Senators defend attack, saying strike was justified

Pakistani officials have strongly condemned the airstrike.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senators defended on Sunday a purported CIA airstrike that Pakistani officials said killed at least 17 people in a village near the border with Afghanistan but not the intended target, Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader.
"We apologize, but I can't tell you that we wouldn't do the same thing again" in going after Ayman al-Zawahri, said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
McCain said it is a "cautionary tale" about the fate of the terrorist network's leaders that the United States "didn't take them out year ago." He said the United States must hunt them down wherever they are hiding.
"We have to do what we think is necessary to take out Al-Qaida, particularly the top operatives. This guy has been more visible than Osama bin Laden lately," McCain said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitivity, said it's still unclear if al-Zawahri was killed in the attack.
Reaction
Pakistani officials have strongly condemned the strike. The White House declined to comment on the attacks Sunday, except to praise President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as well as Pakistan as "a valued ally on the war on terror." Officials at several U.S. agencies have not immediately provided details about the attack.
The FBI anticipates performing DNA tests on the victims, a law enforcement official said Saturday.
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said the real problem is that the U.S.-allied Pakistani government does not control the region along the mountainous border with Afghanistan, where the attack occurred. Many Al-Qaida and Taliban combatants are believed to have taken refuge there.
"It's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do?" Bayh told CNN's "Late Edition." "It's like the wild, wild west out there. The Pakistani border is a real problem."
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said strikes are necessary to get at Al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan who are directing anti-American violence in Iraq. "My information is that this strike was clearly justified by the intelligence," Lott said.
Both Bayh and Lott serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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