Say hello to my little friend!
Posted on 10/22/2004 12:38:06 PM PDT by Smogger
CLAREMONT - The Pentagon knows exactly where Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, it just can't get to him, a member of the 9-11 Commission said Thursday. Commissioner John Lehman's remarks echoed those made Tuesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who asserted the al-Qaida terror kingpin was alive and operating in the western part of that country.
Bin Laden is living in South Waziristan in the Baluchistan Mountains of the Baluchistan Region, Lehman said, after delivering a keynote speech on terrorism at Pitzer College in Claremont to kick off the university's three-day writer's festival.
In the exclusive interview, Lehman said, "There is an American presence in the area, but we can't just send in troops. If we did, we could have another Vietnam, and the United States cannot afford that right now."
When pressed on why the United States couldn't send troops into the region to capture the world's No. 1 terrorist, Lehman said the Baluchistan Region of the country is filled with militant fundamentalists who do not recognize the legitimacy of President Pervez Musharraf, a close ally of the United States.
"That is a region filled with Taliban and al-Qaida members" he said, acknowledging that Pakistan's security services also are filled with many who agree with bin Laden's beliefs and would aid him if U.S. Special Forces entered the region.
"Look," he said, "Musharraf already has had three assassination attempts on his life. He is trying to comply, but he is surrounded by people who do not agree with him. This is not like Afghanistan, where there was no compliance, and we had to go in. We'll get (bin Laden) eventually, just not now."
Asked how bin Laden was surviving, Lehman said he was getting money from outside countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and high-ranking ministers inside Saudi Arabia.
"He is not a wealthy man," Lehman said. "We ran that information into the ground, and discovered he only receives about $1 million a year from his family's fortune. The rest of what he gets comes from radical sympathizers."
Department of Defense spokeswoman Capt. Ronnie Merritt confirmed that the U.S. military believes bin Laden is in Pakistan. However, she would not comment on Lehman's remarks, except to say that he normally didn't speak about these issues, and she was surprised he had.
Lehman is one of 10 members of the bipartisan commission that authored "The Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States," which is a New York Times bestseller. The ardent Republican also is the author of three books about military tactics.
Jim Mohr can be reached by e-mail at jim.mohr@sbsun.com or by phone at (909) 386-3891.
I'd rather see him captured alive, then tried in the U.S. for Murder....and then publicly hanged from his neck in New York City at Ground Zero.
That's like saying in the Catskills portion of the Appalacian mountains.
Wazirsitan and Baluchistan are two different places
Real precise
Wonder if Lehamn knows something is going down and is trying to defelect the political impact.
Lehman should be prosecuted and imprisoned for violating his security clearance. Whether UBL is a cave painting or in Pakistan is not the point. Lehman shouldn't be talking about 'what we know' regardless.
Could we send in a bunch of F-117s with JDAMs or Paveway LGBs? No one need know the -117s are even in the area, especially not the Pakistanies and Afghans, until things start going BOOM.
Who would Osama rather see as Prez-Bush or Kerry?
OK, vote for the other one.
Any questions?
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