Did they get him or not? Who's running this show?

There are reports today from the Times of London that Zawahiri has been killed, although the administration is flatly denying it. There are also reports that U.S. troops are directing the operations in Waziristan. Who knows? I hope they got him and we can prove it.

There are also reports that Zawahiri has claimed that al Qaeda has a Soviet suitcase nuke purchased from disgruntled scientists. It could be a dirty bomb. The administration is launching a new study of fallout, so they may be giving it credence.


Update: Mansoor Ijaz reports that the Pakistani forces have called a cease fire and are allowing local tribal elders to negotiate a settlement. Musharaf has backed down. Ijaz characterized the Times of London reporter as being very good and the report very detailed, but wasn't willing to directly contradict the CIA or Pentagon, who are flatly denying the report about Zawahiri being killed. The report is based on statements from an unidentified source that Zawahiri was killed by Task Force 121, the same group who found and captured Saddam.

The Pakistanis have captured a number of foreigners from the fight, so they didn't come up completely empty. I can't imagine that it would really be a standoff if Musharraf really wanted to wipe the group out, but I think he didn't dare, for political reasons, to involve the U. S. and their JDAMs. It could also be that he knew that we had nailed Zawahiri and that it wasn't worth further losses. There are a number of Pakistani hostages in the stronghold, he'd like to get out through negotiation.

Update: Tom McInerny says the U.N. Oil For Food scandal is about to erupt. We can certainly hope.