that left the central area and the main area, waziristan, south and north waziristan which over the years has become a stronghold of major -- a major enter for training activities of all sorts of taliban, of rigging vehicles and suicide bombers and so on. and, weapons and vehicles, takes place there and has commercial importance for the taliban, as their headquarters of the ddt, the umbrella organization i mention and this is the area which is now being tackled, and, here, again, the military has the support of the wa zero -- wazir which is a major tribe in the area and the one tribe which is isolated is the massoud tribe and it is a difficult area, that historically, has never been under anybody's control, but, this is a situation which the military has to go through, because, there is no option. and, i think, doing it -- they are duke it well and so, this is the sort of strategic plan, the military had, and has, and the way it is operating. there is infrastructure there in the form of components. some disused air fields and other facilities have been activated. it is not as if they are

that left the central area and the main area, waziristan, south and north waziristan which over the years has become a stronghold of major -- a major enter for training activities of all sorts of taliban, of rigging vehicles and suicide bombers and so on. and, weapons and vehicles, takes place there and has commercial importance for the taliban, as their headquarters of the ddt, the umbrella organization i mention and this is the area which is now being tackled, and, here, again, the military has the support of the wa zero -- wazir which is a major tribe in the area and the one tribe which is isolated is the massoud tribe and it is a difficult @@a)! @ @ they have -- there have been traverses, because it has been a learning process for the military and they have suffered casualties and swat alone, i think over 600 were killed. and, pakistani public, for the first time, is seeing in their homes, on television, daily funerals and conferenffins comik in their own area, in a fight, of basically, their own people but since they have chosen the insurgent part it is being accepted, that the sacri

there was a convoy in south waziristan, in known stronghold for a taliban leader. police say there was tear-gas fired in one city to break up protest. demonstrators were incensed by the death of a student, they say at the hands of police. they hurled stones at police and set one car on fire. the saudi arabian court has handed down a judgment and what is thought to be the country's first trial of al qaeda militants. one of the 130 on trial was given the death penalty. leaders of the world's richest countries have gathered in an italian town. it was devastated by an earthquake, grimly appropriate. they survey the rubble of the global economy. how to rebuild the global financial systems in the wake of the financial crisis was today's big question. our correspondent reports. >> hardly the glitzy, spruced up a venue you usually see at a global summit. central italy. still littered with rubble from the deadly disaster in april, and still precarious, there was a new, smaller earthquake year on friday. the authorities in italy insist it is safe, but emergency helicopters a

in a pakistani tribal region known as south waziristan, missiles apparently filed from american dronesilled at least 45 militants today. in a separate attack today in the swat valley of pakistan, the pakistani military claimed to have wounded a top taliban commander. the wounded man baitullah mehsud and his supporters have believed to have burned schools for girls and beheaded rivals as part of a chain to impose extreme version of sharia law there. >>> and still more news tonight about the war on islamic militants. it comes saudi arabia, where according to a justice military spokesman, 2,300 members of suspected al qaeda have been convicted during the first known terror trials in that country. one of the militants was sentenced to death. >>> al qaeda's, of course, also active in africa. and in the northwestern african country of mali, al qaeda militants and government troops have been battling for the past several days. today, al qaeda claimed to have killed 28 government soldiers. the government says dozens died during the recent fighting, but insists most of those killed were members

that left the central area and the main area, waziristan, south and north waziristan which over the years has become a stronghold of major -- a major enter for training activities of all sorts of taliban, of rigging vehicles and suicide bombers and so on. and, weapons and vehicles, takes place there and has commercial importance for the taliban, as their headquarters of the ddt, the umbrella organization i mention and this is the area which is now being tackled, and, here, again, the military has the support of the wa zero -- wazir which is a major tribe in the area and the one tribe which is isolated is themassoud tribe and it is a difficult area, that historically, has never been under anybody's control, but, this is a situation which the military has to go through, because, there is no option. and, i think, doing it -- they are duke it well and so, this is the sort of strategic plan, the military had, and has, and the way it is operating. there is infrastructure there in the form of controlments, bases, airfields and dis used airfields from the british days and other facilities have be

we have then got to support the pakistan authority as they move into waziristan and take on not just pakistan taliban but al qaeda. so these are short-term campaigns to give long term results. but in addition to that we've got to back up our effort in pakistan by supporting the economic and social development of the country that will double in size the next 30 or 40 years. a large population of people in need of education and alternatives to madrassas. that is why we are shifting a great deal of development spending towards education particularly in the north of pakistan to help those people there. so yes, in the short term -- and you require the pakistan military forces to be more active. i don't -- an interview with the general of the afghan operations that he said exactly the

