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CBS) Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon ordered a top secret team of American commandos into Afghanistan with a single, simple order: kill Osama bin Laden. It was America's best chance to eliminate the leader of al Qaeda. The inside story of exactly what happened in that mission, and how close it came to its objective has never been told until now. The man you are about to meet was the officer in command, leading a team from the U.S. Army's mysterious Delta Force - a unit so secret, it's often said Delta doesn't exist. But you are about to see...

(CBS) Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon ordered a top secret team of American commandos into Afghanistan with a single, simple order: kill Osama bin Laden. It was America's best chance to eliminate the leader of al Qaeda. The inside story of exactly what happened in that mission, and how close it came to its objective has never been told until now.

Despite the lies told by the press and by John Kerry, special forces did in fact try to kill Bin Laden at Tora Bora. The biggest challenge in the operation was in fact the terrain. Afghan fighters who were to actually lead the charge ended up turning on the US forces during a cease fire they had with al Qaeda. Then there is the big issue as told by the officer,

Howie just posted that a Al Qaeda tape is out featuring Adam Gadahn...it is recent as it mentions the resignation of Mushy and the new Pakistani leader Zardari. Link Jawa Report

Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri narrowly escaped arrest by the Pakistani military, according to an Islamist militant leader. Naji Ibrahim, leader of the Islamist militant organisation, Jemaah Islamiyah made the claim in an interview with Egyptian daily al-Misriun. The Pakistani military had reportedly located al-Zawahiri's hiding place in the lawless tribal areas controlled by the Pakistani Taliban, also thought to be a haven for Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. The US State Department has offered a 25 million dollar reward for the Egyptian-born doctor, who has delivered numerous audio and video messages urging militants to continue the fight against the United...

Taliban leader Mullah Omar has urged United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan to withdraw or face a similar defeat to occupying Soviet troops a generation ago. In a rare message posted on militant websites and monitored by the US-based SITE intelligence group, Omar offered a bargain to the US-led forces that drove the Taliban from power in 2001 but are now fighting a fierce insurgency by the Islamist militia. "Reconsider your wrong decision of wrong occupation and seek a safe exit to withdraw your forces," said the message, which the Taliban said came from Omar. "If you leave our...

Pakistani police capture al Qaeda's Karachi commander By Bill RoggioSeptember 26, 2008 10:57 AM Pakistani police detained a senior leader af al Qaeda's network in Karachi during raids in the southern city as more information on al Qaeda's network inPakistan comes to light. Police captured a senior terrorist leader named Rahimullah during a early morning raid in the port city. Rahimullah's capture led to a follow-on raid that targeted a suicide bombing cell. Three terrorists were killed during the raid after throwing hand grenades at the police. A gun battle and an explosion was reported. Police indicated the bombers blew...

The number of Muslims around the world who say suicide attacks are acceptable has fallen sharply in the past six years, as has Muslims' confidence in Osama bin Laden, a survey by a US think-tank showed Thursday. But, the Pew Research Center warned in its Global Attitudes Project, significant minorities of Muslims in eight countries surveyed continue to endorse suicide bombings and support the Al-Qaeda leader. In Lebanon, the number of Muslims who said suicide attacks can be justified often or sometimes in defense of Islam fell by 42 percent between 2002 to this year, the study showed. But although...

The U.S. – Pakistan relationship is in crisis. Tensions continue to mount between the Bush Administration and a fractured Pakistani government over violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty by American military forces, and Pakistan’s commitment to the war on terror is growing more tenuous by the day. Because Pakistan either cannot or will not secure its side of the border with Afghanistan, the United States has increasingly felt compelled to act. There is some justification for U.S. actions. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines sovereignty as “supreme authority within a territory.” In no way, shape, or form does the Pakistani government have...

DUBAI: The elusive al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s literary work will be published soon by an Oxford-educated academic expert in Arabic, according to media reports. Bin Laden's recitals at wedding banquets and other feasts during the 1990s were recorded on tapes recovered from his compound in Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks in the US. They were studied by Professor Flagg Miller, who teaches Arabic poetry at University of California, Davis, the report said. Bin Laden is a skilled poet with clever rhymes and metres, which was one reason why many people taped him and passed recordings around,...

