Bin Laden trail goes ‘stone cold’

[Roon]

The clandestine U.S. commandos whose job is to capture or kill Osama bin Laden have not received a credible lead in more than two years. Nothing from the vast U.S. intelligence world — no tips from informants, no snippets from electronic intercepts, no points on any satellite image — has led them anywhere near the al-Qaeda leader, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14724112/

I bet he's caught soon.

[Lerkfish]

1. thawed out in time for november elections, I reckon

we already know they faked saddam's "hidey hole" capture. They were holding him and set up the drama.

[bahrbearian]

2. drugged up in git mo

he'll barley have any memory.

[uppityperson]

3. LBN?

:rofl: You may be right.

[scarletwoman]

4. He's either dead, or permanently protected due to his being an active

partner in the BFEE.

He'll NEVER be "caught".

sw

[springhill]

35. Yep.

[Jcrowley]

5. Slippery feller

According to Dan Rather, CBS, Bin Laden was hospitalized in Rawalpindi. one day before the 9/11 attacks, on September 10, 2001. 

"Pakistan. Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) told CBS that bin Laden had received dialysis treatment in Rawalpindi, at Pak Army's headquarters. 

DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR:
"As the United states and its allies in the war on terrorism press the hunt for Osama bin Laden, CBS News has exclusive information tonight about where bin Laden was and what he was doing in the last hours before his followers struck the United States September 11."

"while al Qaeda has been significantly shattered, ... the most wanted man - bin Laden himself remains one step ahead of the United States, with the core of his worldwide terror network still in place. (Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, InfoProd, January 20, 2002)

"With respect to the issue of Osama bin Laden's health, I just am...don't have any knowledge," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

The media news chain and the powers that be.

[snot]

16. You think Rather's protecting *? nt

[LiberalFighter]

31. One step ahead? Try 3 major steps...

and it's interesting how they haven't had any significant lead in over two years. That also means they haven't had any significant lead that he is dead.

It could also be that the vast intelligence community (CIA included) don't want the U.S. (meaning the bush administration) to know the whereabouts of bin Laden while bush is in office.

[FogerRox]

6. Pakistans peace treaty with the Tribes

DAts where he is....

[SoCalDem]

7. He's in the freezer.. "stone cold" is a joke on us

disguised as a BombPop:)

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Jeez louise, Bush has privatized everything else.

Why the hell doesn't he hire a professional bounty hunter?

World Famous Bounty Hunter and Bail Expert - LEONARD PADILLA - has caught every person that he has chased, anywhere in the world, in the last thirty years.

bounty hunter
bail bondsman
law school president
past candidate for Governor of the State of California
Oh, and Leonard always runs for Mayor of Sacramento

[RamboLiberal]

18. Hell Dog the Bounty Hunter has volunteered

I say send him, if he captures bin-Laden it will be great TV. If he doesn't then I won't have to see Dog when I flip the channels in his crappy show on A&E.

[Rose Siding]

9. Why the F did bush wait until THREE MONTHS AGO to "flood the zone"?

But in the last three months, following a request from President Bush to "flood the zone," the CIA has sharply increased the number of intelligence officers and assets devoted to the pursuit of bin Laden. The intelligence officers will team with the military's secretive Joint Special Operations Command(JSOC) and with more resources from the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies.

The problem, former and current counterterrorism officials say, is that no one is certain where the "zone" is.

Incompetant FOOL could have flooded the zone at Tora Bora but NOOOOOOOoooooo.

Now he's gonna want to tell us all how he's learned all those "lessons" of 9/11. ARGHHHH! :banghead:

[John Q. Citizen]

20. They didn't want to catch him. So they were extremely competant.

Catching Osama back in Tora Bora would have removed the treat of terror. No more tapes at opportune moments. No more boogy man.

Then what would the Neocons have done?

[LiberalFighter]

33. I know the location of the zone...

Latitude 31.53N Longitude 97.44W

[WhiteTara]

10. But but but he sent out a video last week

That had to come from somewhere. They want to have everything everyway.

[Drum]

11. He's a gosh-dern wizard, he is.

Just ask Rummy!

[savemefromdumbya]

12. pulling the ace card just before the Nov elections?

[keopeli]

13. Republicans will DEFINITELY "find" Bin Laden before November. n/t

[rodeodance]

14. Michael Ledeen says he is buried in Iran.

http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/ledeen200601090808.asp



January 09, 2006, 8:08 a.m.
One Moment in Time
Our age of revolution.

