Since its move from Afghanistan to Pakistan, it appears that al-Qaida has launched a new type of training camp -- small centers for training just 10 -20 aspiring terrorists. In a recent piece for The New Republic, journalist Peter Bergen cited a senior American military official as saying, "People want to see barracks. [In fact] the camps use dry riverbeds for shooting and are housed in compounds for 20 people, where they are taught calisthenics and bomb-making."

A New York Times report states that while the intelligence community has focused on the threat of attacks in Afghanistan from the Taliban in Pakistan and from Pakistani militias, there is a growing concern about al-Qaida leadership in northern Pakistan. Al-Qaida has long been known to operate from the mountainous region of North Waziristan, but the renewed concern surrounds intelligence indicating that bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri may be building an operations hub in that remote area.

The report indicates "the United States has also identified several new al-Qaida compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan."

Peter Bergen says that this "comfortable home" that al-Qaida found in the tribal areas of northern Pakistan is likely going to remain that way, and it may become even more welcoming. Peace agreements between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and local militants in some of these tribal areas will likely result in the Pakistani army pulling out of the region, which can only give al-Qaida more free rein.

Reports also note an increase in the number of statements released by al-Qaida's leaders. The fact that As Sahab, al-Qaida's communication branch, produced three times as many videotapes in 2006 compared to 2005 is another sign of thwe terror group's vitality, U.S. intelligence officials said.

Within the Middle East, al-Qaida has become more cohesive, as suggested by similarities in the tactics used by insurgents on various battlegrounds. The increase in suicide bombings, improvised explosive devices, and beheading of hostages in Afghanistan points to a link between al-Qaida affiliates in Afghanistan and Iraq, reports indicate.

Following The New York Times front page story on Monday proclaiming that al-Qaida leaders and the organization as a whole are apparently gaining strength, a series of reports elaborated on this story. Al-Qaida is making a comeback through organizations in countries outside traditional al-Qaida territory, they said.

Craig Whitlock of The Washington Post reported that fighters from Morocco are traveling to Iraq to join the al-Qaida-backed insurgency there.

Craig Smith from The New York Times tracked a number of developments in terrorist factions in North Africa that indicate that formerly separate groups are banding together to create dedicated al-Qaida outposts throughout the Maghreb. Given their proximity to potential targets in Europe, these groups present an ideal opportunity for al-Qaida expansion and a major concern for European governments.

These reports are in stark contrast to the impressions many Bush administration officials have been giving of al-Qaida "on the run" or "in decline."

But even within the U.S. government it is recognized that al-Qaida could be on the rise. In April 2006, the Bush administration's own National Intelligence Estimate on "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States" found that "the Iraq war has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists...and is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives."

Then in mid-January, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, U.S. Army Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that al-Qaida is "the largest and most active of the Iraq-based terrorist groups."

Journalists have long been aware that al-Qaida ideology inspires terrorist groups around the world, and reports about the trend have been published intermittently during the past few years. Bergen, for one, wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post in July 2006 highlighting the same assessments from the intelligence community that supposedly emerged this week.

The Post's Craig Whitlock indicated in his piece about Moroccan fighters that the mosque and the slum from which these Islamists are recruited have long been under surveillance by counterterrorism investigators. Five men accused of carrying out the Madrid train bombings of March 2004 were from this area.

So perhaps what is most remarkable about this spate of reports about the resurgence of al-Qaida is not so much the content but the timing. Who are these anonymous intelligence officials, and what is their motivation for "revealing" these assessments right now?

It is possible that the recent flood of articles is simply an effect of media hype, but it could also indicate the intention of the unidentified sources to send a message: either to the American public, stressing the importance of staying on task in the "global war on terror," or to so-called U.S. partners in that war (read: Pakistan), indicating that the "ally" ruse is up.

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