it is widely reported that waziristan is at the target of the campaign.e was not the target but collateral damage in the strike. sayeed was a small player with a big name, but he was significant enough that the treasury department froze his assets in january because of his alleged ties to al qaeda and to iran. ak according to a treasury department statement in 2001, in late 2001, he facilitated the travel of usama bin laden's family members from afghanistan to iran. he made key decisions for al qaeda and was part of the small group of al qaeda member s that was involved in managing the terrorist organization from iran." he was arrested under the obama administration and at least ten senior leaders have been killed in the last year. among the mastermind of the liquid explosive bomb plot in 2006, the embassy attacks in east africa and also access to chemical and biological weapons. if he is confirmed dead, it is another sign that al qaeda is under pressure. >> they thought they would be safer there than anyplace in the world. there is very little pakistani

it was the latest barrage in south waziristan, near the afghan border.he region is a stronghold of the pakistani taliban leader. and in afghanistan, a u.s. soldier was killed in the western part of the country, and a british soldier died in the south. seven british troops have been killed in the last week. police in iran have now released most of the people arrested during protests last month. the announcement came today. at least 1,000 iranians were detained after a disputed presidential election. overnight, president ahmadinejad insisted his new government is legitimate. he gave his first nationally televised address since the vote. >> ( translated ): in the recount of the votes, no fault was discovered and basically those who had claims couldn't even provide one document as a proof of fraud in the election. the whole nation understood this, although we don't expect ordinary people to provide proof, but it is not acceptable from those who claim to be politicians. >> lehrer: while the speech was under way, people across tehran took to their rooftops to

they said 12 to 14 militants were killed.q& the attacks took place in south waziristan, at a training camp run by one of the leaders of the pakistani taliban.+=8z)ik1.q in response, the pakistani army warned the u.s. strikes are hurting its ongoing campaign against the taliban.'á the new u.s. senator from minnesota, al franken, was sworn in today, eight months after the election. his arrival gave democrats 60 seats in the senate. vice president biden administered the oath on the senate floor, with former vice president walter mondale, a minnesota native, alongside. franken took the oath on a bible that belonged to the late senator paul wellstone of minnesota. the minnesota state supreme court declared franken the winner last week, after a long recount battle. the american bar association has given u.s. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor a boost. she earned a "well qualified" rating from the nation's largest attorneys' group, after its review. at the same time, senate minority leader mcconnell suggested today that sotomayor has let racial bias cloud her decisions. the senate confirm

one coming in the very early hours of the morning, targeting south waziristan in south afghanistan, killingn the attack. another attack later in the day again targeting the camp of baitullah mehsud, the most wanted leader at this time. the strikes although they are by u.s. drones, very much in concurrence, if uh will, with what the pakistani military is trying to achieve in the same area, which is pinning mesud down and killing him. but programs the biggest breakthrough coming this evening, they announced a that they have wounded the leading taliban figure in the swat valley, just north of islamabad here. if you remember a couple of months by, the taliban was so close to the capital that they could overrun it and now they've wounded the main taliban leader there. tony? >> okay. and i'm assuming that's wounded and captured this taliban leader? >> reporter: you know, very few details. you only hear it playing close to the chest. they won't say how badly wounded. they won't say when he was wounded. but the key part of the strategy here, they believe they can take down the taliban leaders. this

. >> there was a special operations force direct action engagement in waziristan.was for a very short period of time. >> reporter: other hits? somalia, 2007. air force ac-130 gunships launched strikes into southern somalia, but failed to kill their al qaeda targets. iraq, 2006. the u.s. military hunts down and kill kills abu humane zarqawi. and in 2002, a cia drone kills an al qaeda operative the u.s. says was involved in the bombing of the "uss cole." whether it's the cia or u.s. troops on the trigger, there are rules to be followed. >> the united states cannot ipso facto kill individuals in foreign countries. they're -- generally with foreign fighters, there has to be a determination that this individual in general is plotting and does threaten the homeland of -- of the united states. >> so, whether it's any of these countries that we've just talked about or indonesia, where we saw an attack in the last several hours, experts say one of the biggest challenges to these types of operations if u.s. troops or u.s. agents go in, they have to, t.j., be in coordination

