Senators Move To Designate Pakistani Taliban As A Terrorist Organization

By Alexa Gitler-Talk Radio News Service

A collection of Senate Democrats announced a new piece of legislation Tuesday that would require the State Department to recognize the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“The designation of TTP would allow the trigger of serious counterterrorism measures including: freezing of assets, barring foreign nationals with ties to the group from entering the U.S., and criminalizing the act of providing any material assistance to the group,” Sen. Charles Scuhmer (D-N.Y.) said during a press briefing with Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

The announcement comes the day after Faisal Shahzad, the man behind the attempted Times Square bombing, plead guilty to a 10 count indictment and conceded receiving training and financial assistance from the TTP.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) noted that Shahzad’s confession highlights the need to confront the TTP.

“Keep in mind, we escaped luckily this time [in capturing Shahzad],” said Lautenberg. “Waiting will not help.”

Currently 45 organizations are named on the State Department’s list. The designations last for two years and must meet three conditions: that the organization must be foreign, that the organization must engage in proven and documented terrorist activity, and that the terrorist activity must threaten the security of U.S. citizens or the national security of U.S.

DoD: Pakistan Will Not Be Pressured On Terrorism Following Times Square Incident

The Department of Defense does not anticipate putting additional pressure on the Pakistani government to crack down on terrorist safe havens following revelations that Faisal Shahzad, the suspect apprehended for attempting to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square Saturday, may have received training from militias within the country.

“There are safe havens that have yet to be fully targeted … but the pace and the timing and the schedule to undertake those operations is of the Pakistani’s choosing,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Thursday. “We have to always remind ourselves that were are dealing with sovereign nations.”

Morrell added that the threat of terrorism within Pakistan’s borders provides enough of an incentive for the country’s government to confront violent extremism and that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is satisfied with Pakistan’s approach thus far.

Shahzad, who was arrested Monday evening aboard a plane scheduled to travel to Dubai where he would then fly to Pakistan, has reportedly told investigators that he received training in Waziristan, a region within Pakistan’s delicate Federally Administered Tribal Area. He is currently being charged with terrorism and other crimes.

Bloomberg Speculates Times Square Bomber Was Protesting Healthcare Law

Hours before U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of a Pakistani-American suspected of being involved with an attempt to detonate a car bomb in the middle of New York’s Times Square, the city’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, told CBS News anchor Katie Couric that the alleged attacker may have been trying to make a political statement.

Couric interviewed Bloomberg to discuss the possibility that the failed attack might have been a precursor to something bigger and potentially, more deadly. At one point, the veteran anchor asked the Mayor whether or not he thought the suspect was American.

“A home-grown?” she asked, to which Bloomberg responded, “Home-grown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.”

Technically, Bloomberg was right about one thing. It is now known that the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, 30, was born in Pakistan, but had lived in the U.S. for a number of years. He had a home in Bridgeport, Connecticut and was granted American citizenship last year. It is also known that Shahzad traveled to the Peshawar region of Pakistan for a period of about five months last year.

Today, a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told a reporter with Reuters that Shahzad, who appeared in federal court to face charges of "driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1," claimed he acted alone. However, there are reports now that authorities in Pakistan say they’ve arrested a person they believe conspired with Shahzad to carry out the attack. This new revelation contradicts yet another statement Bloomberg made to Couric last night.

"There is no evidence here of a conspiracy,” he said. There is no evidence that it's tied in to anything else. It looks like an amatuerish job, done by at least one person.”