Washington Times Archives

For President Obama, It’s A Promise Kept

“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”

That line was given in a speech by President Obama in 2008 while he was campaigning for office as President of The United States. Since becoming president, Mr. Obama has not only lived up to this promise, but has authorized more drone attacks in Pakistan than the previous administration ever had. It’s been reported that these attacks, although Bin Laden was the ultimate target, resulted in other terrorists being killed.

According to a recent report by The Washington Times, “CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year [2009], according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear on a U.S. list of most-wanted terrorists: two.” The report goes on to question the wisdom of these increased attacks, stating “despite a major escalation in the number of unmanned Predator strikes being carried out under the Obama administration, data from government and independent sources indicate that the number of high-ranking militants being killed as a result has either slipped or barely increased.”

But it will appear now, that the Administration was acting on “actionable intelligence.” And on Sunday, that intelligence paid off;

“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Mr. Obama said. “A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

I’ve heard it said that while the rest of the political pundits and talking heads play checkers, the President is actively engaged in a game of chess. Chalk this one up as a checkmate against Osama Bin Laden.

The Muslim Brotherhood Wants To “Dissolve” Israel’s Peace Treaty

Shocking turn of events in the Egypt uprising. Eli Lakes of the Washington Times reports on an interview in which a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood calls for the withdrawal of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

A political leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Thursday called on any government that replaces Hosni Mubarak’s regime to withdraw from the 32-year-old peace treaty with Israel.

“After President Mubarak steps down and a provisional government is formed, there is a need to dissolve the peace treaty with Israel,” Rashad al-Bayoumi, a deputy leader of the outlawed movement, said on Japan’s NHTV.

The interview contrasted with earlier signals from the group. On Feb. 1, Mahmoud Ezzat, a spokesman for the brothers, told CBS News that his organization “will respect the peace treaty with Israel as long as Israel shows real progress on improving the lot of the Palestinians.”

In the past, Muslim Brotherhood leaders have supported the Palestinian branch of the brotherhood, Hamas, that rejects any negotiations with Israel and pledges to destroy the Jewish state.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the world’s largest, most influential Islamic group. It was formed in Egypt in 1928 their stated primary goal include reinstatement of the caliphate and reunite the “dar el Islam” (Countries where Muslims are free to practice their religion).

Although they preach non-violence, The Brotherhood is believed to be the group behind previous attacks in Egypt, and the assassination of Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha, the Egyptian Prime Minister in 1948 and the president of Egypt in 1981.