Pakistani authorities both confirm and deny the incident that took place near Angoor Adda where a US raid against alleged terrorist on 3 September resulted in the death of women and children. Pakistani general says his country is ready to defend its territory against anyone. Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Pakistani troops fired at US military helicopters forcing them to turn back after they crossed into South Waziristan near Angoor Adda, a village some 30 kilometres from Wana, the region’s largest town. “Our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” a Pakistani security official said in...

Pakistani troops fire on intruding U.S. choppers By Augustine Anthony 36 minutes ago Pakistani troops fired on two U.S. helicopters that intruded into Pakistani airspace on Sunday night, forcing them to turn back to Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani security official said on Monday. It was the second such incident in a week, and reflects frayed relations with the United States over Pakistan's failure to act more forcibly against Islamist fighters in the tribal lands bordering Afghanistan. The number of missile attacks by U.S. drone aircraft in the remote tribal areas has multiplied in recent weeks. The helicopters violated the border...

(CNN) -- In a video marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda's top leader in Afghanistan vows more "large-scale" attacks against the United States and its allies. Mullah Omar, chief of the Taliban, is shown in this undated headshot photo. In another segment, the personal adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar says al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is alive and well. Al Qaeda leaders featured on the video promise more violence against their enemies... Also on the video is a reading from the will of Saeed al Ghamdi, one of the 19 hijackers involved...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — DEVELOPING: Pakistan's army spokesman says its forces have orders to open fire if U.S. troops launch another raid across the Afghan border. Pakistani officials issued sharp protests to Washington after helicopters ferried U.S. commandos into Pakistan's South Waziristan region on Sept. 3 for a highly unusual ground attack into a militant stronghold. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told The Associated Press that, after the raid, the military told its field commanders to prevent any similar raids. Abbas said that if it was clear that troops had crossed the ill-defined border into Pakistani territory, either on the...

NPR has learned that the raid by helicopter-borne U.S. Special Operations forces in Pakistan last week was not an isolated incident but part of a three-phase plan, approved by President Bush, to strike at Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida leadership. The plan calls for a much more aggressive military campaign, said one source, familiar with the presidential order, which gives the green light for the military to take part in the operations. The plan represents an 11th-hour effort to hammer al-Qaida until the Bush administration leaves office, two government officials told NPR. "Definitely, the gloves have come off," said...

The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country. Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night. The decision was made on the first day of the two-day meeting of Pakistan's top military commanders to discuss the US coalition's ground and air assault in Waziristan region which killed dozens of civilians.

Frustrated by repeated dead ends in the search for Osama bin Laden, U.S. and Pakistani officials said they are questioning long-held assumptions about their strategy and are shifting tactics to intensify the use of the unmanned but lethal Predator drone spy plane in the mountains of western Pakistan. The number of Hellfire missile attacks by Predators in Pakistan has more than tripled, with 11 strikes reported by Pakistani officials this year, compared with three in 2007. The attacks are part of a renewed effort to cripple al-Qaeda's central command that began early last year and has picked up speed as...

McCain says knows how to capture bin Laden 03 Sep 2008 23:44:01 GMT Source: Reuters ST. PAUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Republican candidate John McCain said on Wednesday that if elected president, he will capture al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "President Clinton had opportunities to get Osama bin Laden. President Bush had opportunities to get Osama bin Laden. I know how to do it and I'll do it," he told ABC's "World News" in an interview. "I understand and I have the knowledge and the background and the experience to make the right judgments. Senator Obama does not," McCain...

Pakistan's security forces have missed the opportunity to capture al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a senior government official has said. Rehman Malik, the adviser to Pakistan's prime minister on security affairs, said on Monday they also received a report al-Zawahiri's wife had been in the tribal region of Mohmand. Pakistani forces stormed the location but did not find the couple, he said, without indicating when the raid took place. He said al-Zawahri moved between Mohmand and the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Paktika."We certainly had traced him at one place, but we missed the chance. So he's moving in Mohmand and,...

