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India Had Warned The U.S. That Bin Laden Was Hiding Close To Islamabad (Why didn't we listen?)
Business Insider ^ | 05/04/2011 | Mamta Badkar

Posted on 05/04/2011 6:35:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

India had twice told the U.S. that Osama Bin Laden was not in a cave somewhere but hiding in an urban area close to Islamabad, according to a report by The Times of India. The information is also likely to fuel speculation that Pakistan knew of the al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts.

The first lead came in mid-2007, soon after bin Laden's ally Ayman al-Zawahiri attended a Taliban meeting in Peshawar, that was also attended by leaders of Haqqani network, an insurgent group based in North Waziristan, and at least two ISI officials. Zawahiri is said to have rushed to Islamabad after the meeting and Indian operatives began receiving information that bin Laden's allies were working in the region.

The next lead came in 2008, when Indian officials were tipped off that bin Laden was ill and hiding out in a cantonment in the area. An official told The Times of India:

"This time we specifically mentioned about his presence in a cantonment area. It was because we had definite information that his movement was restricted owing to his illness and that it would have been impossible for him to go to an ordinary hospital. We told the Americans that only in a cantonment area could he be looked after by his ISI or other Pakistani benefactors."

The official said he believes Pakistani officials may finally have turn bin Laden in because he had become too much of a "liability".

It is unclear why American authorities didn't consider the information and raises more questions about Pakistan's alleged involvement in safe housing bin Laden. The news comes amidst reports in Pakistan that bin Laden was killed by his bodyguard.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: india; islamabad; osamabinladen; osamabinladenkilled; pakistan

1 posted on 05/04/2011 6:35:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

We didn’t listen to the panty bombers father either.


2 posted on 05/04/2011 6:36:30 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: SeekAndFind
Oops. We know from the timeline here specifically under who's Administration that occured...
3 posted on 05/04/2011 6:37:54 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (FreeRepublic's frontline citizen reporter in Japan (among others). -- AiT)
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To: SeekAndFind
Why was the undocumented ineligible pRes_ _ent
PROTECTING OSAMA since 2009?
The undocumented One ONLY RELENTED when Donald Trump had
him "on the floor" demanding his
real long form BC.


4 posted on 05/04/2011 6:38:45 AM PDT by Diogenesis ( Vi veri veniversum vivus vici)
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To: Sacajaweau

Or the FBI agent who thought that a group of middle eastern student pilots seemed suspicious. Especially since they weren’t interested in learning how to land a plane.


5 posted on 05/04/2011 6:39:20 AM PDT by NoKoolAidforMe (Show me the body!!!)
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To: SeekAndFind
Pakistan has a large population. Going door to door you'd probably never find him. On the other hand it has a small wealthy population so going door to door at just the better homes you could have probably eliminated the upper class in its entirity in under a year.

That still wouldn't have gotten to Osama.

It still took an informer or two.

6 posted on 05/04/2011 6:39:45 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: muawiyah

there were PLENTY of informers.

WHY DID NO ONE IN DC or the WH care?

WTF is going on?


7 posted on 05/04/2011 6:46:35 AM PDT by Diogenesis ( Vi veri veniversum vivus vici)
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To: Diogenesis

Not all informers are truthful.


8 posted on 05/04/2011 6:48:11 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: SeekAndFind
How many other sites did they warn the CIA about. If "He's in Islamabad" was put into a pile of other Indian warnings about "He's in Karachi", "He's moved back to Tora Bora", "He's renting a nice little brownstone in Brooklyn" and "He's living on the moon", then the Islamabad intel is just one more bit of noise. On the other hand if they had an address and pictures and stuck to a single location then they we missed something big. Also, the Islamabad metro area has over 4 million people so without an address just thinking he might be in Islamabad isn't all that useful.
9 posted on 05/04/2011 6:48:11 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! Tea Party extremism is a badge of honor.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Partly our dismissal of India our continuing “alliance” with Pakistan is a relic of the Cold War. At that time, India was not quite a client of the USSR, but had very cordial relations with the Kremlin and international socialism in general. Pakistan was our client and a regional counterweight in the region to Soviet interests. Like NATO, some of these artifacts have outlived their usefulness, and indeed have become counterproductive.


10 posted on 05/04/2011 7:12:46 AM PDT by Psalm 144 (Voodoo Republicans - Don't read their lips. Watch their hands.)
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To: Sacajaweau
If keeping OBL alive was helping us stop terrorist attacks, then killing him would be stupid.

OBL is no different to any other serial killer, there was a distinct pattern to his activities. Once you know the pattern you know there is a terrorist attack coming when the pattern appears.

OBL being alive had become a liability to the terrorist, he had become predictable.

11 posted on 05/04/2011 9:09:00 AM PDT by IMR 4350
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