Damadola Strike Not A Total Washout

The U.S. Predator airstrike against an al Qaeda safehouse in western Pakistan last Friday appears not to have bagged the terror group's acting head, Ayman al-Zawahri, but it was not completely unsuccessful:

At least four foreign terrorists died in the U.S. airstrike purportedly aimed at al-Qaeda's #2 leader, the provincial government said Tuesday.

Pakistani intelligence officials have said Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, had been invited to a dinner in the targeted village of Damadola to mark an Islamic holiday but did not show up and sent some aides instead.

"Four or five foreign terrorists have been killed in this missile attack whose dead bodies have been taken away by their companions to hide the real reason of the attack," the statement said, citing the chief official in the Bajur region where Damadola is located.

"It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10-12 foreign extremists had been invited on a dinner," it said.

Interesting that the provincial government made this announcement after Pakistani "senior intelligence officials" spent all weekend condemning and ridiculing the attack. It seems to be yet another instance of George Bush's enemies, both foreign and domestic, leaping to conclusions before all the facts are gathered.

Even if we didn't get Zawahiri, the fact that this strike was based on "humint" has to give the suriviving jihadis pause as to what extent their network has been penetrated. Anything that slows them down, to say nothing of killing them, is a very good thing indeed.

UPDATE 1/19: Looks like some of the "fish" we fileted were heap big ones after all.