US Commandos 'Closing In' On Bin Laden

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 2-24-2004 | David Rennie

[blam]

US commandos 'closing in' on bin Laden

By David Rennie in Washington
(Filed: 24/02/2004)

The top-secret US commando team that spearheaded the capture of Saddam Hussein is heading for Afghanistan in the latest sign that the hunt for Osama bin Laden is coming to a head.

Battle-hardened units from Task Force 121 are being shifted as intelligence reports increase on the possible whereabouts of the terrorist leader, according to an article in the Washington Times by a reporter known for his access to the special forces.

Most of the "high-value targets" from Saddam's regime have been caught or killed, Pentagon officials told the paper. "Iraq has become more of a policing problem than a hunt for high-value Iraqis. Afghanistan is the place where 121 can do more."

Two long, frustrating years after bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, escaped US forces and their Afghan allies, American commanders are now openly talking about the likelihood of their capture this year.

It is impossible to overstate the important of catching bin Laden to the American public, whose anger and grief over the September 11 attacks has not faded.

It would provide a spectacular election-year boost for President George W Bush, whose Democratic opponents criticised the Iraq war as a distraction from the hunt for al-Qa'eda. George Tenet, the CIA director, paid a secret visit to Islamabad this month as American and Pakistani troops began the largest manhunt for al-Qa'eda leaders to date.

President Pervaiz Musharraf of Pakistan, who has survived two recent assassination attempts linked to al-Qa'eda, has started deploying thousands of troops in the highly sensitive tribal region of Waziristan, on the Afghan border.

American forces are mounting a parallel spring offensive on the Afghan side of the frontier, aiming to create what Lt Gen David Barno, the US commander in Afghanistan, described last week as "a hammer and anvil" effect to trap terrorist fugitives between the two armies.

Pathan tribal elders have been given an ultimatum to hand over Taliban and al-Qa'eda fighters and America has been publicising its offers of large rewards for the capture of bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other al-Qa'eda leaders.

Defence sources concede that specific intelligence about bin Laden's whereabouts might prompt a special forces raid across the Pakistani border.

Task Force 121 combines navy Seals and commandos of the army Delta Force, an elite group modelled on the SAS, as well as CIA paramilitaries.

Though regular troops from the 4th Infantry Division were given public credit for dragging Saddam from his "spider hole" in December, the task force played a key role in the capture.

Taking Bin Laden alive may prove the greatest challenge of all. Taliban fighters in Pakistan recently told Newsweek magazine that mines and high explosives are laid around each hiding place adopted by "the Sheikh", not only for protection but also to ensure that he can be "martyred" quickly, and his body destroyed.

[netmilsmom]

Can we get our hopes up on this?
The first I heard of this was from Arab news.

[Grut]

Ah, it takes me back to the days of my youth and the "light at the end of the tunnel."

[DugwayDuke]

Of course, with all this publicity, one can only wonder if this is simply a ruse designed to make Bin Ladin make a mistake liking running or communicating to reveal his position.

[tiamat]

I'm worried that all of the talk and speculation wil jinx it...How many times have we heard, "We have Osama surrounded" only to found out later that it wasn't so?

[Starve The Beast]

Can we get our hopes up on this?

I refuse to do so. It's too easy to say this, and we've had our hopes dashed before. Let's concentrate on the victories we're winning now, and treat the capture of bin Laden (if it ever comes) as a wonderful surprise.

[Reelect President Dubya]

He's dead, Jim.

[js1138]

But like a dead democrat, his political philosophy lives on.

[Broker]

Dead and well in Pakistan.. Walking dead. Rummy in Iraq. He wants to be close. The geopolitical climate is ripe.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Next week. We find him next week at 8am EST, but news isn't released until a couple days later. 2 weeks tops before we know for sure.

[Capt. Tom]

Ah, it takes me back to the days of my youth and the "light at the end of the tunnel."

[MrsEmmaPeel]

That picture of yours really likes to soak up the bandwidth!

[jwalsh07]

[commish]

Sounds like we may be getting close. I was taking all the reports of having him "Surrounded" with a grain of salt. But, if we are sending Task Force 121 in country, then something is getting ready to go down.

Of course, if he is captured the Dems will just start the "We have had him all along, and he is being brought out now because Bush is behind in the polls ..blah blah blah yada yada yada WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

The special ops forces assigned this duty are truly outstanding. Their whole mission is to seek out and capture high value targets. The fact that the Paki leadership is concentrating troops in this area is a major development.

[gogipper]

Man, weren't the sixty's radical? Hand me a toke dude!

[THX 1138]

It is impossible to overstate the important of catching bin Laden to the American public, whose anger and grief over the September 11 attacks has not faded.

...unless, of course, they are liberals, who seem to walk around pretending it never happened...

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

I read the other day Musharraf had given the tribal leaders along the Paki/Afghan border an ultimatium:

Give up the Taliban and al-Qa'eda or the Paki army was moving on them. He then said and even if we don't, they will, with the "they" being the Americans in Afganistan. Said tribal leaders are fishing them over right and left. The news is out, it is not nice to piss off Uncle, especially during an election year.

[sdk7x7]

Saddam's Captors Turn Their Eyes on Bin Laden.

The US is moving a secret commando unit from Iraq to Afghanistan to step up the hunt for Osama bin Laden, it was reported in Washington today. A Pentagon official told the Washington Times there were two reasons for repositioning parts of Task Force 121: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed. Second, intelligence reports are increasing on the whereabouts of bin Laden, the terror leader behind the September 11 attacks. “Iraq has become more of a policing problem than a hunt for high-value Iraqis, the official said. Afghanistan is the place where 121 can do more.” Task Force 121 is a mix of army Delta Force soldiers and Navy SEALs based at Joint Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina There are also reports in Britain that SAS units have been deployed to Afghanistan. Military sources told the Times that reports of al-Qaida terror leader bin Laden’s movements are becoming more numerous as the fugitive Saudi multi-millionaire, hides in the mountainous terrain straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border. Task Force 121 was part of the team that raided an Iraqi farm and found Saddam hidden in a hole. Speculation that the United States is close to finding bin Laden heightened last month when military officers in Afghanistan predicted that the terror leader would be killed or captured by year’s end. “We have a variety of intelligence, and we’re sure we’re going to catch Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar this year,” Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said last month. “We’ve learned lessons from Iraq, and we’re getting improved intelligence from the Afghan people.” Bin Laden’s capture would be a major boost to President George Bush during election year.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!