The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons industry due to an assessment that a US attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday. The report claimed that the Dutch operation had been "extremely successful," and had been stopped because the US military was planning to hit targets that were "connected with the Dutch espionage action." The impending air-strike on Iran was to be carried out by unmanned aircraft "within weeks," the report claimed, quoting "well placed"...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's army claimed Monday to have routed Taliban militants in a stronghold near the Afghan border but turned up no sign of Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

The US has targeted an al Qaeda safe house inside Pakistan's tribal areas for the second day in a row. A missile strike hit a home near the town of Miramshah in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Six people were reported killed in the attack. A woman, a child, and several unidentified "foreigners" were among those killed in the attack. Eight were reported wounded. The North Waziristan strike is the ninth confirmed cross-border strike by the US against al Qaeda and Taliban safe houses in the tribal areas this year, and the third such attack since Aug. 20....

(CNN) -- An airstrike by Pakistani fighter jets killed more than 30 Taliban fighters, including an alleged high-ranking Taliban commander, a government spokesman said Saturday.

Let's face it. John McCain's a loner with a stern, "it's-a-dangerous-world" message and fairly cold eyes. He isn't charismatic. And no one can accuse him of being a sunny guy. In fact, he's better known for his short, hot temper. So how's McCain going to overcome America's infatuation with Barack Obama - a man who has bewitched voters with his smile, enchanted youth with the novelty of his candidacy, and lured war-weary Americans with his message of "change" and promises of free, universal everything? The answer is clear. McCain needs Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin, who will connect with voters as...

GENEVA - Switzerland's foreign minister told top diplomats on Monday she favours direct talks with Osama bin Laden to tackle the threat of terrorism. Micheline Calmy-Rey, who has raised both eyebrows and hackles with her controversial style, told Swiss ambassadors gathered in the capital Bern that they needed to talk to "heavyweight political figures" on the world stage even if they are considered persona non grata by other powers. "This even goes as far as sitting down at the same table as Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden," she said. Switzerland does not have any list of banned organisations to which...

TRANSLATION FROM BABELFISH The Swiss Foreign Minister lends “to sit down with the table of Bin Laden” LEMONDE.FR with AFP | 25.08.08 | 21:11 evant nearly 170 ambassadors at this meeting in Bern, the Swiss Foreign Minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, declared themselves lends, Monday August 25, “to sit down with the table of the Al-Qaida Usama Bin Laden leader” to engage a dialogue. The Swiss minister breaks a taboo thus, while becoming the first responsible for the diplomacy of a democratic country to consider a direct dialogue with the chief of an terrorist organization. “The refusal of the dialogue is in...

SENIOR AL QAEDA COMMANDER ABU SAEED AL-MASRI KILLED IN PAKISTAN - SECURITY OFFICIAL

C.I.A. Outlines Pakistan Links With Militants By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON — A top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled secretly to Islamabad this month to confront Pakistan’s most senior officials with new information about ties between the country’s powerful spy service and militants operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas, according to American military and intelligence officials. The C.I.A. emissary presented evidence showing that members of the spy service had deepened their ties with some militant groups that were responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul,...

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden wanted to introduce himself to America with an ABC television interview months before al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa, the interviewer testified on Tuesday. Former ABC correspondent John Miller, testifying at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial, also recalled comparing bin Laden with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as he made small talk during filming of the May 28, 1998, interview at an Afghanistan mountain hideout. It was a rare opportunity for an American journalist, and Miller detailed a movie-thriller route to get to bin Laden, complete with...

He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "We have various options. The Nuremberg Trials are certainly an example of the kind of tribunal that we could move forward with. I don't think we'd have any difficulty in devising an international -- internationally supported mechanism that would mete out justice. There's no problem there." McCain said it would be a "good thing to reveal to the world the enormity of this guy's crimes, and his intentions, which are still there."

