Morning Report: 2008-09-21

Pakistan's 9/11 shows terror's global reach.

Marriott bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan. ThreatsWatch:

A truck bombing of the Islamabad Marriott Hotel in Pakistan has killed at least 60 and wounded more than 200. The Marriott is about a quarter mile from Pakistan’s national parliament and the prime minister’s residence.

While the BBC reports a security official speculating that either of these was likely the primary target, the ThaiIndian News reports that senior CIA officers staying at the Islamabad Marriott were the primary targets. ...

Walid Phares at CTB:

This is a warning to Pakistani civilian and military authorities to break all ties to the American-led campaign against Terror. But more precisely to reject NATO incursions after al Qaeda inside Pakistan. Already the new public agenda of the current Administration in Islamabad openly warns against US raids across the borders for domestic political reasons. The new President pledged, few hours before the explosion, that he will carry the campaign against the Terrorists but at the same time he will refuse American military interventions on his national soil. The Jihadi bloodshed in the city is a "mega-warning" that al Qaeda and the Taliban will respond inside the country against pressure coming from across the border.

In the end, the Jihadist plan can be summarized as follow:

1. Intimidate the Government into a pull back position
2. Containing the Pakistani military efforts against Waziristan
3. Create a wedge between the Army and the Government
4. Trigger a crisis between Washington and Islamabad

Debka:

Many people were trapped in rooms of the burning five-star Marriott Hotel in the Pakistan capital after a suicide bomber detonated a large truck loaded with a ton of explosives at the hotel gate, killing at least 60 people and injuring some 200 more. The Marriott, frequented by foreigner and local VIPs and the hotel of choice for American officials, is danger of collapse. The ceiling of the banqueting hall crashed down on 500 guests at the Ramadan evening meal. The Pakistani president and prime minister were to have attended, but changed their plans. The blast left a huge crater outside the US-owned hotel, which has been attacked by terrorists twice before, and destroyed dozens of cars and neighboring buildings.

Bill Roggio - Long War Journal:

The bombing at the Marriott hotel in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad is shaping up to be one of the country's most deadly attacks. The complex attack is the latest in a series of al Qaeda attacks that have occurred in the Middle East and South Asia.

More than 70 people have been reported killed and 257 have been reported wounded so far in what the Pakistani press has dubbed "Pakistan’s 9/11." The death toll is expected to rise as more people are believed to have been trapped in the hotel. Dozens of Westerners have been wounded in the attack, and there are unconfirmed reports one or more Westerners have been killed.

Arutz Sheva quotes Evan Kohlmann:

In President Zardari’s speech prior to the bombing, he condemned the actions of foreign militaries that are crossing the border from Afghanistan in the war against Muslim militants. Many suspect Saturday’s hotel bombing to be a retaliation for such raids, such as last week’s, in which dozens of terrorists were killed by U.S.-led coalition forces in the areas of Bajaur and Swat, near Afghanistan.

Evan Kohlmann, an American terrorism consultant who has worked for the FBI and other governmental organizations, said that Saturday’s bombing is the work of Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. “We are looking at either Al Qaida or Tehrik-e-Taliban [Pakistan’s Taliban] ," said Kohlmann. "It seems that someone has a firm belief that hotels like the Marriott are serving as 'barracks' for western diplomats and intel personnel, and they are gunning pretty hard for them."

McCain - Palin pull ahead in Missouri, South Carolina. Missouri: 49 McCain, 45 Obama. Gateway Pundit has the details.

Fukuda, and the horse he rode in on. BBC: 'Almost exactly a year to the day after it last convened to select a new leader, Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party is doing it again. Their last leader, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, resigned abruptly at the beginning of September, complaining that he could no longer achieve what he wanted because of deadlock in the parliament where the opposition controls the upper house. ... For the third time in a row Japan's new leader will be selected by politicians, not by the voters.' Details at the article.

Commentary. The Belmont Club looks at a battle in Afghanistan that turned into a rout for French paratroopers.

The attack on the French illustrates how much of the fighting in Afghanistan originates from planning cells and training camps in Pakistan. None of this is news. Bill Roggio says that not only are new attacks on NATO being planned in Pakistan, it has long been suspected that the ‘next September 11′ is brewing in the Pakistani tribal areas. American commanders are caught between standing by and watching it happen or acting to prevent it and precipitating the disintegration of Pakistan.

Pakistan embodies the dilemma for the United States as a nation fighting a national war in a transnational world. Here's Totten:

The war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq can plausibly be described as a distraction from the war against Al Qaeda. But the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq cannot possibly be accurately described as a distraction from the war against Al Qaeda.

And make no mistake: Al Qaeda’s manpower and resources have been thoroughly degraded from its disastrous fight with Americans and Iraqis, especially in Anbar Province which was briefly established as Al Qaeda’s “capital” of the so-called “Islamic State in Iraq.” ...

The United States could not have prudently allowed itself to yield the field to Al Qaeda in either Iraq or Afghanistan by being wholly distracted from one or the other. Both fronts were crucial for Al Qaeda, which means both were crucial for the United States. It doesn’t matter if we like the fact that we have been embroiled in a hot war with Al Qaeda in two countries at once. That’s just how it is.

Back to the Long War Journal piece quoted earlier:

The attack on the Islamabad Marriott is the latest in series of complex strikes against hardened locations or military formations in the Middle East and South Asia over the last five years by al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies. These attacks require logistical and financial support, training, coordination, intelligence gathering, and access to weapons and explosives.

Al Qaeda and allied movements have conducted multiple complex attacks in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The first strike occurred in Saudi Arabia, before al Qaeda in Iraq even began its insurgency and terror campaign.

Al Qaeda has reformed Brigade 055, the infamous military arm of the terror group made up of Arab recruits, US military and intelligence sources told The Long War Journal in July. The unit is thought to be commanded by Shaikh Khalid Habib al Shami.

Brigade 055 fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and was decimated during the US invasion of Afghanistan. Several other Arab brigades have been formed, some consisting of former members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guards, an intelligence official told The Long War Journal. These units have helped to increase the Taliban's sophistication in military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Go to the link to read it all - there's lots more.

And finally, The Belmont Club weighs in on the bombing.