Why Are Zawahiri and Gadahn Still Alive?

Dec. 14, 2009 — -- The reappearance of two of al-Qaeda's best known figures this weekend overshadowed last week's news that an unmanned U.S. drone had killed a behind-the-scenes al-Qaeda operative named Saleh al-Somali in a remote northern region of Pakistan.

Both Adam Gadahn and Ayman al-Zawahiri popped up alive and well on the internet, showing once again that CIA drone attacks have not managed to knock out the high-visibility, high-value Taliban and Al Qaeda targets the U.S. has been seeking in the region since the 9/11 attacks.

Gadahn, a Southern California Muslim convert turned al-Qaeda propagandist, criticized America and its allies in a 17-minute video released Saturday morning. On Sunday, Zawahiri, long considered Osama Bin Laden's top lieutenant, released an audio statement, blasting Arab government figures as "Obama's henchmen" and slaves of "the new world order."

The continued survival of such high-profile targets points to poor U.S. intelligence, footdragging by Pakistani allies, and a success rate that has not kept pace with a marked increase in the number of U.S. drone attacks.

The total number of drone attacks in 2009 was roughly twice its 2008 level. In October, the New Yorker reported that President Obama authorized as many aerial strikes in Pakistan during his first nine and a half months in office as President Bush did in his last three years in office -- just over 40, or about one per week.