Hundreds of Nato troops took positions across North Waziristan Tuesday, creating panic among the already terrified tribesmen. Nato troops started arriving near the border Monday night. “Some of them had been brought in choppers and others by armoured personnel carriers. The troops had also shifted heavy arms and ammunition including tanks, heavy machineguns and artillery to the border,” said Haji Yaqub, of Ghulam Khan. The troops deployed near Ghulam Khan, Saidgai, Shawal and Mir Safar. “They started setting up bunkers very close to the border while gunship helicopters are continuously hovering over the border,” said Roohullah, of Saidgai. He said...

On this morning's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, co-host Tiki Barber asked guest Dan Rather about his feelings regarding the recent Jesse Jackson imbroglio -- his "off mike" comments about Barack Obama. In the middle of praising Jackson, Rather referred to Barack Obama as "Osama bin Laden" -- and none of the four "Morning Joe" co-hosts reacted (nor did Rather). Question: Will the media pick this up? That one of America's longest-serving network news anchors referred to one of the two presidential candidates as the world's most wanted terrorist -- and no one in the room seemed to notice? While you...

Bin Laden happy with September 11 toll, war court told Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:58pm EDT By Jim Loney GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's driver overheard the al Qaeda leader saying he was happy about the death toll in the September 11 attacks and thought the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was shot down, according to one of the driver's interrogators. The evidence by Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent, was meant to support the case by prosecutors at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunal that the driver, Salim Hamdan, was close to...

For all the lengths Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have gone to in keeping their hunt for a vice president under wraps, their deliberations are in some ways being conducted in plain sight. There was McCain appearing yet again with Mitt Romney, his former rival for the Republican nomination and a frequently mentioned possibility for the No.2 spot, in Detroit on Friday. In Indiana last week, Obama appeared with two of the more speculated-about names on Democratic lists, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana and former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. McCain walked down the steps of his chartered airplane...

LONDON/ISLAMABAD: US troops in Afghanistan are massing close to the border with Pakistan, poised to launch bombing raids on suspected terrorist bases in the North Waziristan region, British and Pakistani newspapers reported on Wednesday. Nine American soldiers were killed and 15 wounded on Sunday in an attack by militants on a US base in Kunar province, close to the Pakistani border. The Times said troops have been airlifted from the village of Lowara Mandi and that heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position for possible cross-border attacks on Pakistan. The paper said US admiral Michael...

Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in New Mexico today, July 15, 2008, Sen. John McCain vowed to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice for his crimes against America . . . (see video) This is the kind of grit and determination we need in a President. John McCain has the resolve and strength to do what he says he will do. This is the McCain who needs to keep showing up at every appearance on the campaign trail, and on television.

Today we know less about Barack Obama than we thought we did six months ago. The presumed body of knowledge about Obama is being challenged and it is appearing to be an enormous deception. What is so alarming is the breadth of the deception, and the apparent unwillingness of the press to expse it. Let's start off with Obama's health records. Our local press dutifully declared in a headline "Obama Fit as a Fiddle". They made scant mention of the fact that this finding was based only a review of Obama's medical history, not a a comprehensive set of records...

Pakistan's foreign minister has ruled out allowing military personnel from the United States, or any other foreign country, in Pakistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. Mahmoud Qureshi said on Saturday that the country's new government had not permitted any such operation in the regions bordering Afghanistan and never would. Bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. "Our government's policy is that our troops, paramilitary forces and our regular forces are deployed in sufficient numbers. They are capable of taking action there. And any foreign intrusion would be counter-productive,"...

Just three weeks ago, Barack Obama said that he would not make Osama bin Laden into a martyr if he was captured. Today, Barack Obama suddenly thinks the death penalty would be keen-o for OBL. In a CNN interview, Obama said that although he was not a death-penalty proponent, he thinks murdering 3,000 Americans justifies an execution: If he was captured alive, then we would make a decision to bring the full weight of not only US justice but world justice down on him. And, uh, I think that I’ve said this before, that I am not a cheerleader for...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in interview excerpts released Friday that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should be executed, if he is ever captured alive. The Illinois Senator told CNN that the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks in 2001 should face the full weight of US and global justice. "I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty," Obama said. "I think it has to be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, but I certainly think plotting and engineering the death of 3,000 Americans justifies such an approach." "I think this is a big hypothetical, though...

