Posted on 09/11/2009 2:59:05 PM PDT by Saije
******
The conventional wisdom after the fall of the Taleban was that tracking bin Laden down would not make much of a difference to the larger War on Terror. At a March 2002 press conference, President Bush referred to bin Laden as “a person who’s now been marginalised”.
In 2005 the CIA even closed “Alec Station”, its dedicated bin Laden unit that had been given the mission of hunting al-Qaeda’s top leaders, and reassigned its analysts and officers to other counterterrorism missions. Senior CIA officials believed that al-Qaeda was no longer the hierarchical organisation it once had been.
Although it is the case that the global jihadist movement will carry on whatever bin Laden’s fate, it is quite wrong to assume it does not really matter whether he is apprehended.
First, there is the matter of justice for the people who died in the 9/11 attacks and for the thousands of other victims of al-Qaeda around the world. Second, every day that bin Laden remains at liberty is a propaganda victory for al-Qaeda. Third, although bin Laden and al-Zawahiri do not exert day-to-day control over al-Qaeda, statements from them are the most reliable guide to the future actions of jihadist movements around the world.
This remains the case even while both men are on the run.
Taking bin Laden alive is unlikely. His former bodyguard, Nasser al-Bahri, alias “Abu Jandal”, told the al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper: “Sheikh Osama gave me a pistol ... The pistol had only two bullets, for me to kill Sheikh Osama in case we were surrounded or he was about to fall into the enemy’s hands.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Peter Bergen hasn’t been heard from since the first six months after 9-11, if memory serves.
Yeah, it's kind of hard to take a guy alive who's been dead for almost 8 years.
“Taking bin Laden alive is unlikely”
IF he’s alive and if our guys get him I hope they have the wisdom to kill him onthe spot.
If Bin Laden makes it over here, Obamunist will make him Czar of Protocol.
:-)
Pak exPres Musaraff was on Fox in the last day or so, and I swear I think he allowed that OBL was dead from bad health
Yes, my thought too, but Musharaff apparently thinks something like bad kidneys.
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