Did U.S. hit Al Qaeda leaders..(Maybe Bin Laden)

CBS) CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin has learned that an unmanned drone operated by the CIA fired a missile at what was believed to be a group of senior al Qaeda leaders meeting in the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan.

The strike occurred Monday night near the cave complex known as Zawar Khili and so far intelligence officials have not been able to confirm the identities of any of the al Qaeda leaders.

Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants are believed to have been hiding at Zawar Khili since escaping the bombing of Tora Bora two months ago.

In previous raids, U.S. special operations forces have found large caches of weapons and documents at Zawar Khili.

As one senior official described the attack, SUVs protected by armed guards pulled up, three men in white robes got out, and, the official said, "we killed them" with a missile fired from the CIA drone.

Since Monday's raid, the Pentagon has been trying to put a commando team on the ground to identify the bodies but bad weather has made it too dangerous to fly a helicopter in the mountainous terrain.

Meanwhile, American authorities in Afghanistan have released 27 people taken prisoner during a raid last month on what U.S. forces mistook as a hide-out for al Qaeda terrorists.

An investigation by U.S. Central Command is trying to determine whether some or all of the estimated 19 people killed also were innocents, Maj. Ralph Mills, a spokesman for the command, said Wednesday.

After two weeks of confusion and conflicting accounts of what happened in the Jan. 23 raid, the Pentagon made no official announcement Wednesday. Asked about it by reporters during an appearance on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he did not know the 27 had been released.

"It's a very complicated situation on the ground" in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said, especially as the new government works to overcome feudal divisions within the country and empower people once loyal to the routed Taliban rulers. "So how anyone would identify people at any given moment is not simple," he said. "It's complex."

The episode underscores the difficulty U.S. and allied troops face in hunting down remnants of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters at a time when the Afghan government is trying to overcome tribal divisions.

U.S. forces in Afghanistan were preparing to take possession of as many as 60 more Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners held by Afghan forces, a senior U.S. defense official said. The number of prisoners in U.S. custody in Afghanistan has stood at 324 for more than a week; there also are 158 al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

It was not clear Wednesday whether any of the additional 60 prisoners to be turned over later this week in Afghanistan were senior figures in either al Qaeda or the Taliban militia that supported it. Officials said it was possible that U.S. officials would not accept all the prisoners offered.

The transfer of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay resumed Wednesday with an Air Force C-17 transport plane taking off from Kandahar, Afghanistan. It was due to arrive in Cuba on Thursday.

At the Pentagon, a senior defense official said about 30 prisoners were aboard the C-17, the first flight in a planned series of about five to Guantanamo Bay over the next 10 days to two weeks.

After a series of flights between Jan. 11 and 21, Rumsfeld halted the process while more temporary cells were built. A new group of 160 cells is now ready to receive prisoners, officials said Wednesday.

The 27 captured in the Jan. 23 raid by Army special forces were released to authorities of the Afghan interim government at about 6:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, Central Command spokesman Mills said.

"We were able to determine that they were not Taliban forces and they were not affiliated with al Qaeda," Mills said.

Asked to confirm Afghan claims that two were local police officials, he said: "We do believe that some of them were criminals, (so) we decided we will not release names or other identifying information."

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the war, ordered an investigation last week in response to assertions by Afghan government officials that people opposed to the Taliban were among those killed or captured.

In a related matter, The Washington Post quoted the interim leader of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, as saying U.S. forces have admitted to him that they mistakenly killed innocent people a day before his inauguration when U.S. jets destroyed a convoy of trucks near the city of Khost in Paktia province, also on the belief it included Taliban and al Qaeda leaders.

Karzai said U.S. forces were purposely misled into believing the convoy included Taliban officials. Americans have said from the outset that rivalries between ethnic groups and local warlords have made more difficult the campaign to get bin Laden, his al Qaeda network and the Taliban rulers who harbored them.

At the country's opposite extreme, far to the east in Gardez, there was little sign of progress in efforts to resolve a power struggle between clans from the majority Pashtun ethnic group.

The recently appointed governor of Paktia, Padshah Khan Zadran, was driven out of his capital, Gardez, 70 miles south of Kabul, late last week after two days of clashes with forces of a rival who says he is the rightful governor.

The clashes cost the lives of around 50 fighters, and Zadran's forces have threatened to launch a counter-attack to try to recapture Gardez if he is not returned to power.

A team of government mediators traveled to Gardez on the weekend but failed to push the two sides into a peace pact, although they did get them to agree to a brief ceasefire and to swap prisoners from last week's fighting.

The fighting erupted when Zadran's forces tried to disarm some of Saifullah's troops. Karzai on Tuesday blamed Zadran for sparking the conflict with the heavy-handed tactics of his troops, but played down the significance of the clashes for his government, especially given the country's long history of war.

