Old topic and, yeah, Keysersoze and Texas John are correct. It has been suggested here by a number of folks (including your's truly) that there is behind-the-scenes concurrence and even targeting assistance.
America will not likely ever announce that we've ceased drone attacks.
They'll just quietly...cease and one day you'll be wondering whatever happened to those attacks that happened with such frequency.
I think we've had tactical success. I think, however, that the discrete nature of the attacks-one here, one there, now and again, has allowed A.Q. and others to adjust to the tempo and overcome many command impediments brought on by these killings.
They've time after each to work a new guy into his leadership position and get him grounded to the job. To DECAPITATE a leadership would likely require a Time-On-Target assault of five or six leaders at once.
Damned near impossible.
Meanwhile there may some truth that this has pushed militant leaders inland. They'd have to leave the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, though, and while that may allow them to avoid PREDATOR, it should push their profile up and increase the liklihood of the security forces identifying these guys and arresting/killing them.
That hasn't happened so I don't know just how much PREDATOR has driven their leaders east.
As to their soldiers, going east seems in their plans in any case so I don't necessarily agree that there's a direct correlation between PREDATOR and increased attacks outside the tribal areas. Instead I suspect it's a function of your revealed weakness and their abilities to exploit gaps in your security apparatus.
devil
