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Bush Orders bin Laden Caught
news.com.au ^
| February 29, 2004
| Roy Eccleston
Posted on 02/29/2004 7:51:18 AM PST by John W
George W. Bush has reportedly ordered US agencies to step up efforts to catch Osama bin Laden amid accusations by Democratic presidential frontrunner John Kerry that the White House has neglected the al-Qa'ida leader to the US's peril.
The renewed focus on bin Laden, who US intelligence believes is hiding on the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, comes amid bitter politicking in the US over national security.
Senator Kerry says Mr Bush effectively allowed bin Laden to escape two years ago when he relied on local warlords instead of US troops to hunt him in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region.
News of the stepped up hunt comes less than a month after the senior US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Colonel Brian Hilferty, said: "We're sure we're going to catch Osama bin Laden this year."
According to The New York Times, the US has reinvigorated its effort on the back of new intelligence, improved weather and a refocusing of resources away from Iraq.
It is also adapting lessons learnt in the successful hunt for Saddam Hussein. The newspaper said Mr Bush had within the past two months approved the new plan to catch or kill bin Laden and his ally, former Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar.
But the Pentagon played down any expectation that a capture was imminent and rejected as inaccurate a report by Iranian radio that bin Laden had been caught months ago.
A new special commando unit known as Task Force 121 is leading the hunt, assisted by the 11,000 US troops in Afghanistan and Pakistani forces.
The operation comes as the end of winter allows access to the mountain passes and coincides with an improvement in the political climate in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf has been reminded of the al-Qa'ida threat by two assassination attempts.
As with the capture of Hussein, the US is focusing on the outer ring of supporters and working inwards in an attempt to find the people who know where and how often their target is moving.
Senator Kerry, laying out his own national security plan, criticised Mr Bush for an "ad hoc strategy". But while he accused him of lack of action against bin Laden, he insisted bin Laden's eventual capture would not end the war on terrorism.
The Australian
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: binladen
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1
posted on
02/29/2004 7:51:19 AM PST
by
John W
To: John W
President Bush would like nothing better than to take away Kerry's "Did You Catch Osama Yet?" Card.
2
posted on
02/29/2004 7:54:59 AM PST
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: John W
Bush has reportedly ordered US agencies to step up efforts to catch Osama bin Laden amid accusations by Democratic presidential frontrunner John Kerry that the White House has neglected the al-Qa'ida leader to the US's peril. This kind of makes it sound as if the Prez is only going after him hard now because of the prodding by Kerry. ......so Kerry should get credit if we do catch him.
Reprehensible.
3
posted on
02/29/2004 7:57:11 AM PST
by
Mr. Mojo
To: John W
A little early in the election year for this...............
You'd think they'd wait until at least October.
I wonder what they have planned instead?
4
posted on
02/29/2004 7:58:38 AM PST
by
WhiteGuy
(Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...)
To: John W
Bush Orders bin Laden Caught You mean to tell me that after all that has happened, President Bush is just now getting around to try and capture OBL? That IS what the headline says, isn't it?
5
posted on
02/29/2004 7:58:44 AM PST
by
upchuck
(Ta-ray-za now gets to execute her "maiming of choice." I'm hoping for eye gouging, how 'bout you?)
To: John W
what a stupid headline, like the order was just given.....
6
posted on
02/29/2004 7:59:48 AM PST
by
The Wizard
(democrats are enemies of America)
To: goldstategop
I wish he would order that I win the Mega Millions Lottery!
7
posted on
02/29/2004 8:00:31 AM PST
by
DCPatriot
To: Mr. Mojo; John W
Plus, Senator Waffle Kerry also has his own exit strategy - last paragraph - if GW gets OBL, still " would not end the war on terrorism".
8
posted on
02/29/2004 8:00:45 AM PST
by
bwteim
(Begin With The End In Mind)
To: Mr. Mojo
Bush has reportedlyOh yeah, from who?