In other war-related developments: The New York Times is reporting that the name of a New Jersey man whose whereabouts are unknown has turned up on what appears to be a recruiting list used by pro-Taliban militants. Hiram Torres has reportedly been out of touch with his family since 1998, when he told his mother he was in Afghanistan, studying.

Saudi Arabia said that since Sept. 11, it has detained about 30 people based on lists provided by the United States. Interior Minister Prince Nayef says those individuals who are still in custody are men who "have been influenced by (Osama) bin Laden's thinking."

An industry spokesman says the world's airlines may have lost a record $15 billion last year, largely as a result of the terrorist attacks on the United States.

~~Osama Paki-pool Update:~~ Osama bin DEAD-pool Pick a day! Any day! Or flag me for a QikPik! Update
In the past week, sightings of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan have surpassed those of Elvis in Vegas. Is it almost over for the Scumbeard of the Year? Or are these all wild goose chases? What day do you think he's learn the truth about the 72 virgins and the 28 little boys? Or are you even in the game? Still plenty of open dates, so flag me on this thread (not my mailbox) if you want in. As you've noticed, since he doesn't look like he'll make it to Pakistan, I went ahead and changed the name of the pool. Sue me. KayEyeDoubleDee raised a good question a while back... What's the effective time zone for the pool? I should have established this earlier, so I think the only fair thing to do is say that it's whatever Time Zone bin Laden is killed in (or appears in Pakistan, which seems increasingly unlikely.) In the event that bin Laden turns out to have been killed already, we'll wait until a reliable forensic report (meaning, the stage of maggot development on his rotten carcass) before declaring a winner.
ANNOUNCEMENT from Recovering_Democrat SABERTOOTH'S POOL IS NOW GOING TO BE CONSIDERED THE POOL FOR THE WINNER. RECOVERING DEMOCRAT WILL DONATE $25 TO FR IN THE NAME OF THE WINNER OF SABERTOOTH'S POOL! (sorry folks. I didn't know there was a pool already going! I meant to do something ORIGINAL. No need to have two going at once, so I'll rely on Sabertooth to provide the name of the winner! Thanks ST! rd)
Hey, thank YOU, RD! As far as I'm concerned, if you thought of it yourself, it's original. And I doubt I was the first But it was your great idea to give $25 in the name of the winner to Free Republic. If you don't mind, I think I'll match that, in addition to posting a glory thread with the winner's name on it. henbane… Sabertooth
ANNOUNCEMENT from henbane: and glock rocks have both chipped $25 pledges into the DEAD-pool. That's $100 in the Free Republic kitty when this is all done!
November, 2001 November 16: First day of Ramadan! November 17: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub - Nope. November 18: johniegrad - Nope. November 19: ~~OPEN~~ November 20: ~~OPEN~~ November 21: ~~OPEN~~ November 22: Azzurri -- Thanksgiving - Nope. November 23: Sabertooth - Nope. November 24: Jefferson Adams - Nope. November 25: Victoria Delsoul - Nope. November 26: airborne - Nope. November 27: harpseal - Nope. November 28: snippy_about_it - Nope. November 29: Tunehead54 - Nope. November 30: Travis McGee - Nope.						December, 2001 December 1: alancarp - Nope. December 2: onyx - Nope. December 3: AfghanAirShow - Nope. December 4: Straight Vermonter - Nope. December 5: Pokey78 - Nope. December 6: proudofthesouth - Nope. December 7: null and void -- Pearl Harbor Day - Nope. December 8: MaeWest - Nope. December 9: justlurking - Nope. December 10: glock rocks - Nope. December 11: KayEyeDoubleDee - Nope. December 12: Washi - Nope. December 13: FreedomFarmer - Nope. December 14: irish guard - Nope. December 15: hattend</b- Nope. Not sure when Ramadan ends, but around here somewhere. December 16: nunya bidness - Nope. December 17: abner - Nope. December 18: anniegetyourgun - Nope. December 19: Collier - Nope. December 20: mdittmar - Nope. December 21: Nick Danger - Nope. December 22: okie01 - Nope. December 23: peteram - Nope. December 24: RasterMaster - Nope. December 25: Go Gordon -- Christmas Day - Nope. December 26: Loyalist - Nope. December 27: Brian Allen - Nope. December 28: Snow Bunny December 29: Alabama_Wild_Man - Nope. December 30: CIApilot - Nope. December 31: Miss Marple - Nope.
