GAO: Al Qaeda Using Pakistani Safe Haven to Put the Last Element of an Attack In Place

The GAO released a scathing report to Congress today, detailing the threat posed by al Qaeda emanating from Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and criticizing the executive branch for failing to develop a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy to meet the threat. 

This is a wake-up call to every American to snap out of their zombie-like focus on Iraq as a single issue and broaden their focus to the diversity of threats to our security.

Citing public testimony from the Director of National Intelligence, unclassified intelligence reports, and other authoritative assessments to warn readers of the concern in the intelligence community over this threat, one passage stands out:

[The 2008 DNI Annual Threat Assessment] states that al Qaeda is now using the Pakistani safe haven to put the last element necessary to launch another attack against America into place, including the identification, training, and positioning of Western operatives for an attack. It stated that al Qaeda is most likely using the FATA to plot terrorist attacks against political, economic, and infrastructure targets in America “designed to produce mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks, and/or fear among the population” [emphasis mine].

The GAO then takes the administration to task for not developing a coordinated strategy that leverages all the elements of national power to meet this threat.  GAO writes:

. . . neither the National Security Council (NSC), [the National Counterterrorism Center] NCTC, nor other executive branch departments have developed a comprehensive plan that includes all elements of national power—diplomatic, military, intelligence, development assistance, economic, and law enforcement support—called for by the various national security strategies and Congress. As a result, since 2002, the U.S. embassy in Pakistan has had no Washington-supported, comprehensive plan to combat terrorism and close the terrorist safe haven in the FATA.

The political debate in this country has focused on not letting al Qaeda create a safe-haven in Iraq.  Yet, al Qaeda has created a safe-haven in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

I’ve seen this movie before.  When the President received the daily brief entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” in August of 2001, the administration was more focused on China and the threat posed by ballistic missiles than it was on terrorism by Islamic radicals.

Intelligence is no longer about spotting the Japanese fleet sailing across the Pacific to strike Pearl Harbor.  In this new struggle, it can sometimes, at best, provide us with strategic warnings and indications. 

This is it, ladies and gentlemen.  The intelligence community is doing its job.  Who in Washington is doing theirs?

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