Anti-Taliban fighters observing U.S. bombing of the cave sanctuaries of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan on December 16, 2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis)From The New Republic:
On July 25, Najibullah Zazi, a lanky man in his mid-twenties, walked into the Beauty Supply Warehouse in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. The visit was captured on a store video camera. Wearing a baseball cap and pushing a shopping cart, Zazi appeared to be just another suburban guy.
Of course, not many suburban guys buy six bottles of Clairoxide hair bleach, as Zazi did on this shopping trip--or return a month later to buy a dozen bottles of "Ms. K Liquid," a peroxide-based product. Aware that these were hardly the typical purchases of a heavily bearded, dark-haired young man, Zazi--who was born in Afghanistan and spent part of his childhood in Pakistan before moving to the United States at the age of 14--kibitzed easily with the counter staff, joking that he had to buy such large quantities of hair products because he "had a lot of girlfriends."
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My Comment: This is a long article, but Peter Bergen is on the money with his analysis of the Taliban - Al Qaeda connection. His report is a must read, contradicting much of what the White House is trying to do as it tries to find some rapprochement with "wobbly" members of the Taliban.