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...
Nonsense. I went on a motorcycle tour 3 weeks ago in Gaspe' Quebec. I saw Osama in a small internet cafe' in Perce'.
Honest.
Most likely little piles of jackel and crow scat around Tora Bora.
And in other breaking news, yet another aid of Zarqawi was killed today.....same story, different day. Of course, Kroft will report this breathlessly on 60 Minutes. I hear Dan Rather's first story for 60 Minutes will be on some documents detailing how bin Laden didn't meet his beheading quota when he was in college.
An accurate assessment (and one in which we could say about 90% of the rest of the World as well...not just Pakistan).
I vote for "killed" because if he only has ten men and is out of the communications loop, the he's worthless for info anyway.
How very true -
Betcha he has a harem of sheeps a plenty though.
Baa baa Osama.
The only thing to add to your comments is .... Iran.
e. Cindy Sheehan
Thank you FRiend....someday I will be proven right...:-)
One day I'm going to log on FR and discover OBL has been caught and I have 1,000 pings telling me I was right about OBL being alive.
that's a tough one there........but i have to say there is no difference in either one....
when it happens, that "he's dead, Jim" guy who always posts is going to get it from me.
The quick fix, nintendo..don't like the outcome..reset, 10 sec. sound bite nature of the people in this nation is really infuriating.
Thereby the only conclusion must be...............If a war criminal has NOT been captured or killed in a certain amount of time....then NO ONE has been or is looking for him.
Easy now....ASA Vet and I have this friendly thing going on about OBL. I don't want him hammered....when I'm proven right....:-)
is ASA Vet the "he's dead, Jim" guy?
Yes....no flaming him.
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