UPDATE: I am updating and bloviating at a new post.
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As I said at my previous post, Dread Pundit Bluto over at The Jawa Report has a roundup of the Pakistani reporting. It's much better than what I've seen from the MSM. Bill Roggio's spot analysis on the significance on the possibility of Dr. Death's oh-so-unfortunate passing is excellent.
I've noticed that much of the international news is merely quoting American news, like this from Australia or this from the Beeb:
The raid took place in the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal area, about 7km (4.5 miles) from the Afghan border.
Locals earlier claimed the missiles were launched from neighbouring Afghanistan in the early hours of Friday, but officials there deny it.
Jets - or in some accounts a Predator drone - reportedly fired missiles at a particular housing compound in the village.
Some accounts say foreigners were killed in the attack, and their bodies removed.
Tribesmen there are convinced the strike was the work of the Americans and are very angry at the attack.
CNN is saying that Dr. Death wasn't killed in the attack, but its source is a Pakistani official. That's no help. However, Muslim government media outlets have picked up on it, like this one from Bangladesh (via BBC Monitoring service, via Factiva):
Bangladesh TV cites report Al-Zawahiri not killed in Pakistan strike126 words14 January 200609:01English(c) 2006 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.Text of report by Bangladeshi ATN TV on 14 January
A US air-strike in Pakistan along the Afghan border has killed 18 people. Although initially it was said that Al-Qa'idah second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was dead in the strike, later on, CNN confirmed that Al-Zawahiri did not die. The attack was launched following a piece of information from the CIA. Earlier in the day, there were conflicting reports on his death. However, CNN said its source has confirmed that Al-Zawahiri was not there during the attack. Pakistani officials say they are still investigating the matter.
Source: ATN Bangla TV, Dhaka, in Bengali 1300 gmt 14 Jan 06
I've set a mental timer on to see how fast Al Qaeda responds to this attack. If we don't hear anything within a day or two, then we killed no one important. Later on Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) will post a statement to the heavily trafficked forums, and a week after that we'll be watching a "martyr's" biography video of a bunch Saudis and/or Chechens, etc. However, if a statement is released within the next 24-36 hours (Pakistani time) then we dealt them a blow.
News travels faster than you might think in that part of the world. I can imagine that one or two members of Pakistan's ISI who are in the know have their own personal senior contacts within Al Qaeda or one of its fronts, like Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. When information gets to them, senior AQ commanders will know within minutes.
Captain Ed is bumming me out a bit, but it ain't over until the forensics come in (or the Bush administration-damning after action report is leaked to the NY Times).
I'll have more updates later.
