Don’t feel bad — I was too.  But meanwhile, the Administration continues its sightseeing tour of Pakistan’s NWFP.

The US military conducted another airstrike inside Pakistan’s lawless tribal agencies. The target of the strike was an al Qaeda-linked group called Al Badar, which is run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Unmanned Predator aircraft launched several missiles in the early morning at a target in the village of Tol Khel on the outskirts of Miramshah, the administrative seat of North Waziristan. Twelve members of Al Badar (or Al Badr) were reported killed and 14 were reported wounded in the attack, according to AFP. . . .

Hekmatyar runs the Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, a radical Taliban-linked faction fighting US forces in Afghanistan. He has close links to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, as well as the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s military intelligence agency.

The US targeted a Hekmatyar compound in South Waziristan on Aug. 13. Taliban commanders Abdul Rehman and Islam Wazir, three Turkmen, and “several Arab fighters” were reported in the strike. Reports indicated up to 25 terrorists were killed in the attack.

The US has conducted eight airstrikes and raids in North and neighboring South Waziristan since Aug. 31. Five of the strikes have been aimed at compounds in North Waziristan. Four of them were operated by the Haqqani Network. . . .

The Haqqanis are closely allied with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and have close links with the Inter-Services Intelligence. The Haqqanis run a parallel government in North Waziristan and conduct military and suicide operations in eastern Afghanistan. Siraj Haqqani, Jalaluddin’s son, has close ties to Osama bin Laden and is one of the most wanted terrorist commanders in Afghanistan.

Holy Bush Doctrine, Batman!

Looks like Bush is taking Obama’s advice.  Too bad it’s seven freaking years after he first should have done it.

Call me a cynic, but I can’t help believe that the Bush Administration (and the McCain campaign, for that matter) and trying as hard as they can to find and kill Osama before the election.

Related posts

• Twenty Questions for the Debate Tonight
• While You Were Filing for Bankruptcy: Pakistan
• While You Were Away: Pakistan
• The Foreign Policy Team: No Surprises
• Seven Years Later: From Tragedy to Denial

My friends over at the National Security Nework have a new ad out on Palin’s failure to answer Charlie Gibson’s question on the Bush Doctrine:

You know, maybe Obama doesn’t have to hit back right away.  The netroots are doing just fine on their own, the MSM is picking up the McCain is lying and will do anything to win meme, and both McCain and Palin are looking like deer in the headlines, to coin a phrase.

Hat tip:  Democracy Arsenal

Related posts

• Guess Who Thinks Mayors & Governors Don’t Have What It Takes to Be President?
• Why McCain’s Attacks Won’t Work
• White Riot
• What’s Wrong with this Picture?
• What Joe Biden Has to Do to Win Tonight

Check this out:  In one of the Republican debates earlier this year, McCain implies that Mayors and Governors don’t have the experience to be President.  Oh, and he states flat out that he needs no “on-the-job training.”  Say, I don’t know, like Sarah “Bombs Away” Palin?

New Obama ad:  show Sarah Palin promising to go to war with Russia and not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is, then show this.  Then say that John McCain doesn’t has the judgment to be President. Oh, and point out that he wasn’t emphasizing change back then, he was bragging about 26 years in Washington.  So much for the outsider gambit.

Framing, framing, framing.

It’s right in front of your face, guys.

If anyone has the link to the full debate, please put it in the comments below.

Hat tip:  Undip reader Aric

Related posts

• Sarah Palin’s Excellent Adventure
• Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
• Memo to Michael Gerson: WTF?
• Framing, the Media, and the McCain Campaign
• Deer in the Headlines