[1]Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which so far had focused primarily on India, is having global aspirations and has spread its tentacles beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan, as manifested by the David Headley case, a top US general has said.
“Generally, LeT was east, focused on India. They’re now in the West. Actually, they’re not just in the west, focused on Pakistan. There are LeT elements focused on Afghanistan,” Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said. “We’ve seen in our own country, recently — with Detroit, with Times Square, with Headley, with Zazi — we’ve seen an increasing level of distributed threats, if you will, and an ability to expand this federated approach which Al Qaeda has had. Al Qaeda is at the centre of this and Al Qaeda leadership resides in Pakistan.”
“We know that and that’s why this strategy, from my perspective, is so important, in terms of getting at Al Qaeda leadership and making sure they’ve got now-here to go,” he said. “I think Al Qaeda continues to be the seminal threat and the leadership, obviously. While they’ve had some challenges in the last couple of years, but I think that’s really the heart of it. And their strategic goals include, again, killing as many Westerners and Americans as possible,” he said. Al Qaeda still seeks nuclear weapons and the US is increasingly concerned about the nexus between terrorists and nuclear weapons. “I think we all, globally, have to do all we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Admiral Mullen said.
He said he has been raising this concern of his with Pakistan in every meeting he has with their leaders.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/int1jpg-040