According to information gleaned from captured members of various militant groups, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has devised a plan designed to “trap” the United States into continuing its nearly decade long war in Afghanistan beyond 2011.
Pakistani officials say the plan was originally unearthed in October 2009 after the arrest of members of a Kashmiri militant group. Ironically this means the plan predates President Obama’s declaration of the 2011 “drawdown” date by two months.
The plan, near as officials have been able to determine, is for a number of al-Qaeda linked militant groups to rapidly scale up their recruitment over the next several months and increase the number of direct attacks against US targets in the region.
Unspoken in this announcement, of course, is that the Obama Administration has already disavowed its 2011 drawdown date, meaning that al-Qaeda’s goal has already been realized even without its “trap.” With death tolls already at a record level, however, this planned escalation by various militant groups threatens to push it even higher.