.....This historical moment is not easy to understand, since we are in transition from a relatively stable world, dominated by a handful of major powers, to something we cannot yet define, since it is up to us to shape it. It seems clear, however, that there is a greater rapidity of change, accompanied — inevitably — by the passing of the leaders of the old order. This is particularly clear in the Middle East, where seven key figures have been struck down in the past six years: King Hussein of Jordan in February, 1999. King Hassan of Morocco in July of the same year. Syrian dictator Hafez al Assad in June of 2000. Yasser Arafat of the PLO in April, 2004. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in May of last year. Ariel Sharon of Israel was incapacitated by a stroke in early January. And, according to Iranians I trust, Osama bin Laden finally departed this world in mid-December. The al Qaeda leader died of kidney failure and was buried in Iran, where he had spent most of his time since the destruction of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Iranians who reported this note that this year's message in conjunction with the Muslim Haj came from his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for the first time.

...........
— Michael Ledeen, an NRO contributing editor, is most recently the author of The War Against the Terror Masters. He is resident scholar in the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute

[Straight Shooter]

17. Ledeen is a foaming at the mouth batsh*t crazy rabid wingnut neocon.

bush has been chanting bin laden, bin laden, bin laden, at every opportunity. You can bet they have a bead on that Afghan. It's just like when they ratcheted up the noise on Zarqawi.

bush and his gang always give themselves away by repetition of what they want to amaze us with next.

[Dem2theMax]

15. But, but, but - just yesterday they said they had a VERY good idea

of where he was! Dear God in heaven, my head is spinning from all this spinning.

I'd provide the link but I don't have access to the search function. But I know it's somewhere in LBN.

[Miss Chybil]

19. I think they should bug all of our phone conversations and read all

our email. Oh, what? They're already doing that? My bad. Did I mention, I think they should do it without warrants? Oh, really? They're doing that, too? Maybe, they should disappear people and keep them in secret jails all over the world. They can tie them to boards and duck their heads in water until they think they're going to drown and then get them to tell us all their secrets! Uhp! What? They're already doing that? Ok... How about we bomb a country totally unrelated to bin Laden and send it into spiraling and devastating chaos. That should work, right? War against terror, you know. We can bomb anywhere. What? You don't say...

Welp, I'm fresh out of ideas.

[aaronbees]

21. He's been frozen ....

just like Han Solo was. And like him, he'll be back. This phantom chase for BL is just insane.

[FormerOstrich]

22. This actually is a very good article....

it seems a much more honest assesment than I am use to seeing in MSM.

Here are some quotes (my comments in bold):

After playing down bin Laden's importance and barely mentioning him for several years, Bush last week repeatedly invoked his name and quoted from his writings and speeches to underscore what Bush said is the continuing threat of terrorism.

Many terrorism experts, however, say the importance of finding bin Laden has diminished since Bush first pledged to capture him "dead or alive" in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Terrorists worldwide have repeatedly shown they no longer need him to organize or carry out attacks, the experts say. Attacks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East were perpetrated by homegrown terrorists unaffiliated with al-Qaeda.

Admitting terrorist attacks perpetuated by "homegrown terrorists unaffiliated with al-Qaeda" certainly seems to suggest that terrorism is on the rise (hence: we are not safer).

That was December 2001. Only two months later, Bush decided to pull out most of the special operations troops and their CIA counterparts in the paramilitary division that were leading the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for war in Iraq, said Flynt L. Leverett, then an expert on the Middle East at the National Security Council.

"I was appalled when I learned about it," said Leverett, who has become an outspoken critic of the administration's counterterrorism policy. "I don't know of anyone who thought it was a good idea. It's very likely that bin Laden would be dead or in American custody if we hadn't done that."

Yes, must go into Iraq at the expense of all else.


Although the hunt for bin Laden has depended to a large extent on technology, until recently unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were in short supply, especially when the war in Iraq became a priority in 2003.

They really drive home how the Iraq war weakened our abilty to look for Usama. They also mention, multiple times, the "re-emergence" of the Taliban and Al Queda is making it more difficult.


In early November 2002, for example, a CIA drone armed with a Hellfire missile killed a top al-Qaeda leader traveling through the Yemeni desert. About a week later, Rumsfeld expressed anger that it was the CIA, not the Defense Department, that had carried out the successful strike.

"How did they get the intel?" he demanded of the special operations and other military personnel in a high-level meeting, recalled one person knowledgeable about the meeting.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, then director of the National Security Agency and technically part of the Defense Department, said he had given it to them.

"Why aren't you giving it to us?" Rumsfeld wanted to know.

Hayden, according to this source, told Rumsfeld that the information-sharing mechanism with the CIA was working well. Rumsfeld said it would have to stop.

At that time, Rumsfeld was putting in place his own aggressive plan, led by the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), to dominate the hunt for bin Laden and other terrorists. The overall special operations budget has grown by 60 percent since 2003 to $8 billion in fiscal year 2007.

Rows and rows of temporary buildings sprang up on SOCOM's parking lots in Tampa as Rumsfeld refocused the mission of a small group of counterterrorism experts from long-term planning for the war on terrorism to manhunting. The group "went from 20 years to 24-hour crisis-mode operations," one former special operations officer said. "It went from planning to manhunting."

