Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan

A figure claiming to be Ayman az-Zawahiri is threatening U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and there are reports suggesting that he and Osama bin Laden have moved back into that country from Pakistan. This is a little surprising as earlier reports had suggested that the Taliban were planning to concentrate on Iraq rather than Afghanistan. One possibility is that we have no idea what they're really doing, and all reports should be viewed with suspicion. Another is that they'd rather take on an American puppet and some unpopular warlords in turbulent Afghanistan than the rising power of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and other leaders in Iraq.