pakistani military will go from swat valley after they get that under control and hopefully into south waziristanpart of this area. host: in a recent "part affairs the tiered their recent article. -- recent article in "foreign affairs. com host: are they any farther along now? guest: i don't think so. president obama is right, you need a comprehensive strategy. you need to have economics and reconstruction. and this has to be part of that. i don't think they are there yet. i think general mcchrystal, now we have a new strategy, that this will be part of what he does. he is doing a 60-day review and i think once that is done they will be able to move in that direction. host: a famous " see about afghanistan -- where some buyers go to die. guest: the graveyard of empires. host: how does the u.s. overcome? guest: again, we are not there. i think our leaving iraq is very important. what president bush agreed to before he left office. shows we are not there as occupiers. yes, the british were run out and then it came back three decades later and took control. i think you overstate it and people have c

intelligence says six missiles were fired from an unmanned plane exploring a mountain top community near waziristane second time in two days u.s. missiles have struck a militant hideout in pakistan. >> stimulus -- this is personal stimulus if you spend a lot of money on gas. the price of gas continues to drop. triple a reporting the national average for unleaded regular is down to $2.59 a gallon, a penny less than it was tuesday. gas prices have dropped for 17 straight days. remember this number, back on july 17, 2008, gas was $4.11. >> we both remember that. guess what -- americans are using less gas and spending less time stuck in traffic. not so sure about that. the study by the texas transportation institute attributing it to economy and gas prices, congestion has dropped for the last two years in a row. traffic is still getting worst in los angeles. it tops it list for the worst traffic jams in the country. >> the obamas are in rome. the president took care of foreign policy business, the obama girls are creating their first buzz. the first overseas reception, thanks for being with us, mia. >>

if you are a regular taliban member sitting in waziristan you don't have the internet but your leaders might. the book specifically tries to find leniency around sure real law, muslim law to deal with the spies. if it leads to decrep bid old money and women being ripped out of their home, that's disturbing but some things in this book are. brian: there was a bunch of drone attacks very effective one that almost killed a key commander in that swat region. we will talk to you again. keep reading. >> will do. brian: five minutes after the hour. what could you do with 18 million bucks? gretchen: well, put a lot of people back in jobs, i think might be the first thing but instead they're going to retool that web site that vice president joe biden is in charge of. do you remember this web site? it's recovery.gov. brian: because he didn't when he announced it. gretchen: he didn't remember what the name of it was. here is where you are supposed to be able to go as a taxpayer and figure out where all of your dollars have been going since we started giving all of these bailouts. the only problem

pakistani military will go from swat valley after they get that under control and hopefully into south waziristan part of this area. host: in a recent "part affairs the tiered their recent article. -- recent article in "foreign affairs. com host: are they any farther along now? guest: i don't think so. president obama is right, you need a comprehensive strategy. you need to have economics and reconstruction. and this has to be part of that. i don't think they are there yet. i think general mcchrystal, now we have a new strategy, that this will be part of what he does. he is doing a 60-day review and i think once that is done they will be able to move in that direction. host: a famous " see about afghanistan -- where some buyers go to die. guest: the graveyard of empires. host: how does the u.s. overcome? guest: again, we are not there. i think our leaving iraq is very important. what president bush agreed to before he left office. shows we are not there as occupiers. yes, the british were run out and then it came back three decades later and took control. i think you overstate it and people have

it happened in south waziristan near the afghan border. at least a dozen militants were killed. the united states launching missile strikes against militants in the area. pakistan's army is deploying troops to the region and conducting regular air strikes on its own. >>> encouraging news for drivers -- cheaper gas prices at the pump. the average price of a gallon of regular is $2.16. this is the 16th consecutive day the price has dropped and $1.50 lower than this time last year. >>> the world was stunned by the sudden death. but a rabbi who was once in jackson's inner circle said he saw it coming. i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. ♪ oh >> that was video of his dress rehearsal taken just two days before michael jackson died at the age of 50 on june 25. today we're here for a special edition of "american morning" live from los angeles where hundreds of thousands are preparing to remember michael jackson. the memorial taking place here at staples cent

pakistani military will go from swat valley after they get that under control and hopefully into south waziristan, part of this area. host: in a recent "part affairs the tiered their recent article. -- recent article in "foreign affairs. com host: are they any farther along now? guest: i don't think so. president obama is right, you need a comprehensive strategy. you need to have economics and reconstruction. and this has to be part of that. i don't think they are there yet. i think general mcchrystal, now we have a new strategy, that this will be part of what he does. he is doing a 60-day review and i think once that is done they will be able to move in that direction. host: a famous " see about afghanistan -- where some buyers go to die. guest: the graveyard of empires. host: how does the u.s. overcome? guest: again, we are not there. i think our leaving iraq is very important. what president bush agreed to before he left office. shows we are not there as occupiers. yes, the british were run out and then it came back three decades later and took control. i think you overstate it and people have