Why have raids on al-Qaida in Afghanistan intensified?

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• ALISON STEWART:

  American and Afghan commandos have sharply intensified raids against al-Qaida after killing an al-Qaida leader last fall and seizing his computer.

  It contained valuable information about al-Qaida's operations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  For more about all of this, we are joined now by Matthew Rosenberg of The New York Times.

  He co-authored the story detailing all of this.

  So, what was on this laptop? What kind of information and what impact has it had on U.S. military involvement on the ground?

• MATTHEW ROSENBERG, THE NEW YORK TIMES:

  We're told it was quite an extensive kind of accounting of al-Qaida operations. You know, people are pretty tight-lipped about this kind of things.

  You know, there was a lot of data on there that allowed them to keep tracking people, may have been operational. It could have been phone numbers.

  Al-Qaida keeps amazing records of what it does. A lot of these militant organizations do, and even things like a phone list can provide huge intelligence if you're trying to track people down.

  You know, I think it's also important to note that there were some other factors at play here.

  A new Afghan president was certainly more open to working with the U.S., and, you know, the Afghan army had a really rough time last year and the Americans really want to keep helping them.

  And one of the bigger things they have been able to do to help is go after the mid-level commanders of the insurgency.

  And, you know, the al-Qaida guys, while not directly part of the Taliban, they do often aid the Taliban, to provide kind of expertise.

• ALISON STEWART:

  Something, Matthew, I find so fascinating about this story, almost the gee whiz of it, is that a computer has been so useful, given all the military might and all the power we have and all the intelligence that one piece of equipment has proven to be so valuable.

• MATTHEW ROSENBERG:

  You know, one of the problems they've always had in fighting the Taliban — and al-Qaida, to a degree — is getting people inside.

  The Taliban's leadership is a group of villagers who all grew up together; getting people on the inside to get information, very difficult.

  Al-Qaida, the same thing. They're in distant areas. They are very close about who they let into the inner circle.

  So, something like a computer can provide a tremendous amount of insight into what's going on, even if it's just a bunch of record of who bought what, when, and where — you know, printer cartridges, you know, telephones, who knows.

• ALISON STEWART:

  One of the Afghan officials quoted in the story that you co-authored said this is a secret war, these raids?

• MATTHEW ROSENBERG:

  You know, there have always been two wars going in Afghanistan.

  There is the kind of big army, public war, the embeds that journalists like myself and others went on, you saw, and there was the secret war of night raids, clandestine operations, that went after insurgent leaders, insurgent finances. You know, we never got a close look at that.

  And the big war is over. I mean, those days of big U.S. troops occupying bases around the country, that's done.

  But that secret war, that clandestine war, is still very much going. And, you know, I think that's one of the issues is that we've got the president declaring the war over — I think it was one of the first things he said in the State of the Union, but there are Americans who are still very much involved to a degree in combat in Afghan.

• ALISON STEWART:

  And is that why both sides, American and Afghan side, have kept this relatively quiet?

• MATTHEW ROSENBERG:

  I think that's part of it. You know, there is some necessity for operational secrecy, and we all understand that.

  And I think there's the issue of political fallout at home. In the U.S., you know, on a range of issues — this, on data released by the military about what's going on in Afghanistan — there is less and less available and the impression we have is everybody wants to kind of forget about it.

  On the Afghan side, the image of Americans still raiding Afghan homes at night, even if they're doing it with Afghan troops is just not — not a good image anybody wants to see and any leader wants out in public.

• ALISON STEWART:

  Matthew Rosenberg from The New York Times, thank you for sharing your reporting.

• MATTHEW ROSENBERG:

  Thank you.