Is al Qaeda Over Playing Their Hand?

While the rest of the Blackfive gang is fully engaged in Operation “Drunken Debauchery” in Las Vegas I am back running the TOC.

Other than having an open hotline to every bail bondsman in Clark County Nevada, I was planning a quiet weekend of football, BBQ and few cold beers.

Yesterday however may have marked a significant day in the Global War on Terror.

PressTV is reporting:

Al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants operating in the tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan were responsible for the attack on Marriot Hotel, AFP quoted a top official from the ministry Sunday.

The attack is seen as a message to the Pakistan government according to the AP.

The attack on the hotel is a message to the Pakistani leadership: End all cooperation with the Americans or pay the price,” said Brian Glyn Williams, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts. “Both sides see Pakistan as a vital battlefield in their global struggle and clearly Pakistani civilians are paying the price for being in the middle of this struggle,” he told The Associated Press.

Aside from the brutality of the savage, cowardly attack, why could this be a watermark day in the overall GWOT?

The attack occurred just hours after Asif Zardari was sworn in as Pakistan’s new president.

The key to any possible shift in the GWOT is totally in Zardari’s hands. Why is that good for America?

Because Zardari is a criminal and though fully capable of murder and mayhem as he demonstrated by killing his wife’s brother in 1996, his primary motivation is money; and lots of it. When his late wife was the leader of Pakistan, Asif became known as “Mr. 10%” because of almost open looting of the treasury. Naturally as President he would like nothing more than continuing his history of open piracy.

This is important because the terrorists want him to cut all ties to the United States and Zardari knows that means cutting ties with America’s money as well.

He is a shrewd politician and fully understands that there is more than a small percentage of his population that sympathizes with the Taliban.

This is why after the September 3rd raid by US Special Forces into Pakistan, Zardari’s Prime Minister and political lackey Yousef Giliani protested America’s incursion onto Pakistan territory. He went so far as to instruct Pakistani soldiers to shoot helicopters that encroach in Pakistani air space.

This was of course just a show of outrage. Chairman of the JCS Admiral Michael Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are in Pakistan right now. You can expect the cross border raids to continue any day now.

Zardari should publish the names of every Muslim killed or wounded in the recent attack and boldly vow to protect his people.

This attack could actually give Zardari a plausible excuse to expand the 6 week old offensive in the tribal regions where the Pakistani Army has killed over 700 jihadists.

It’s a fairly simple proposition; more dead Taliban, more US dollars.

I think President Zardari will strongly consider his options and ultimately the tribal areas are going to be a very dangerous place to be.

We do live in interesting times.