Rumsfeld the control freak.....

All in all the article is well worth reading. It's nice to see something resembling actual reporting for a change.

[arewenotdemo]

25. That article certainly suggests that not only DOESN'T the Cheerleader

want Osama captured or killed, through Rumsfeld he's making sure that the CIA doesn't get the job done, either.

[praeclarus]

23. but Goss knows where he's at....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2498012&mesg_id=2498012

[Dem2theMax]

24. That's the link I was referring to a few posts up.

Glad you found it! :)

As for Goss and Co. :crazy:

[Barrett808]

41. Goss says the U.S. has an `excellent idea' of bin Laden's location

You got to it before me:

Goss says the U.S. has an `excellent idea' of bin Laden's location
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2498012

[MiniMe]

26. Well, since they disbanded the unit that looks for him...

it would be hard to find him. I guess you actually have to be looking, and want to find him.

[vssmith]

27. Bush does not want to capture Bin Laden

Bush relies on fear to govern this country. Osama Bin Laden is the personification and embodiment of that fear. I do not believe Bush ever wishes to capture this man. Without OBL to focus Americans fears on Bush would lose his lever on power.

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. Didn't Bush say that it was for the next president to decide if we'll

capture bin Laden? Oh, no, he was talking about leaving Iraq. My mistake.

[The Count]

29. Clinton's fault! I called it!

[Eurobabe]

30. And yet Asshat mentions OBL 17 times the other day in speech

W is definitely snorting the white stuff again.

[Earth_First]

32. What happened to the "excellent idea" of where bin Laden was?

Goss says the U.S. has an `excellent idea' of bin Laden's location

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Porter Goss of Sanibel, Fla., and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida were at the Capitol having breakfast together on Sept.11, 2001,when they learned two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center.

The two leaders of congressional intelligence committees - Goss in the House, Graham in the Senate - would oversee the investigation into what went wrong with the nation's security network.

Goss went on to become head of the CIA. Five years later, Goss offers his assessments of the impact of that day in wide-ranging conversations with the Orlando Sentinel's Mark Matthews.

Q: About a year ago you mentioned we had an "excellent idea" of the location of Osama bin Laden. Where do we stand now?

GOSS: We have an excellent idea of his location.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/15455974.htm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2498012

[rocktivity]

34. I have always maintained that he's with his family in Saudi Arabia

and has been since September 12. After all, that's the one place Georgie CAN'T look.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Up2Late]

36. Funny how that happens, maybe it's because he's been DEAD since 2001!

HE'S DEAD! ALL THE "BIN LADEN TAPES" SINCE DECEMBER 2001 HAVE BEEN FAKE!!!!

How many times am I going to have to say this before people start to listen?!?

I've been searching the internet for months, and have not found ANY NEW evidence, other than easy to fake audio tapes and re-edited videos, all from the same sources (al-Qaeda's as-Sahab for Media Production), that bin Laden is alive.

By the way, a U.S. Government contractor SELLS any and ALL al-Qaeda (or any other terrorist groups) videos, on DVD for $39.99 EACH at this link: <http://www.intelcenter.com/audio-video/qaeda.html>

Am I the only one who thinks there is something wrong with that?!?! :banghead: :mad: :rant:

[cal04]

37. Correction to This Article from the WP

An incorrect date appeared in an earlier version of this article about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The article should have said that several officers confirmed that the number of special operations troops in Afghanistan was reduced in March 2002.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/09/AR2006090901105_pf.html

[ConcernedCanuk]

38. I think y'all just don't get it - The PNACers could care less about OBL

.
.
.

It's just a ruse to get that War-Machine going over there in the ME

Israel and Iraq are to the west of Iran, and
Afghanistan to the East - and the Gulf and the Mediterranean are full of ships and subs armed to the hilt with weapons aimed at Iran.

This is all part of the PNACers global conquest thing - but they are selling it to the American taxpayers (who ultimately are financing this slaughter) as a "War on Terrorism"

The US's toehold in the ME is just a stepping stone to try to do what Hitler tried to do (and failed by the way)

To move on to Moscow and possibly China.

The US will soon be written in the history books as another "The Rise and the Fall of the _________ Empire"

Sadly, with all the firepower and arrogance the US Military has, millions will die, and many more millions will suffer before that happens

I fear I won't be around for the fall of the US Empirical Administration . . .

But it WILL fall.

Count on it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

39. I figure that by the lack of response, that I am correct . . .

.
.
.

(sigh)

AA = Apathetic Americans

[AnneD]

40. I just don't get it.....

How hard is it to find a guy over 6 feet tall on dialysis in that part of the world. I have thought for some time that he might be in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.

[davidinalameda]

42. two years?

ask the Pakistani government where he is

I'm sure they know

[mitchum]

43. The Gang That Couldn't Spook Straight

[Parche]

44. bin laden

When his trail goes Stone Phillips, then we will catch him..........