al Qaeda's left-handed apology. File this please - you know where.

CNN) -- On the heels of a U.S. announcement of a massive troop surge for Afghanistan, an al Qaeda spokesman Saturday appeared to be trying to improve the group's image in the region with a new audio message in English.

Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, appeared in a 17-minute video released on Islamist online forums late Friday, offering condolences to the families of innocent people killed in al Qaeda attacks.
Gadahn said al Qaeda "have condemned and continue to condemn" all attacks by Western powers or "secular political forces."

"We express our condolences to the families of the Muslim men, women and children killed in these criminal acts and we ask Allah to have mercy on those killed and accept them as shohadaa (martyrs)," he says in the video.

"We also express the same in regard to the unintended Muslim victims of the mujahedeen's operations against the crusaders and their allies and puppets, and to the countless faceless and nameless Muslim victims of the murderous crusades" in Afghanistan, Pakistan's Waziristan regions and Swat Valley, and elsewhere, he said.

It is a rare example of al Qaeda offering condolences to the families of those killed in the group's own attacks.

The video comes nearly two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama announced the deployment of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as part of a strategy to reverse the Taliban's momentum and stabilize the country's government.
Obama said he would begin sending the additional troops in early 2010, with the goal of starting to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by July 2011. The additional forces, Obama said, will help accelerate the handing over of responsibility to Afghan forces.


CNN LINK FULL STORY

Beast of Kandahar Drawing By Michael Schratt

Graphic based on sketch provided by eye-witness who prefers to remain unnamed.

Reproduction and linking to this image requires permission. Contact: webbfeat@gmail.com

If I could pat a drone on the back, I would: Top al Queda ops planner nixed.

Washington (CNN) -- A U.S. counterterrorism official says there are "strong indications" a senior al Qaeda operation planner, Saleh al-Somali, was killed in a missile strike earlier this week.

Al-Somali was responsible for al Qaeda's operations outside the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and maintained relationships with the terrorist group's allies in east Africa, including al-Shabaab, the official said Friday.

"He was engaged in plotting throughout the world. Given his central role, this probably included plotting attacks against the United States and Europe," the official said.

Al-Somali took strategic guidance from al Qaeda's "top leadership" and "translated it into operational blueprints for prospective terrorist attacks," the official said.
"Al-Somali was part of al Qaeda's core leadership cadre, and he maintained connections to other Pakistan-based extremists. He had been very involved in al Qaeda's propaganda operations and worked with Western al Qaeda recruits upon their arrival in the tribal areas of Pakistan," the official said.

Earlier, a U.S. official said American intelligence officials believe a senior al Qaeda operative was killed in a strike carried out by an unmanned drone in Pakistan.

Questions no one is asking about errant Russian missile over Norway.

Sometimes I don't understand the mainstream media. Sure, they reported the amazing light-show caused by the "malfunctioning" ballistic missile that came apart over Norway, but they aren't asking the big questions, which are:

A: Why did Russia "test-fire" a ballistic missile without the standard agreed upon international procedures insuring commercial and civil flight safety (establishing a no-fly none)in the launch and recovery areas?

B. Why were no nearby nations notified in advance of the launch so as to not possibly trigger a jump in the DEFCON status when the launch would be inevitably detected by NATO and U.S. DSP satellites?

C. What was NORAD's response o the launch, which I am sure triggered alarm klaxons at Cheyenne Mountain?

D. Is it possible that a nuke was lunched, either unintentionally (accidentally) or on purpose by some rogue Russian sub commander and it was given a self-destruct command when Russian Missile Forces realized that one of their missiles was missing?

Things that make me go - hmmmm!

My paranoid/conspiracy theorist side can't help but wonder, is there an internal struggle inside the Russian military or was it actually (as they claim) simply a malfunctioning missile test (that they (for some reason)forgot to announce that resulted in the near-panic populace in Norway?

Sure, it was a cool and eerie site, but something smells fishy in the White Sea and it isn't halibut or tuna.

-Steve Douglass

Report: Blackwater guards linked to CIA raids

By PAMELA HESS (AP)


WASHINGTON — Private security guards working for Blackwater USA participated in clandestine CIA raids against suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Blackwater, now renamed Xe Services, disputed there was any contract for secret raids. The reported role would point to a much deeper connection between the company and the spy agency than has been previously disclosed and raises concerns over the legalities of involving contractors in the most sensitive operations conducted by the U.S. government.

The "snatch and grab" raids took place regularly between 2004 and 2006, the Times reported, when the insurgency in Iraq was escalating and security throughout the country was deteriorating.

"Blackwater USA was never under contract to participate in covert raids with CIA or Special Operations personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else. Any allegation to the contrary by any news organization would be false," Xe spokesman Mark Corallo said in an e-mailed statement. The company changed its name this year.

A U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press that Blackwater provided security and moved around with CIA teams on missions in war zones, but he denied they performed CIA missions. CIA Director Leon Panetta ordered a review several months ago of the company's contracts to be sure its guards only perform security-related work, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.


CIA spokesman George Little said, "This agency, like many others, uses contractors in roles that complement and enhance the skills of our own work force, just as American law permits."
"Agency staff officers have the decision-making authority and bear responsibility for results," Little said.

The former Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., changed its corporate name after a series of use-of-force controversies, including a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad by five company security guards that left 17 civilians dead.
The Times also reported that former Blackwater employees said they helped provide security on CIA flights that transported detainees.

The XE spokesman also denied that part of the report. He said it was an old allegation that had repeatedly been withdrawn.
The report comes as the House Intelligence Committee is investigating the agency's hiring of Blackwater to be part of a program to kill or capture al-Qaida leaders. The death squad program had several lives over an eight-year period before it was canceled Panetta in June. The CIA has said the effort yielded no successes.

The CIA has been reducing its reliance on the use of contractors over the past few years.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks occurred after a contraction of the CIA in the post-Cold War period and which compelled the agency to hire contractors to rapidly fill its ranks for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.