Taliban commander on video: New attack will dwarf failed U.K

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Taliban commander on video: New attack will dwarf failed U.K. attacks

An update on this story. "Exclusive: Terror Commander: New Attack Will Dwarf Failed Bomb Plot," by Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer for ABC News' The Blotter:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017368.php

As senior intelligence and law enforcement officials met again today in the White House Situation Room to deal with the "summer terror threat," a top terror commander said an attack was coming that would dwarf the failed bombings in London and Glasgow.

Taliban military commander Mansour Dadullah, in an interview broadcast on ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson," said the London attacks were "not enough" and that bigger attacks were coming.

"You will, God willing, be witness to more attacks," he told a Pakistani journalist in an interview conducted just four days ago.

Just last month, Dadullah presided over what was termed a terror training camp graduation ceremony in Pakistan, supposedly dispatching attack teams to the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.

In this new interview, Dadullah talked about the ease with which he and his men operate inside Pakistan.

"We have many friends," he said. "It is very easy for us to go in and out of the tribal areas. It is no problem."

Indeed, the rugged mountains of Pakistan have emerged as a safe haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"They are the central front for al Qaeda," said Seth Jones, who studies the area for the RAND Corporation, a national security think-tank. "They are the area al Qaeda has based its international and regional operations. It is a very serious threat to the U.S. security," he said.

Pakistan continues to deny al Qaeda enjoys a safe haven in its territory.

[...]

U.S. officials say Pakistan consistently denies the U.S. military permission to go after known al Qaeda training camps.

The situation has grown even worse since February, officials say, when Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to Islamabad to demand Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf take action.

"Their (al Qaeda's) situation is actually better today than it was even then," said the RAND Corporation's Jones.

"The U.S. has provided $5.6 billion in coalition support funds to Pakistan over the past five years, with zero accountability," said Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-Calif., at the hearing.

"Why is Pakistan still being paid these large sums of money, even after publicly declaring that it is significantly cutting back patrols in the most important border area?" he asked.