According to Time, a terrorism summit was held in March of this year in Waziristan, the lawless region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It was a gathering of terrorism’s elite, and they slipped silently into Pakistan from all over the world in order to attend. From England came Abu Issa al-Hindi, an Indian convert to radical Islam who specializes in surveillance. From an unknown hideout came Adnan el-Shukrijumah, an accomplished Arab Guyanese bombmaker and commercial pilot. And from Queens in New York City came Mohammed Junaid Babar, a Pakistani American who arrived with cash, sleeping bags, ponchos, waterproof socks and other supplies for the mountain-bound jihadis.

The March 2004 terrorist summit in the lawless province of Waziristan, described to TIME by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last week and expounded on by U.S. officials, has become a subject of obsession for authorities in both countries. “The personalities involved, the operations, the fact that a major explosives expert came here and went back,” Musharraf said, “all this was extremely significant.”

Although some summit participants have been arrested, others are still at large and are considered very dangerous. At least two are believed to have done some of the surveillance of targets in New York City and elsewhere that authorities found out about last month. Some U.S. officials fear that the meeting may have been a pivotal planning session, much the way a 2000 meeting in Kuala Lumpur was for the 9/11 attacks. “This was a meeting of a bunch of cold-blooded killers who are very skilled at what they do and have an intense desire to inflict an awful lot of pain and suffering on America,” says an official familiar with the summit. A senior counterterrorism official said analysts are scrutinizing the recent pattern of enemy activity against timelines of previous attacks. This, he said, has contributed to the worry that at least some members of a strike team are already in the U.S.

- Time

A year before the attacks of 9/11, terrorists held a summit in Malaysia reportedly to discuss final details of the attack. Could this summit be another last-minute check before an assault?

All intelligence indicates that Al Qaeda has been strengthening a plan to attack the United States within the states and abroad. Terror threat levels have been increased and this summit could be yet another factor for the raise. What role the latest arrests in Pakistan have either put off an attack or disrupted it all together are yet unknown and probably will never be known.

Pakistani troops have been entering the tribal lands of Wazirstan at the urging of the United States for past year, however the final push has yet to be mounted. Waiting on the opposite side of the Pakistani border with Afghanistan are Afghan and United States troops. Many Al Qaeda operatives have been captured by U.S. forces from the squeeze put on Waziristan by the Pakistani army.

While this has had some success, there needs to be more of a joint effort by both sides to once and for all clear this area out. If there aren’t as many Al Qaeda forces in this area, we need to know so we can start the search elsewhere. Intelligence show that top Al Qaeda leaders are in this area and possibly Osama Bin Laden, however the global reach of Al Qaeda and the presumed knowledge of an eventual attack on their stronghold should convince Al Qaeda to de-centralize their leadership if they have not already. The first step to gain knowledge of this de-centralization is to clear out Waziristan.

Backcountry Conservative linked with Monday's Terrorism News Roundup