And he hasn't been for years.
Posted on 09/23/2005 11:28:24 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
The Pakistani military officers battling al Qaeda along the border with Afghanistan who have the latest first-hand information about Osama bin Laden believe he is hiding with a small cadre in Afghanistan and is no longer an effective leader for the terrorist group. Steve Kroft's report from Pakistan will be broadcast on the 38th season premiere of 60 MINUTES Sunday, Sept. 25 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS television Network.
I think now [bin Laden] is being protected or assisted by a very short number, which keeps his profile very low, the counter-terrorism head of Pakistan's Intelligence Service, ISI, tells Kroft. [He is someplace along the border, probably in Afghanistan] is what my assessment says, opines the brigadier who goes by the name Ali and whose true identity is known by only a few government officials.
Ali tells Kroft his forces have diminished bin Laden's power by capturing 594 al-Qaeda members and crippling the group's communications, including infiltrating their courier network. We have been able to effectively break the communications network from top to bottom. We do not allow these people to communicate with each other, says Ali.
The information gleaned from the captives and given to coalition officials has helped to prevent planned terror attacks against financial buildings in the U.S., planes and buildings at London's Heathrow airport and has assisted in the capture of al-Qaeda operatives in Great Britain. The mere fact that there has not been a replication of 9/11 speaks volumes of what we shared with the world, boasts Ali.
Finding bin Laden doesn't matter at this point, believes Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, in charge of Pakistan's anti-terrorism operations along the Afghanistan border. If [bin Laden] is hiding in a hole, neither the electronic nor the human intelligence can find him, he tells Kroft. Is it all that important to find him? If he's taken out tomorrow, his ideology is not going to come to an end. I don't think that it's important if he is captured. This is my personal view says Hussain.
Kroft also spoke to the Pakistani leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. These troops are not certainly on the trail of one man and that's all they are doing, notes Musharraf. We are fighting terrorism wherever it is. If Osama happens to be there incidentally, he will be killed or captured, he tells Kroft.
Developing...
UBL is eking out a survival on the Pak/Afgan/China/India border regions - Has he from time to time ventured into Afghanistan over the past 4 years? Most likely, yes.
I hear ya -
e. Barbara Streisand
As far as I can tell, we're not doing much to convince Musharaff to take control of his government and capture him. Sure, we get a bone here, a bone there, but apparently bin Laden and Zwahiri are surviving on cave water and dust for the past three years.
Translation: Bin Laden ran out of money to bribe a security guard...
In that case, your screen name would be most inappropriate. Rip Van Winkle would be more like it. ;-)
He's probably sorry he loaned those 245 "senior lieutenants" and 355 "top aides" to Al-Zarquari.
ping
This has to be true, because the headline is all CAPS!
There is where you don't have a clear understanding of the situation then -
Musharaff cannot capture UBL, simply by wanting to do so - The border region of PAK is basically autonomous from the PAK Gov't itself - The Gov't of Pakistan has little influence over this region (and this has been the case for over a century) -
Furthermore the terrain in th Afghan / Pak border region is some of the most brutal on earth and makes sustained operations incredibly complicated -
Additionally, with your logic we should have captured Zarqawi in Iraq by now and the only reason we haven't is because we don't want to?? - The fact is we have over 150,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq (on Avg), we control 90% of the Country, we have new Iraqi Gov't that supports our efforts and yet the man still remains at large!
The fact is hunting a sole individual is extremely difficult! - And if you have an understanding of the terrain and tribal control of the Afghan / Pak border reigon you would understand just how incredibly difficult locating UBL in this region is (or for that matter Zawahiri or Mullah Omar, or an additional 5 other HVT's we are hunting who's names you probably wouldn't know).
But for you to naively think that UBL, Zawahiri, Omar and these other additional HVT's survive simply because Musharaff isn't doing enough.....is just wrong and foolish.
There is much more to it then that - And as I said, we have many whom are at the tip of the spear hunting these individuals and putting their lives on the line in doing so 24/7 - (You don't hear or know about 90% of their on going Ops).
Ping for another Elvis Bin Laden thread.
Exactly. They don't let untrue things on the internet, and they especially don't let untrue things on in all caps!
I'll take your words to heart.
What a frightening collection of "mental midget big mouths" you have foisted upon us to ponder. They are a disgrace to their race and are certainly not role models. Compare them to Colin Powell, Condie Rice, Clarence Thomas and Lynn Swann the former NFL great who has just announced that he is going to run for Gov of Pennsy.
Great post!
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