WASHINGTON (AP) — The Census Bureau wasted millions of dollars in preparation for its 2010 population count, including thousands of temporary employees who picked up $300 checks without performing work and others who overbilled for travel costs. Federal investigators caution the excessive charges could multiply once the $15 billion headcount begins in earnest next month unless the agency imposes tighter spending controls, according to excerpts of a forthcoming audit obtained by The Associated Press. ... (more)

The Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mahsud died from injuries suffered in a US drone attack. (Chicago Tribune) Mahsud was engineer of a devastating series of suicide attacks including the attack that killed 7 CIA officials in Afghanistan in December. The LA Times reported, via Free Republic: (more)

The U.S. government will reduce the amount of money it spends on American contractors and nongovernmental organizations working in Pakistan this year, even as Washington begins to spend the first tranche of a new $7.5 billion aid package in that country, according to a report from the State Department. Instead, more of the money will go to Pakistani NGOs and contractors, a move that has raised concerns among U.S. development workers. The document, the "Pakistan Assistance Strategy Report," was sent to... (more)

An overwhelming majority think that Taliban groups who seek to overthrow the Afghan government should not be allowed to have bases in Pakistan. However, this does not bring with it a shift in attitudes toward the US. A large majority continue to have an unfavorable view of the US government. Almost two-thirds say they do not have confidence in President Obama. An overwhelming majority opposes US drone attacks in Pakistan. (more)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani troops battling the Taliban have captured several points in the Swat Valley's main town, the army said Sunday, including a spot nicknamed "bloody intersection" because militants routinely dumped the mutilated bodies of their victims there. Elsewhere in the northwest, helicopter gunships pounded alleged militant hide-outs in a tribal region, killing at least 18 people, while police said they had captured an important militant commander and six other Taliban fighters. (more)

ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani military offensive against Taliban fighters near the Afghan border has killed more than 1,000 suspected insurgents and "will continue till the last Taliban are flushed out," a top official said Sunday. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, speaking after visiting Pakistanis displaced by the battle, also wouldn't rule out extending the operation in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas to other parts of the northwest where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long thrived. (more)

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) — Thousands of terrified Pakistanis dodged Taliban roadblocks Thursday to flee a northwestern valley as the army stepped up a ground and air assault on the extremists that has been praised by the United States. Destabilizing violence is flaring in Pakistan just as its embattled president is appealing in Washington for more help to reverse the extension of Taliban-held territory to within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital. (more)

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – There are no plans to deploy U.S. ground troops to Pakistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants. Speaking to about 300 Marines at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, Gates assured them that they wouldn't be fighting in the neighboring sovereign nation. (more)

In talks with U.S. lawmakers with Fox News, General David Petraeus said Pakistan’s civilian government has two weeks to deal with the Taliban. If it does not get its act together beforehand, it will probably fall. They “are finally serious” about fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Petraeus said, but added that “we heard it all before.” In other words, he is not very positive about President Asif Ali Zardari’s willingness to do what is necessary. Interestingly enough, Petraeus said that the country’s mi... (more)

Finally we see some of the good people in Pakistan make a stand against terrorists. I wish them nothing but the best in their efforts against the Taliban, as we now see that their government is incompetent and incapable when it comes to dealing with the threat of terror. (more)