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
Bush was on top of the rubble calling "The rest of the world hears, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." It's been 2 1/2 years and we still don't have Osama. Bush re-election rest on getting Osama. Until then the American people will not have closure.
Under Kerry's stated policies regarding UN permission, we wouldn't have even had US troops in Tora Bora.
Oh totally cheered. You too! It looks like it's gonna pour here. Nothing new , it's been a monsoon in 3/4 time here for awhile.
The story behind the Osama story
Few observers agreed with the authenticity of an Iranian Radio report that Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man today, was apprehended some time before from Pakistan.
A close monitoring of three reports issued by the Iranian Radio and official news agency on Saturday regarding Osamas alleged capture showed that there were several contradictions within three reports.
One report said that he was captured from Pakistans tribal areas while second report said he was held in no-mans land. The third report added that he was arrested some time before while initial report suggested that he was held few days ago. The third report issued by IRNA said that he was held long time ago. But in all dispatches it was suggested that he was captured from Pakistani territory.
The IRNA report also quoted Iranian Radio report as saying that Rumsfeld trip to Pakistan on Thursday had been made in connection with the capture. Pakistan and American officials have denied any knowledge of Rumsfelds visit to Pakistan. However, Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld did visit Afghanistan last week and there was no confirmation of his visit to Pakistan.
An Iranian Radio broadcast on Saturday in its Pushtu Service bulletin claimed that Osama bin Laden had been captured from tribal areas of Pakistan.
Observers here noted that the Iranian Radio report was carried out during afternoon but was not repeated thereafter in its more popular Farsi or Urdu language broadcast.
The Iranian official news agency, IRNA, later issued what it termed as a confirmation report and added that radios external service, broadcast in Pushtun, said US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld`s trip to Pakistan on Thursday had been made in connection with the capture.
The radio said, the capture of the Al-Qaeda leader has been made sometime before, but US President George W Bush is intending to announce it when the American presidential election is held.
The official news agency report claimed that contacted by IRNA, an IRIB announcer at the Pushtun service, confirmed the news, which he said, they had got from a `very reliable source` in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Osama bin Laden has been arrested a long time ago, but Bush is intending to use it for propaganda maneuvering in the presidential election, the broadcaster was quoted as saying.
Osama`s head on a platter is believed to be a big boost to Bush`s presidential chances, which are increasingly being eclipsed by Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry, IRNA report added.
Some Western observers believe that the Iranian move could be a part of counter propaganda by Tehran against Washington. They also cited about new moves by Tehran to counter American strategy in the region. Tehran and Washington are at odds over Iraq policy, nuclear issue and Afghanistan strategy.
However, Pakistani sources have expressed their grave shock over such reports that appear to be aimed at wrongfully implicating Pakistan.
Such claims, if taken seriously by some radicals, could have spark off a violent reaction by handful but die-hard fundamentalist believers and sympathizers of militant leaders, warned an observer.
Independent experts monitoring the regional situation do not rule out the possibility that some high profile leaders may have already been arrested from Afghanistan during recent days or weeks. But they see little indication that could lead the experts to conclude that the top leader of Al-Qaeda had been nabbed during last weeks operations in Pakistan.
Had Osama been arrested in Pakistan, the security situation in the country would have been quite different and VVIPs would not be moving so openly at least for now, a security official requesting anonymity said.
Osama running may be caught soon. A senior most US anti-terrorism official on a special visit to Pakistan told selected group of journalists that Osama bin Laden is on the run Hes hiding. He spends most of his time trying to keep from getting caught.
The senior US official was however, optimistic that Osama bin Laden will be captured soon.
Ambassador J Cofer Black, director of Americas counter-terrorism office, added I feel confident that it will be sooner rather than later, although Im not going to speculate on the exact date.
In an interview Ambassador Black was quoted as saying that the United States knows Osama bin Laden is still in touch with other Al-Qaeda leaders, though on a limited basis.
Ambassador Black added that although Osama bin Laden still evidently takes a role in planning Al-Qaeda operations, the majority of his focus is now spent avoiding capture.
Ambassador Black also met Interior Minister Faisal Suleh Hayat and other senior was in Islamabad on Friday and Saturday and discuss further cooperation between the two states against terrorism.
I had a business client in Minnesota who passed away recently. The beneficiary of the client is a professor at the University of Minnesota. I've had no prior relationship with the beneficiary.
In my first conversation with the beneficiary, the comment was made that Usama would be "captured" at an electorially appropriate time.
The libocrats are more devious than many of us think they are.
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