The Mob

The U.S. military has launched a new "Most Wanted" campaign offering rewards of up to $200,000 for information leading to the capture of 12 Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.

[...]

"We're trying to get more visibility on these guys like the FBI did with the mob," said Lt. Col. Rob Pollock, a U.S. officer at the main American base in Bagram. "They operate the same way the mob did, they stay in hiding."

  AP

And like the mob, they are not one central organization. They have factions. So, I don’t know. Who would be most likely to know the whereabouts of these “most wanted” people? Who would have the access to them that would permit collecting on such a reward? I’d think it would be the people nearest them in the organization. Or maybe someone from a rival faction. In either case, I think there'd be a pretty good chance that reward money would end up right back in the organization, one faction or another.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

It's Graduation Time All Over the World

Teams assigned to carry out attacks in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany were introduced at an al Qaeda/Taliban training camp graduation ceremony held June 9.

[...]

The leader of the team assigned to attack Great Britain spoke in English.

"So let me say something about why we are going, along with my team, for a suicide attack in Britain," he said. "Whether my colleagues, companions and Muslim brothers die today or tonight, every drop of our blood will invigorate the Muslim (unintelligible)."

  ABC News

Typical graduation speech.

U.S. intelligence officials described the event as another example of "an aggressive and sophisticated propaganda campaign."

Others take it very seriously.

"It doesn't take too many who are willing to actually do it and be able to slip through the net and get into the United States or England and cause a lot of damage," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism official.

On the other hand, it's probably timely for another diversionary, "Look over here! We stopped a terrorist plot." After all, the purge and missing email stories haven't died.

Canada's public safety minister isn't worried.

"Their capability, personally, is limited, because there is a lot of internal intelligence that points out who certain individuals are and they do have a limited ability to travel and get through our border systems."

[Minister] Day said the report is a "PR move on behalf of a terror organization" that knows it is losing the fight in Afghanistan, where more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers are serving in a NATO-led mission.

  CBC

I don't know. I'm not all that certain they know they're losing.

Taliban on the Move in Afghanistan Military.com
Taliban step up attacks in southern Afghanistan International Herald Tribune
Taliban overrun southern Afghan district; more than 100 killed York Dispatch
Taliban fighters seize south Afghan area MLive.com
Support for coalition forces in Afghanistan waning Edmonton Sun

Canada's Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day

Oh yeah, there's still the Taliban

The bodies of six Afghan policemen have been found beheaded in southern Afghanistan, on the same day Taliban guerrillas claimed to have beheaded a missing U.S. commando, officials said on Sunday.

[...]

They claimed to have captured the commando in the eastern province of Kunar last month.

The U.S. military said it had no information to support that claim and a search for the man was continuing in Kunar.

  Reuters article

That commando is from the failed mission event involving a downed helicopter, 18 dead American special forces soldiers, one rescued soldier, and 17 dead Afghan civilians.

Hundreds of people have died, many of them guerrillas, since the Taliban and their militant allies stepped up violence in March ahead of September 18 parliamentary elections, the next big step in Afghanistan's difficult path to stability.

The deaths have included at least 32 U.S. troops killed in action, making 2005 the bloodiest year for U.S. forces since they invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.