January, 2002 January 1: Freeper 007 -- New Year's Day - Nope. January 2: spectr17 - Nope. January 3: lainde - Nope. January 4: Woodman - Nope. January 5: Semper911 Day - Nope. January 6: be-baw Day - Nope. January 7: aruanan Day - Nope. January 8: PoisedWoman -- Elvis's Birthday - Nope. January 9: Diogenesis. Day - Nope. January 10: JeanS Day - Nope. January 11: is_is Day - Nope. January 12: garycooper Day - Nope. January 13: Torie Day - Nope. January 14: JohnHuang2 Day - Nope. January 15: coteblanche -- King's B'day. - Nope. January 16: Sunshine55 - Nope. January 17: lmr - Nope. January 18: eastforker - Nope. January 19: LibWhacker - Nope. January 20: Gritty -- Anniversary of Dubya's Inagural - Nope. January 21: bwteim - Nope. January 22: Mike Darancette - Nope. January 23: Shooter 2.5 - Nope. January 24: kylaka - Nope. January 25: butter pecan fan - Nope. January 26: itwasntme - Nope. January 27: WRhine - Nope. January 28: nevergore - Nope. January 29: veronica - Nope. January 30: InfraRed - Nope. January 31: Ernest_at_the_Beach - Nope.						February, 2002 February 1: mvonfr - Nope. February 2: afuturegovernor -- Ground Hog Day - Nope. February 3: JennysCool - Nope. February 4: deadhead - Nope. February 5: VietVet - Nope. February 6: Slyfox - Tick… tick… tick… February 7: GeronL - On the bubble. February 8: Calpublican February 9: OnAMission February 10: gwmoore February 11: EaglesUpForever February 12: nonliberal - Lincoln's Birthday February 13: America's Resolve February 14: beowolf - Valentine's Day February 15: I_Had_Enough February 16: vinci February 17: aquawrench February 18: 2Jedismom February 19: ScottK February 20: b4its2late February 21: My Favorite Headache February 22: Amore - Washington's Birthday February 23: katze February 24: HAL9000 February 25: YaYa123 February 26: cajungirl February 27: Slicksadick February 28: Poohbah
March, 2002 March 1: abclily March 2: womanvet March 3: The Raven March 4: WhatWouldReaganDo March 5: jrewingjr March 6: illbenice March 7: SunnyUsa March 8: DKNY March 9: lilsparky March 10: Pablo64 March 11: VRWC For Truth March 12: Sungirl March 13: katnip March 14: Bloody Sam Roberts March 15: X-FID March 16: Happygal March 17: Hillary's Lovely Legs - St. Patrick's Day March 18: AFVetGal March 19: Lancey Howard March 20: GOPJ March 21: Bogey78O March 22: Abn1508 March 23: Tex-Con-Man March 24: seeker41 March 25: JerseyHighlander March 26: CJ Wolf March 27: Apple Pan Dowdy March 28: JerseyHighlander March 29: bvw March 30: Rainbow Rising March 31: Darth Sidious						April, 2002 April 1: mlocher April 2: Big Guy and Rusty 99 April 3: Grizzfan April 4: WIMom - Brady Boomer Founder April 5: CheneyChick - Brady Boomer Founder April 6: vikingchick - Brady Boomer Founder April 7: fhayek April 8: kmiller1k - Brady Boomer Founder April 9: one_particular_harbour - Brady Boomer Founder April 10: rintense April 11: Fighting Irish April 12: HiTech RedNeck April 13: MattinNJ April 14: Faraday April 15: LLAN-DDEUSANT April 16: BOBTHENAILER April 17: newzjunkey April 18: rockfish59 April 19: Dan from Michigan April 20: 4TheFlag April 21: OPEN April 22: OPEN April 23: OPEN April 24: OPEN April 25: CounterCounterCulture April 26: OPEN April 27: Michael2001 April 28: operation clinton cleanup April 29: dennisw April 30: henbane
And here are a few of Freepers who think that they know something that the rest us don't… October 10, 2001: susangirl - She's actually got a cool theory, which you can read HERE. May 1: Free Vulcan May 17: Flipyaforreal September 11, 2002: terilyn October 26, 2004: kixx September 5, 2011: widgysoft
If you're unsure what the whole "Paki-pool" idea was about, click this link to a thread posted by Travis McGee on October 25th... Will Osama Appear In Pakistan? The operating theory is was that Osama bin Laden had a plan all along to show up in Pakistan, have himself declared the "Imam al-Mahdi" (a long-prophesied Islamic savior-figure), and start a civil war in an attempt to gain control of Pakistan's nukes. Sound crazy? So is he. Crazy evil. It's still an interesting read.
Here's another: Black Flags of Islam Portents of the Imam al-Mahdi, the Moslems' prophesied deliverer of Jerusalem? Click on the Black Flags for the link

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