According to The New York Times,
Nevermind, this is just propaganda.
9
posted on
02/29/2004 8:04:57 AM PST
by
StriperSniper
(Manuel Miranda - Whistleblower)
To: Mr. Mojo
That's how it sounds to me also....
10
posted on
02/29/2004 8:08:03 AM PST
by
Lijahsbubbe
(The brighter you are, the more you have to learn)
To: John W
This is a new order? I had thought this had been an objective since about September 11, 2001, from the moment the probable blame for the events of that day had been assigned to Osama bin Laden. There is ample reason to believe that bin Laden had been waxed sometime in December 2001, since there are no verifiable videotapes that can conclusively answer the question whether he was still alive and only audio tapes that "may" be the voice of bin Laden.
There is technology that can change the "voice print" of one specific speaker so it closely resembles the known "voice print" of another, adding resonances and harmonics digitally. The controlling authority of al-Qaeda certainly has incentive to attempt such disinformation.
To: John W
It'll be "Weekend at Osama's".....
12
posted on
02/29/2004 8:27:11 AM PST
by
b4its2late
(I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it. So I said "Implants?" She hit me.)
To: Mr. Mojo
This kind of makes it sound as if the Prez is only going after him hard now because of the prodding by Kerry. ......so Kerry should get credit if we do catch him. That's how it read to me, too.
Of course, the facts we know and the additional details offered in the piece after that bouquet thrown Jean Kerry's way, make it clear it's a convergence of intelligence, weather, strategy and so on, that explains any "stepping up", if it can even be properly termed that. The idea that bin Laden's apprehension has ever been on the Bush backburner is absurd.
13
posted on
02/29/2004 8:29:09 AM PST
by
cyncooper
("Maybe they were hoping he'd lose the next Iraqi election")
To: WhiteGuy
Bush wants bin Laden when they can get him. Period. Not timed for electioneering.
God willing it will work out to the best timing, but that is the fact. He just wants him because that is the objective.
14
posted on
02/29/2004 8:30:26 AM PST
by
cyncooper
("Maybe they were hoping he'd lose the next Iraqi election")
To: cyncooper
Not timed for electioneering.
Ok, you bet.
15
posted on
02/29/2004 8:33:51 AM PST
by
WhiteGuy
(Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...)
To: WhiteGuy
No, I don't bet. I know that President Bush wants bin Laden dead or alive and has since 9/11/01.
Take your offensive implications somewhere else.
16
posted on
02/29/2004 8:37:28 AM PST
by
cyncooper
("Maybe they were hoping he'd lose the next Iraqi election")
To: Mr. Mojo; cyncooper
17
posted on
02/29/2004 8:38:11 AM PST
by
Lijahsbubbe
(The brighter you are, the more you have to learn)
To: John W
"amid accusations by Democratic presidential frontrunner John Kerry that the White House has neglected the al-Qa'ida leader to the US's peril." Wait a minute....I thought I just read yesterday how Kerry was downplaying the importance of bin Laden. That slimey weasel can't make up his mind about anything, can he? Both of his faces are butt ugly.
18
posted on
02/29/2004 8:42:26 AM PST
by
sweetliberty
(To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.")
To: goldstategop; All
My wife came home from work the other day with a puzzled look on her face, her best friend at work told her that "Osamma had been caught and Bush was saving it for an October surprise."
I told my bride that it was a RAT attack upon president Bush, and her friend is obviously a LIB. I also told her about MOBY and their attack on our administration.
Any suggestions on how she can handle her friend without losing her friendship would be much appreciated! (BTW: Libs husband is a gbmt lawyer.)
To: cyncooper
Take your offensive implications somewhere else.
Well,
I guess you told me.
please indulge me, does president bush give you your private briefing daily, or weekly?
Just wondering..................................
20
posted on
02/29/2004 8:50:13 AM PST
by
WhiteGuy
(Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...)
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