Drones Running Out of Targets?

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the leadership ranks of al-Qa'ida have been so diminished that there are now only two "high-value" targets remaining in Pakistan: Ayman al-Zawahiri, and his deputy, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

To be clear: there are still scores of mid-to-low-level al Qa'ida operatives to target, as well as fighters/leaders from other extremist groups in the Tribal Areas (i.e. Haqqani Network leaders); other branches of al-Qa'ida now pose equal if not greater threats to U.S. security; and the terror network has shown the ability to regenerate in the past if given breathing room.

But it is still interesting to even consider the possibility that the network's base could be "defeated," or that the geographic focus of the war against al-Qa'ida could shift away from the traditional theater of operations in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

And then there were two: al-Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and his second-in-command, Abu Yahya al-Libi.