C'mon out, bin Laden...everything's fine here...
Posted on 09/05/2006 7:04:05 PM PDT by Xth Legion
Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials tell ABC News.
The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban.
If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the tribal areas of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, but U.S. officials say his precise location is unknown.
In addition to the pullout of Pakistani troops, the "peace agreement" between Pakistan and the Taliban also provides for the Pakistani army to return captured Taliban weapons and prisoners.
"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director.
The agreement was signed on the same day President Bush said the United States was working with its allies "to deny terrorists the enclaves they seek to establish in ungoverned areas across the world."
The Pakistani Army had gone into Waziristan, under heavy pressure from the United States, but faced a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.
"They're throwing the towel," said Alexis Debat, who is a Senior Fellow at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant. "They're giving al Qaeda and the Taliban a blank check and saying essentially make yourselves at home in the tribal areas," Debat said.
And how many million dollars have we given the ragheads in pakistan in the last year? Screw'em ALL!
Don’t fall for this crap, not form this partisan liar, not right before the mid-terms.
Funny, somehow I doubt this guy is speaking for Musharif.
ABC=Anti-Bush Corp.
In the past, we have kind of stayed out of Pakistan not wanting to rile things with Mushareff. But if he has a treaty with the Taliban, and no Pakistani forces are in there.What is to keep US special ops from poking around if they get some info on Bin Ladin. Maybe this is a wink and a nod agreement from the central government in Pakistan to give us the go ahead and do what we can. We won't meet resistence from Pakistan, only the locals who are harboring Bin Ladin if hes in there
Basically, I think Mushareff sucks for this agreement, but who am i to judge?
The territory got assigned to Pakistan as an afterthought. They actually have villages where they will kill any stranger who comes inside the gates, and other places that do not believe in ever changing their laws.
Every mind-bending strange viewpoint on what ought to be good government is in effect in different ways in different places in that part of the world.
The Paks are getting out of there because it's been entirely too expensive for them.
I believe that a military alliance with India for the purpose of destroying Pakistan,and with African Christian states for the invasion of Arabia are both necessities.
And yes, I know that it will be bad for the economy.
....great, wonderful. So much for working with our "allies". And who was the first on the seen after the tsunami over there?
Thanks for the help you Pakistani a$$holes....
Consider the source. This is the same Richard Clarke, is it not, who went on a lameass rampage against Bush in '04, trying to get him to concede the Presidency to Kerry before the election?
I thought about that -- the old play possum trick. But I don't trust Pakistan. Musharraf has too many problems on his hands. The Army is growing tired of him and the hardcore Islamo-Nazis want to take over the country. Musharraf's term is up in about a year and pushing the dictator thing without the army is going to be tough. I see this as the beginning of the real war on terror. Pakistan goes Fundamentalist and unites with Iran. If that happens we have a real problem on our hands. The tipping point is near and the real battle is about to come. These guys are not rational.
If this is true, then the region needs to be nuked and soon.
There should be no complaint at all about us going in and picking up Bin Laden.
He is Musharraf's press secretary, so yeah, that's what he does.
Yep. Saw the Dick Clarke comment. He's not the problem with the story -- it's the quote from the Paki General. If that is a real source then the Prez has no control over the Army, and they can say or do anything in that region.
How coincidental, when Dick Turban was spouting about "and we STILL haven't gotten Bin Laden" just today in the DNC talking points.
There is a certain aroma about this story......
I agree. Lots of things going on that we don't know about. ABC news is low on my list of reliable news sources.
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