SECRET AL QAEDA ESCAPE HATCH

New York Post ^ | 12/10/01 | NILES LATHEM and JOHN LEHMANN

[kattracks]

Three Marines from the 15th Expeditionary Unit scan the horizon yesterday from their Afghan desert base, Camp Rhino.

December 10, 2001 -- Osama bin Laden's cohorts are trying to use a mule-trail escape route into Pakistan to board tiny boats hidden off the southern coast - and the U.S. military fears some have already succeeded, Pentagon sources said.

[harpseal]

I fail to understand why people do not impugn at least a reasonable degree of cleverness to Bin Ladden. I for one doubt the use of commercial shipping out of Pakistan as the preferred route for Al Qaeda escape but some may be going that way. More interesting is the fact that additional camps are being built in other locations. I fully expect that GWB was correct when he stated this will be a long war. We have not as best I can tell located Bin Laden. If we had I feel certain he would have been terminated. Al Qaeda may well prove to be a Hyrda but given enough time and effort we shall prevail but I do not think we are there yet.

Do ships need to be stopped and searched? Certainly this is necessary. We need to also clear out the tunnel/cave complexes. What we do not need is impatient demands for a quick end to the war. I troops are doing their job and it can not be rushed so that we miss our targets.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[bluester]

Sometimes we really do agree Vooch! :)

[BOBTHENAILER]

New terror camps=target rich environment

[Victoria Delsoul]

Myers said that if bin Laden were able to escape, he'd go to "his second most favorite country."

Pentagon sources said Myers was referring to Yemen - the birthplace of his father and home of his fourth wife.

I haven't seen your Paki calendar lately, Saber. :-)

[Redcloak]

I read elsewhere that the passes they'd use to escape are snowed in. It would be entertaining to read one day of the "al-Donner Party" as they attempt to make it through.

[arthurus]

we need for UBL to not be found and to be presumed to have escaped. There will then be multitudinous news reportss of UBL being in Yemen or Somalia or.... wherever we need to clean out a bunch of islamist terrorists.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Agree with you mightily. OBL is in Saudi Arabia. Why hasn't there been more press about the Saudi visit with President Bush, I wonder!

[arthurus]

Nothing is what it seems

I don't think that there are any verifiable reports of UBL alive since the bombing started.

[allthingsnew]

Shipping news item:

Bin Laden 'flags with FOCs'

PANAMA and Liberia have emerged as likely registries for some or all of the more than 20 ships said to be owned or controlled by Saudi terror-suspect Osama bin Laden. The US has intensified its hunt for the vessels following unspecified information from Norway's intelligence services. US military personnel virtually seized a Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel for eight hours outside Pakistan's territorial waters last Thursday, searching for members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, but released it after failing to identify any such personnel. US forces searched most of the 300 containers and sealed the rest to asphyxiate anyone hiding inside, according to US officials quoted by Knight Ridder News Service. They said the ship is one of more than 20 cargo vessels owned, operated or chartered by al-Qaeda supporters, generally through front companies in the Isle of Man, Liberia or Panama. No US Navy spokesperson would name the boarded vessel.

[arthurus]

We have not as best I can tell located Bin Laden

I think we don't want to locate OBL, at least we don't want anyone to know if we have located him. As soon as he is captured or known killed, the press and the crats, and the 'students" will set up a terrible howl about how the war is "over" and we have to bring all the (non-Balkan) troops home and get back to vaporizing the military. And in a little while, if we don't finish this job, it will all happen again, maybe with nukes.

[BlueMondaySkipper]

Yeah but what good will even 86 virgins do him? Even those innocents would laugh at him if the rumors are true about his...size and no one would want seconds from him. It would be pointless.

When it comes to virgins, seconds are impossible

Maybe ALL of these guys have similar "shortcomings". That would actually explain a couple of things.
1) Virgins would have no idea how poorly endowed they are.
2) They need a lot of them, because even a naive virgin wouldn't want to do that again.
3) They had better not let the women learn how to read or they would figure out pretty quickly that size matters.

You know, this whole problem that they have with the U.S. may just be a case of "penis envy". If a jet is not a phallic symbol, I don't know what is...

[xzins]

Thanks. I've bookmarked it for future reference. It continues to amaze me how much we knew about Yemen, but risked our sailors anyway.

[MHGinTN]

All this speculation of where O Whata pig Laden gets his dough, remember that the ones heading the Mosques are mostly from the zealot schools and it is part of Islamic rule to tithe. That's a lot of dough to spread around, folks! No doubt millions of US dollars going to his org on a regular basis, both from this country directly and through the Saudi oil connections.

[aquawrench]

This article is begging BL to do just that. We probably have had an ambush waiting since day one.

[Pharmboy]

No, no, no: It's ONE virgin that's 72 years old.