A CLOSER LOOK AT CAMP OSAMA

New York Post ^ | 9/28/01 | NILES LATHAM

[kattracks]

September 28, 2001 -- WASHINGTON - America's war on terror will be waged on a moonscape-like battlefield made up of a spidery network of ancient caves and tunnels - the home to Osama bin Laden's terror-training camps.

There, in the desert of Afghanistan, hundreds of terrorists learn the tools of their deadly trade - from explosives training to chemical warfare.

[LOC1]

Afganastan is no more forbidding than the US desert Southwest was to the US Military during the Indian Wars of the late 1800's. There are more than 3000 caves in Texas alone......all were known and used by the indians. The indians knew where the few sources of water were located, like the hidden spring in Henry's Draw. That is the only source of water for 20 miles. Several anglos died searching for it in their last hours.

The desert southwest is still a forbidding place. It just doesn't seem so, because of modern roads, telephones, etc. But a study of warfare there in the 1800's is a good lesson in what to expect in Afganastan, and how the military should respond.

[Ken522]

Picture?

[TomB]

It wasn't in the Post, but a few seconds searching Google, I found this website.

Lots of good info.

[SuziQ]

It wasn't in the Post, but a few seconds searching Google, I found this website. Lots of good info.

Interesting website. How's about a coordinated attack; all the camps get visited by B52s in quick succession!

[FrdmLvr]

Can we get a song, here? Who can come up with the rest of the words...

"Hello mudda, hello fadda, here I am at, Camp Osama."

[LarryLied]

That is about it. We're going to call up the Guard to sing freaking songs. We won't do spit. Politically incorrect to demand an eye for an eye and then some. Soccor moms might become upset.

Know what? I hate my county more each day.

[aristeides]

If this complex is near Jalalabad, I don't think that's desert, is it?

By the way, if it's near Jalalabad, it's also near the Pakistani border. I would think it would be highly vulnerable to a raid by special forces.

[aristeides]

And one thing such a raid might obtain is the camps' records, i.e., intelligence, exactly what we need.

[aristeides]

The Tora Bora base near Jalalabad was rebuilt on the site of a camp first constructed by the US Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1980s.

Interesting.

[MistrX]

Perhaps they could start by closing every tunnel entrance they find, leaving a hole to insert a gas-injection pipe. It has proved to be an effective way of dealing with sub-terranean rodents.

[harpseal]

And one thing such a raid might obtain is the camps' records, i.e., intelligence, exactly what we need

those records could be worth ten times their weight in perfect diamonds. However, I would not count on the records being there.

Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed

[aristeides]

Well, if they have to keep moving their records around, I think that means their activities are disrupted. Especially since they would also have to move personnel with sensitive knowledge.

[Charles Henrickson]

HELLO MULLAH, HELLO FATAH (CAMP OSAMA)
Tune: "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (Camp Granada)"
[which was to the tune, "Dance of the Hours"]

Hello Mullah,
Hello Fatah,
Here I am at
Camp Osama.
Camp is very
Entertaining,
And they say we'll have some fun in basic training.

I went bombing
With Mohammed.
He blew up like
Halley's comet.
No use going
To the surgeons,
There were parts of him enough for sixty virgins.

All the Sunnis
Hate the Saudis,
And the innies
Hate the outies,
But there's one thing
We agree on:
All the beds are awful hard to get to sleep on.

Camp looks nothing
Like the pictures
They showed us at
The recruiter's.
And the food is
Pretty rotten.
Guess it looks like I've been lied to by bin Laden.

Take me home,
Oh Mullah, Fatah!
Take me home,
I hate Osama.
Don't leave me
Out in Afghanistan
To find my ashes in a can.

Take me home,
I promise I won't
Pierce my ears
Or look at girls like
Britney Spears.
Oh, please don't make me stay,
I've been here one whole day.

I hear airplanes,
They're approaching. . . .
All our bases
Are exploding!
There's no hiding
From a bomber--
Must close quick now 'cause I'm leaving Camp Osama. . . .

Sixty maidens,
And they're virgin,
But a slightly
Different version:
They all look like
Janet Reno!
Mullah, Fatah, this is hell but how did we know?

Charlie Henrickson, copyright 2001