thomas Smith, Jr., CRC Open Sources

In this week’s CRC Open Sources we first take a look at an oddity in the wake of last week’s airstrike against a known al Qaeda target in Somalia. Then, we move on to the rapidly degrading situation in Lebanon, which we discussed yesterday in “Hezbollah continues ramp-up to war.”

 

SOMALIA

On Wednesday, April 30th, I received a call (in the early evening) from one of my sources stating that we had just taken out an important al Qaeda operative in an airstrike against his safe house about 300 miles north of Mogadishu. Touching base with additional sources, I quickly confirmed we had not only targeted Adan Hashi Ayro – one of AQ’s nine “most wanted” terrorists in East Africa – but we nailed him with an aircraft-launched JDAM (joint-direct-attack-munitions), basically a “smart bomb.”

 

It was an amazing story – we were informed and provided operational details (keeping it close to our chest) long before the Pentagon went public with it (And DoD never did go public with the op details. They never do.) – because of the seamless manner in which U.S. military forces rapidly took action on superb intelligence in a rapidly changing environment and got the bad guy, Ayro, and apparently one of his subordinate commanders.

 

We wrote about it at Human Events.

 

That was well over a week ago.

 

But yesterday, May 7th, some bureaucrat at the U.S. State Department sent a document, “Somalia: Ensuring Long Term Peace and Stability,” to various members of the media, academia, the U.S. Defense Department, and the intelligence community listing State’s “most wanted” in East Africa.

 

Problem is the document was dated March 18th and Ayro was still listed on it. So we did some checking and there is in fact an updated version of the same document, dated May 2nd (two days after we nailed Ayro). The updated version was the one that should have been sent. But guess what? Ayro was on that one too.

 

Makes you wonder who’s running things in the Africa Bureau. And it’s not just me who’s wondering: Sources are telling me that some senior officers in the Defense Department are also shaking their heads. And one source in the intelligence community told me last night:

 

“Isn’t it typical of our ‘colleagues’ at State? Sending around a two-month old ‘wanted poster’ featuring an HVT [high value target] whom the boys at the Pentagon successfully targeted last week? And then labeling the whole thing with a lengthy title because they don’t even want to call it what it is – a ‘wanted poster’? What a way to run a war on terror!”

 

Moving right along.

 

LEBANON

The situation in Lebanon – a crucial front for America and the West in the war on terror – continues to degrade, with Hezbollah increasingly gaining the upper-hand. The Lebanese Army leadership continues to exhibit its inability (or unwillingness) to aggressively confront the Iranian-funded Shiia terrorist army that continues to exist and thrive on sovereign Lebanese territory. And the government (including parliament) – unable to elect a president in months, and essentially held hostage by Hezbollah and its allies – continues to struggle to maintain cohesiveness in a rapidly fractioning environment. (Please read yesterday’s piece for background.)

 

This morning, the International Lebanese Committee for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 (which, among other points, calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, including Hezbollah) sent a memo to Sir John Sawers, current president of the UN Security Council and the ambassador and permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the UN.

 

A portion of that memo, which was CCed to every member of the Security Council, reads:

 

“… in view of the fact that the command of the Lebanese Army -until the time of issuing this memo- didn't deploy yet the necessary troops to free [Beirut International Airport] from militia control;

 

“… in view of the fact that the same militia – Hezbollah and its allies – have deployed their armed elements at different locations of the capital Beirut and other areas; and after having reviewed the statements made by [Prime Minister of Fouad Seniora] and Muslim Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohamed Rachid Qabbani calling for rescue from Hezbollah Iranian terror;

 

“… in view of the fact the command of the Lebanese Army didn't disarm the militias that have already penetrated Beirut;

 

“We, the International Lebanese Committee for the Implementation of UNSCR 1559, and after consultation with the secretariat general of the March 14 movement and Lebanese civil society NGOs, therefore call on the UN Security Council to act swiftly under UNSCR 1701, UNSCR 1559 and Chapter 7 to deploy UN forces at and around the Beirut International Airport to protect the security of passengers and workers and insure free passage for the civilian population as well as insuring communications for UNIFIL also deploy inside the capital Beirut to protect its civilian populations as well as its democratically elected institutions.

 

“We urge you to act as fast as possible to prevent a major escalation of violence…”

 

 

Read the entire memo here.

 

#  #

 

© 2003-2008 FamilySecurityMatters.org All Rights Reserved

 

If you are a reporter or producer who is interested in receiving more information about this writer or this article, please email your request to PR@FamilySecurityMatters.org.

 

Note – The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of The Family Security Foundation, Inc.