White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters this morning that President Bush has not ruled out military action in Pakistan’s tribal areas against Taliban and Al Qaeda forces. Aboard Air Force One, Snow said, “We never rule out any options, including striking actionable targets.” By actionable targets, Snow presumably means individuals or Al Qaeda holdouts [...]

Since the release of the new intelligence estimate on Al Qaeda Tuesday, the one that concluded the terrorist group has revitalized itself in the lawless hinterlands of Pakistan, intelligence analysts I talk to have been wondering why the administration chose to release the NIE now. Certainly the White House understood that its critics–and some of [...]

There are no real surprises in the unclassified “key judgments” of a new National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism, out this morning. Most of the important assessments of the 16 intelligence agencies have already leaked out or were highlighted in other forums by senior officials in recent months.
We judge the US Homeland will face a persistent [...]

Tom Fingar, the deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, is delivering a “global security assessment” to the House Armed Services Committee today. In his prepared remarks, just released, Fingar singles out Pakistan as the current home base for Al Qaeda, which he calls “the terrorist organization that poses the greatest threats to U.S. interests, [...]