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Osama's List. (Part I of II)

Breathing dusty air through purple lips and a matted grey beard, this is your chance to be Osama, live Osama, see the world through his eyes, get all the way inside his head.

Post the top five considerations that you, Osama Bin Laden, look for in a hideout, in order of priority, one being highest prioroty, five being still important, but so much as the others.

Without committing to a list, I'll prime the pump with a few ideas, in no particular order.

1. Proximity to the border, which is close together with "multiple exits", since before 9/11 it was highly unlikely that both the Pak and the Afghan government would come after him at the same time.

2. Proximity to a major city or town, though removed to the rural areas outside. Running a global organization via messengers is tough enough, but the longer the turn-around time is, measured in days walking, the slower AQ reacts to a dynamic enemy, the west.

3. Caves are nice, but only a minor consideration when you buy both gelignite and backhoes by the shipload.

4. Water is a must. Sheep and people need it every day and it is very very heavy to haul in quantity.

That ought to get the ball rolling, what else does Osama need? While you all are thinking and writing, I intend to search out the names of AQ's old training camps and hideouts from during the Afghan war, starting with Global Security's Afghan Militia facilities database, and look at them statistically, how far, average, from the border, how far to water, cities, what elevations he might have preferred in the past, (important because certain strata are more likely to house natural caves, that sort of thing), general tactical and strategic layout, whatever intel I can squeeze out of the data at hand.

Take your best shot at a list, and if you get a good idea after posting, feel free to add and change priorities. Just a list of priorities for now, ok? No sense putting the cart before the horse.