Of course there is always response and retaliation in war. That’s what war is. But what Makhdoom Qureshi is trying to do is put the blame on America for Shahzad’s jihad attack. The implication of his statement is that if we stop resisting the jihadis, they will stop fighting us. But of course they wouldn’t stop, for the Qur’an and Islamic theology and law mandate warfare against unbelievers simply because they are unbelievers, not solely because they are fighting back. “Taliban lackey’s twisted mission,” by Bruce Golding, John Doyle and Dan Mangan for the New York Post, May 5:
It was payback.
The Connecticut man charged yesterday with the botched Times Square car bombing confessed to trying to slaughter innocent people in retaliation for US drone attacks that wiped out the leadership of his beloved Taliban, The Post has learned.
Admitted terrorist Faisal Shahzad — who copped to training in explosives in the past year with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the leading extremist Islamic group in his native Pakistan — said he was driven to evil by the slew of deaths among leaders of the terror group, law-enforcement sources revealed yesterday.
His training came in a tribal area where American drone aircraft have pummeled members of the Pakistan Taliban and al Qaeda in the past year.
Sources said he was an eyewitness to the onslaught throughout the eight months he spent in Pakistan beginning last summer.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the Times Square bombing attempt immediately after it occurred, saying it was in response to the drone killing of one of its leaders in August — but that claim had been roundly discounted by US authorities at the time.
But by yesterday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Qureshi said, “This is a blowback. This is a reaction. This is retaliation. And you could expect that,” according to CBS News.
“Let’s not be naive. They’re going to fight back.”…
When grilled by investigators, Shahzad “admitted he had attempted to detonate a bomb in Times Square. He also said he had recently received five months’ worth of bomb-making instruction in Waziristan, Pakistan,” a criminal complaint says….
Among those arrested in Pakistan was Tauhid Ahmed, with whom Shahzad had been communicating via e-mail and whom he’d met at least once.
Also busted was Muhammad Rehan, who was picked up at a mosque associated with militant activity. Shahzad during his trip to Pakistan had met with Rehan.
Investigators were also looking at possible ties between Shahzad and David Headley, another Pakistani American, who pleaded guilty to the 2008 bombings in Mumbai, India, The Daily Beast Web site reported….