'US may even attack Pak to nab Osama'

Midday ^ | January 29, 2004

[demlosers]

By: AFP

Chicago: The Pentagon has drawn up contingency plans for a military strike inside Pakistan at Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported today citing military sources. The daily said the offensive could occur this year but the timing "would be driven by events in the region."

The plan calls for the use of Special Operations forces, Army Rangers and Army ground troops, and the deployment of a Navy aircraft carrier to the Arabian Sea, according to military sources.

It would involve thousands of US troops, many of them drawn from US forces already on the ground in Afghanistan, working with Pakistani troops, according to military planners.

A series of planning orders for the operation, which is referred to as the "spring offensive," in internal military communications, were issued in recent weeks. The basic planning was supposed to have been finalised by January 21, according to the Tribune.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has repeatedly said that US forces will not be allowed to enter Pakistan in search of Al Qaeda operatives - and reiterated that position as recently as Friday in Davos, Switzerland.

But a military source in Washington told the daily last week, "We are told we're going into Pakistan with Musharraf's help."

The daily said military planners believe that notwithstanding his public statements, Musharraf's thinking has changed in light of recent events

[Fitzcarraldo]

One of the best weapons against terrorists and their innkeepers: $$$.

[alancarp]

Musharraf would never - of course - admit to helping the US with anything like this. But he likely would give a wink and nod if this were actually to come to pass.

Otherwise, this is not surprising. The Pentagon HAS to have contingency plans for a whole host of operations. No story here - move along...

[Stopislamnow]

Recent events being its his arse thats being targeted along with Americans.

Self preservation is a strong motivator. Although once we knew OBL crossed into Pakistan we should have followed without asking permission of any sort. "Any nation that harbors..." yada yada is worthless rhetoric, as OBL has been rumored to be in pak since the beginning of 02'.

[InvisibleChurch]

i wonder if this is a ruse to get obl moving so special forces can get a bead on him

?

[luvbach1]

Taliban would not cooperate in giving up bin laden.

Pakistan will not cooperate in giving up bin laden.

Hmmm. Do we have a parallel?

[NeonKnight]

Leaks from the State Dept are usually leaks. Leaks from The DoD are never leaks. They want these guys to move for some reason.

[yooper]

Well, I've always maintained that OBL is dead. I guess we're going to see if we can make him deader. On a related note, Musharraf did NOT get big savings on his health insurance by dealing with Geico. Hope he's watching his arse.

[MoralSense]

Got a hunch here. We've probably had Spec Ops and CIA in Pakistan for a long time, and they've got OBL triangulated, and now we have to put out some cover for how we get him.

[txhurl]

bumpster

[CommandoFrank]

Nope...wrong.

We had bin Laden for months, hiding him in a secret location. Just prior to elections, we're going to roll him out for the world to see.

How do I know this?

Madam Albright said so...
</bs>

[Viking2002]

Time to take out the trash.

[nuconvert]

Won't do much good if he's in Iran

[antaresequity]

They want these guys to move for some reason.

that was my take on this spin; 'we are going to get him this year' stuff

They are trying to flush someone out...not necesarily OBL...though most likely

[NYC GOP Chick]

OBL has been rumored to be in pak since the beginning of 02'.

He's also been rumored to have been dead since late 2001, during the Tora Borao cave bombings. We haven't had a legit video of him since before then.

[NeonKnight]

Got a hunch here. We've probably had Spec Ops and CIA in Pakistan for a long time, and they've got OBL triangulated, and now we have to put out some cover for how we get him.

Thats possible. It's equally possible that they don't know where he is, but know where he will go if threatened. Darned, I didn't get my daily JCS briefing. :)

[wimpycat]

Contingency plans. Drawing up contingency plans doesn't necessarily mean a thing. I'm sure we've got contingency plans in place for all sorts of possible military scenarios. I'm sure we've got contingency plans for China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and even Saudi Arabia. It's better to have it and never need it, than to need it and not have it.

Having said that, Musharref being a tinpot dictator whom we happen to need at the moment, I'm sure we'll 'persuade' him, just like we 'persuaded' him to be cooperative with us after 9/11 (we basically put it to him like this: "you can do the smart thing and go along with us, or you can be really, really stupid and stand in our way: you have 20 minutes to decide") that it is in his best interests to allow our guys into Pakistan, if we're convinced the people we want are using Pakistan as a sanctuary.

[FreedomCalls]

The Pentagon has drawn up contingency plans for a military strike inside Pakistan at Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported today citing military sources. A series of planning orders for the operation, which is referred to as the "spring offensive," in internal military communications, were issued in recent weeks.

January 30th, 1945. The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported today citing military sources [that] a series of planning orders for the [allied landings in Normandy] which are referred to as "Operation Overlord" in internal military communications, were issued in recent weeks.

[fish hawk]

Real smart article! Now that we all know what is coming up, so does Osama. Why dont we E mail him our plans and timing for the raid. In my opinion, this is just a lot of bunk or if it is true, someone is very stupid. Take your pick.

[Phsstpok]

'may even attack Pak...'

Even?

How about "will sure as hell attack..."?