In the News Next On His List, a D.C. Attack?

July 7, 2009

VIEW: Some riveting footage that captures Baitullah Mehsud, head of the Pakistani Taliban, and the violent, lawless world out of which he's come.

Quick facts:

--He's had a fast rise to power. The Pakistani Taliban's stated goal is to overthrow the country's government. (More on this - see FRONTLINE's interview with The New Yorker's Steve Coll.

--The U.S. had a $5 million bounty for information leading to his arrest.

--Mehsud's believed to be behind former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, and numerous other attacks inside Pakistan and against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

--In interviews, he told Reuters and the BBC that the Lahore, India attack several months ago was in retaliation for U.S. Predator drone strikes on Pakistan -- and that an attack on Washington is on his list.

Analysts were skeptical about whether Mehsud could pull off an attack within the U.S. But no one questioned his ruthless ambition.

Note: The clip's from autumn 2008 report on the Afghan/Pakistan crisis that's now become Obama's new war -- The War Briefing. Watch it online.