Dr. Jack Wheeler "Why We Haven't found Osama"

To The Point News ^ | August 12, 2005 | Dr. Jack Wheeler

[shield]

One of the most frequently asked questions we get at To The Point is: Where’s Osama? Why haven’t we found and killed him?

We’ve gotten another flurry because of the recent claims that “mercs” or mercenaries, “professional soldiers for paramilitary corporations that attend the annual Soldier of Fortune convention in Las Vegas” know where he is – a hidden valley called Dir in northwest Pakistan.

I’ve known Col. Bob Brown, the publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine for almost 30 years. We almost got ourselves blown up together in Afghanistan with the Mujahaddin back in the 1980s. I told Bob about this claim and he laughed his head off.

“The last Soldier of Fortune convention we had was back in 2000,” he told me. “You should know, Wheeler, you were our keynote speaker! No one in the world is in touch with “mercs” more than me. They would have one simple word for these Elvis sightings of Osama: (expletive). The guy making this claim, Paul Williams, is an (expletive).” Bob doesn’t mince words.

The claim that OBL has been in Dir “since he escaped from Tora Bora in December 2001” is laughable. Williams has, of course, never been remotely close to the place. I’ve been all over the area, from Peshawar through Dir to Chitral in the Hindu Kush, and know it would be easy to get him if he’s there. He’s not in Dir.

Osama is in Iran.

I verified this once again at a lunch with some Pentagon friends yesterday (8/11). There is a reason why OBL’s whereabouts can’t be publicly acknowledged. It would necessitate military action against Iran. If the Mullahs have got him and won’t admit it and won’t give him up, the pressure for a military strike to kill or capture him would be irresistible.

The White House refuses to follow this course. It will not attack Iran. The country is a tinderbox, ready to blow with an anti-Mullah revolution. The Iranian people are amazingly pro-American right now. If the Mullahs hate America, that means they love America. A military attack could change that and fast. At least that’s the rationale.

This is also why GW won’t order an attack on Iran’s nuke facilities.

Not that the CIA is helping to organize or precipitate such a revolution, has the capacity to do so, and is doing anything beyond crossing its fingers and hoping. Nonetheless, you wanted to know what the deal is with Osama – and there it is. He’s safe and sound in eastern Iran, perhaps in the vicinity of the town of Mashad, but they move him around. And we’re not doing anything about it.

[Andy from Beaverton]

We can't find a blond teenager on a small island and it took us over five years to locate an abortion clinic bomber. So what makes anybody think we can find one person that could be anywhere in the world?

[MAD-AS-HELL]

I still think Osama is burnt to a crisp at Tora Bora

[Piquaboy]

With a 25 million dollar price tag on his head, if anyone really knew where he was he would have been gotten.

[cpdiii]

"Osama is in Iran"

Correct. There is absolutely no reason for him to stay in Pakistan and or Afghanistan. In those two countries he risks capture and death. In Iran he can make the occasional video or tape and send it to Al Jezzera. He can not lead troops in battle as he has in the past because that would assure his capture and death. If the rumors about his ill health are correct that would also preclude him from hiding in Pakistan or Iran. He would need sophisticated medical facilities to care for his failing or failed kidneys. You do not do dialysis in the back of a cave.

[Dog Gone]

I still think Osama is burnt to a crisp at Tora Bora

It's pretty hard to hold to that belief after he made the John Kerry campaign commercial. But whatever.

[shield]

This is more than speculations. OBL is in Iran.

[mtbopfuyn]

Naw, he's in Mexico. Bush can't afford to invade Mexico because the people love us so much.

[sinclair]

"With a 25 million dollar price tag on his head, if anyone really knew where he was he would have been gotten."

You really think money means anything to fanatics that will blow themselves up to kill other people?   

[Fitzcarraldo]

Osama is in Iran.

Quite possible, IMO.

[FreeReign]

Osama is in Iran.

I agree.

I think it's what Porter Gross was referring to.

[Milhous]

He would need sophisticated medical facilities to care for his failing or failed kidneys.

Surely at some point failed kidneys become fatal. At any rate, keeping binny's existence an enigma seems to best serve America's war effort for the time being.

[RayChuang88]

I have my doubts that Osama bin Laden is in Iran, for one reason: Osama is a Sunni Muslim, and Iranians are Shi'ite Muslims. Given that the Sunnis and Shi'ites dont like each other for lots of historical reasons, I think Osama is probably dead, and an impersonator that knows Osama's views and lifestyle is doing those broadcasts and pronouncements in the past few years.

[japaneseghost]

Anyone employed by a US contractor is not eligible for the $25 million reward. DOJ rule.

[T'wit]

Bin Laden's dead
He stinks and he's red
His body crawls with maggots, worms and lice.
He looks like roasted sheep
It's a shame he wouldn't keep
But it's summer and we used up all our ice.

Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, "Poor Judd is Dead"

[Types_with_Fist]

I still think Osama is burnt to a crisp at Tora Bora

Even though he released a new and verified video right before the election last year?

[shield]

Given that the Sunnis and Shi'ites dont like each other for lots of historical reasons

OH come on...they both HATE Americans much more...and will move past those differences 'cause of their hatred for Americans!!!

[satan]

I agree, it's Mexico. Shave Osama and you have Vicente!

[Piquaboy]

I really meant these people here in the states. Those fanatics as you say have no concept of what that amount is.
Offer them 25 goats and you may get somewhere.

[girlangler]

shield,

Just when I think I am going to get some work done, someone like you goes and posts a link to an awesome website and I get lost in it.

Great article and great web site. Appreciate you posting it.