The picture is an affront to all victims of terrorism and their families. Abu Qatada, Al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe, strolls along a busy London street fondling his prayer beads. This is the first photograph of the greying 47-year-old - said to be one of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects - since he was released on bail from a high-security prison after the courts ordered that he could not be sent home to Jordan because his human rights would have been breached. Scroll down for more ABU QATADA Out on bail: Prayer beads in hand, Al Qaeda's ambassador in...

The US did not okay an Israeli attack on Iran, Prof. Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and currently the top defense analyst at the ABC TV network, said Monday. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen. [file] Photo: AP Slideshow: Pictures of the week Cordesman was speaking during a meeting with Israeli defense analysts held by the Institute of National Security Studies. He said IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was notified of the United States' stance regarding Iran by Admiral Michael Mullen, the top uniformed US Army officer, during Mullen's visit here at the end...

THIS is Osama Bin Laden’s school-age son, who yesterday continued his father’s mission of hate — with a POEM begging for Britain to be destroyed. Baby-faced Hamza Bin Laden — just 16 but already dubbed the Crown Prince of Terror — also ranted in his evil ode that the US and our other allies must be wiped out. The teen declared in his demented ditty to fanatics: “Accelerate the destruction of America, Britain, France and Denmark.”

KABUL (AFP) — More than 400 militants have been killed in a 10-week-old operation led by US Marines in a remote district of southern Afghanistan but fighters remain in the area, a commander said Wednesday. Marines and British troops under NATO command in late April launched the operation in Garmser district, a desert area on the border with Pakistan described as an insurgent "logistics hub" and key opium-producing centre. Citing figures from Helmand province governor Gulab Mangal, the Marine commanding officer in Afghanistan told reporters in Kabul that more than 400 Taliban-linked rebels had been killed.

Barack Obama Hasn’t a Clue: Here’s Why Osama Bin Laden Hasn’t Been Captured Yet by Gregory D. Lee It has been six-and-a-half years since the 9/11 attacks and Osama Bin Laden still hasn't been captured. Is Barack Obama correct when he claims that President Bush lost sight of OBL when military operations shifted to Iraq? Or is OBL dead from liver disease or from the intense bombing of Tora Bora during the Afghanistan offensive? From my personal experiences living and working in Pakistan for four years in the mid-1990s as a Supervisory Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, I'm...

Senator Obama is obviously confused about what the United States Supreme Court decided and what he is calling for. After enthusiastically embracing the Supreme Court decision granting habeas in U.S. civilian courts to dangerous terrorist detainees, he is now running away from the consequences of that decision and what it would mean if Osama bin Laden were captured. Senator Obama refuses to clarify whether he believes habeas should be granted to Osama bin Laden, and instead cites the precedent of the Nuremburg war trials. Unfortunately, it is clear Senator Obama does not understand what happened at the Nuremburg trials and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says if Osama bin Laden is captured alive, the United States should bring him to justice but in a way that avoids turning the al Qaeda leader into a martyr. After meeting with a team of top foreign policy advisers including some seasoned diplomats he has newly recruited, Obama hit back at efforts by his Republican rival John McCain to paint him as weak on fighting terrorism. McCain allies, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have accused Obama of having a "pre-9/11 mindset" that focuses on law enforcement in fighting the...

<p>As reported in the news today by multiple sources, Democrativ presidentail candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, blaims the GOP and the adminstration and its war fighting policies for Osama Bin Laden, the Al Quida leader behind the 911 attacks, still being alinve.</p> <p>Well, Hussein, this really cuts the cake.</p>

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House. Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source. Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen...

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House. Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source. Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen...