U.S. commander says bin Laden can no longer direct terror operations

[Tab]

WASHINGTON — Pakistan's military has been so effective in pressuring al-Qaida leaders hiding in the tribal region of western Pakistan that Osama bin Laden and his top deputies no longer are able to direct terrorist operations, a senior American commander said Thursday.

"They are living in the remotest areas of the world without any communications — other than courier — with the outside world or their people and unable to orchestrate or provide command and control over a terrorist network," said Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy commander of Central Command.

"They are basically on the run and unable to really conduct operations except, in the very long term, provide vision and guidance as Osama bin Laden does when he provides one of those tapes," he added, alluding to a bin Laden video tape released three weeks ago.

Bin Laden has been on the run since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001.
http://ap.juneauempire.com/pstories/20041118/2595363.shtml

MilSpin??

[eleonora]

Who cares what Bin Laden can't do??

We've done enough in Iraq to breed thousands more of him to do his dirty work. Besides, didn't Bin Laden attack the US as a retaliation? We never hear of the true reasons why he attacks the US

[leftynyc]

32. Personally I don't care about the WHY

As a New Yorker, I want the pricks head on a platter along with Mullah Omar.

[trogdor]

33. THANK YOU!

My answer to that is, IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER! You don't let serial killers off because they are judged to be incapable of killing again, even if they've lost both their arms. I still want the son of a bitch slowly fed feet-first into a wood-chipper, and the resulting goo fed to the sharks. This guy attacked us, nobody apparently knows where he is, and all our so-called leaders can do is spin it away? Give me a fucking break!

[w4rma]

1. Who knows. All I know is that guy is still alive to give orders.

And Bush sent our troops into Iraq instead of wherever that guy is.

Besides, bin Laden doesn't really need to tell them what to do. They already know, in general, what to do. They are now united in their hate against America and their membership is growing *because* of Bush's actions. :(

[genieroze]

2. He can still make those videos to help Boosh

[George_S]

44. Yeah, and they complain about Hollywood.

What a twisted world.

[tk2kewl]

3. i guess his courier is fedex

how else would he manage to get his tape from "remotest areas of the world without any communications — other than courier" to our tvs just in time for the election

:shrug:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

15. Yeah, how hard would it be to track down a 6'5" Arab billionaire

with red hair who needs insulin and dialysis?

Duh, the filters on Dialysis machines have to be changed after each use... how many dialysis machines can there be in Pakistan?

We don't want him. Cause if we had him alive, he would talk about LIHOP at least or worse for the **cabal.

[0007]

45. Exactly man! - I think the propaganda has started Phase II

:hi:

Did you happen to click on the link at the end of the article? Where would that link come from? Two guesses, 'eh?

http://www.dod.gov

We're being invaded

[carolinalady]

4. ahem... Did he mention it to ObL? n/t

[Flammable Materials]

5. Ah, so we should just give up pursuing serial killers ...

... once they lack the will or ability to commit murders in the future.

[dave502d]

6. What about hear,I think he want some pay back n/t

[Cornjob]

7. Garbage!

This is pumping sunshine for the Pakastanis.

This guy has no more idea where OBL is than I do!

[NecessaryOnslaught]

8. yeah yeah yeah

The same Pakistan that was arming the Taliban in early 2001?

In April and May 2001 Human Rights Watch sources reported that as many as thirty trucks a day were crossing the Pakistan border; sources inside Afghanistan reported that some of these convoys were carrying artillery shells, tank rounds, and rocket-propelled grenades.84 Such deliveries are in direct violation of U.N. sanctions. Pakistani landmines have been found in Afghanistan; they include both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.85 Pakistan's army and intelligence services, principally the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), contribute to making the Taliban a highly effective military force.86 While these Pakistani agencies do not direct the policies of the IEA, senior Pakistani military and intelligence officers help plan and execute major military operations.87 In addition, private-sector actors in Pakistan provide financial assistance to the Taliban.
http://hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm#P350_92934

[jayfish]

9. Thank Deity.

Now on to the other 999 we have created.

Jay

[aquart]

10. So we don't have to worry that we didn't catch him?

We just have to worry about all the ingenious new recruits our foreign policy makes.

[oldlady]

12. How dumb do they think we are?

It just makes me so mad that these "spokesfolks" tell us junk that only insults our intelligence---
even the simplest of minds (like mine) have to wonder how OBL gets video camera equipment in the remotest parts of the world, how he gets that nice posh backdrop on the run, when and where did he have time to get a kidney transplant and recover --- I mean, he's not running on a bad kidney is he??

If you can't say something true, then don't say anything at all.
*geesh*

[William Seger]

18. Well, they think we're really, really dumb

... and they're about 51% right.

[rainbow4321]

46. Dumb enough...he's re-elected isn't he? n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

11. Al Qaeda and Pakistani military intelligence

is virtually indistinguishable.

Remember Mahmood Ahmed, the ISI chief who was breakfasting with Porter Goss and Bob Graham the morning of Sept 11, who had authorized the $100,000 payment to Atta just a few weeks earlier? The person he gave the order to (the cell phone records confirm this) was Omar Sheikh Saeed, an al Qaeda leader who was also an ISI asset, and called bin Laden's "favourite son."

But hey, great to hear the Pakistani military are on the job!
:eyes:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. How the hell does this A-hole know what he can and cannot do?

For fucks sake, what a waste of newsprint.

[dweller]

14. well thank you verrry much

Lt. Gen Lance 'Bring 'em on' Smith.

How about your other wise words?
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/01_04/8.htm
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20040510-16.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/multimedia/slideshows/show_313/
http://www.yuricareport.com/PrisonerTortureDirectory/PrisonScandalBookByHersh.html

time will tell whether your words are true, or hollow, vapid air piped out yer arse.


dp

[shraby]

16. Didn't they just recenly say that Bin Laden

got permission to use nukes? I have a couple of questions about that. 1. Who was he supposed to get permission from?
2. I thought Bin Laden was the boss-man, why would he need permission from anyone?

Now they tell us he can't communicate?

[grasswire]

17. my thought exactly

If there ever was a cue for al-Q, this is it. What a criminal statement to make.

[Nordic]

19. this guy doesn't know jack shit

can anyone give me one good reason why I should believe a word this fucker says?

I didn't think so

[buddysmellgood]

20. Yeah right. OBL is on the run? He's never looked better. He looks

like he's doing book tours. He moved his taping from the desert into a studio.

[Baja Margie]

21. Sorry, I don't believe it.

Pakistan & US government will say anything, but the fact of the matter is, is that Pakistan is walking a tightrope and could be faced with Civil War. That's why they got the tanks from the Russians and the f-16's from US, this in spite of their sell out of Nuclear Secrets.

[alfredo]

22. Bush has given birth to hundreds of Bin Ladens.

Osama is not needed, the movement is self governing.

[Emillereid]

23. They can put Bin Laden back on the shelf now -- since the election is

over, Bush and Rove don't have to keep playing the fear card, (they've got an economy to eviscerate, don't you know!), so Bin Laden can fade into the shadows for now. It is curious that this report comes on the heels of Asscroft's assertion that his job of ridding the US of crime and terrorism was done and that he could now retire (to get ready for his supremes nomination???) These people must think we all just got off the boat -- remember Cheney was scaring us just before the election that Bin Ladin could drop on a nuke on an American city anytime -- but now Bin Laden is totally incapacitated!
They don't want him caught or dead though so they can bring Osama back if they need him. I really am beginning to believe what Mike Ruppert says -- Bin Laden was and is a US asset!

[daleo]

24. What about the house in Fallujah the U.S. military claimed to have found?

Just today they said they found "Al-Queda Central" in Fallujah. They can't even keep their lies straight for one day. And how about the Ossama video just before the election?

Pick a story and stick to it.

[astroboy]

25. so, hes on holiday in afghanistan, plotting and zarqawi is filling in iraq

gotcha, thanks for they update skippy :toast:

[demnan]

26. Lies and manipulation

Either Bin Laden is a danger or he isn't, he can't be one thing a week before the election and 2 weeks later he isn't.

[SillyGoose]

27. Is this some kind of a joke?

What a ridiculous statement to make. They must think we are a bunch of idiots to believe this garbage.

:eyes:

[Tempest]

28. Now don't forget

These are the same idiots who claimed Fallujah broke the back of the insurgency.

Multiple car bombings in Baghdad today, and Mosul is in an uprising.

[htuttle]

29. I've come to a frightening conclusion

With all the purging and promoting that's gone on in the US military's command hierarchy since Bush took power, I think he's finally filled the upper ranks with nothing but lackeys.

What I find frightening is that I'm now sure that these idiots actually believe the lies they are telling. That's why they are often caught totally flat-footed and constantly surprised when reality doesn't measure up to their 'faith'.

We're fucked.

[prayin4rain]

30. He can still communicate with the rest of the world, just not the

other terrorists. That makes so much sense. Now I get it. Yeah, what a relief.

[leesa]

31. Right. And he has a dialysis machine strapped to his donkey.

What BS! Why are Americans so stupid as to believe this nonsense.

[Rambis]

34. No problem, there are millions more now

Thanks W!

[plasticsundance]

35. Uh ...

Let's see, just before the election bin Laden comes out with a video. It's talked about by the US corporate-fascist-media in terms that it might help Bush among voters. No mention, mind you, that Bush has/had failed to capture Laden dead or alive.

At least no mention from Lou Dobbs during his reporting. His only concern was what it meant for Bush.

Now, election over, and a statement comes out that bin Laden isn't much of a threat.

Timing is everything.:eyes:

It's gone way past stupid. Even to call it Orwellian would be an understatement.

[Rambis]

36. Funny that?

I couldn't agree more. I am amazed, stunned, flummoxed, dumbfounded at the stupidity of the "Merican" sheeple. Be afraid, not now, be afraid again, not now, fear fear fear, now we will save you from the man we created and use when it suits us. Man this country is fucked up!

[Zerex71]

37. It's what you say rather than admit you LOST.

Besides, who cares if all they have is a courier? Apparently that's all it took to mastermind 9/11 (if in fact he led it -- there's never been conclusive proof, and if you believe that just because the talking heads put his picture up there as the big baddy right afterwards, you're missing a lobe or two). Let's face it, he's laughing his a** off somewhere in a hole because the world's largest and most powerful military-industrial-intelligence complex is getting snookered by an evasive gimp with a kidney problem and a stack of blank Sony tapes at the ready.

Mike

[maddezmom]

38. same general says: Bin Laden, Zarqawi trying to communicate: general

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1006609#1006631

[SKKY]

39. He doesn't need to do anything more than provide vision and guidance...

...that's why he's still a leader. That's why people still profess their loyalty to him. That's why he's still dangerous.

[stillcool]

40. My Favorites so far...

I can't get that picture out of my head...OLB on a camel with the dialysis machine! And be afraid...don't be afraid...okay be afraid again. These garbage mouths have got to go, its getting worse. I can't watch, and I can't even email, well sometimes I can e-mail. There's got to be a way to get 'word' to those who believe, by accident..like on a cereal box, or a six-pack of beer.

[NYC]

41. In other words,

we can't find him.

[saigon68]

42. Lt. Gen. Lance Smith

One dumb mother fucker

[Dem2theMax]

43. Gee, that's funny. That 'cave' in the video looked strangely

like a studio where you'd make a film. Oh yeah, that film. Wonder how he did that with no access to anything but rocks and dirt?
Then he somehow got it to the "right" people?

Uh huh. I really believe this one too, *. :puke:

[forintegrity]

47. Am I REALLY supposed to believe this just

like I'm supposed to believe that the Evangelical Christians are the reason * "won"

Do I have "STUPID" written on my forehead?

It's just all a bunch of propaganda and diversions from the real issues!x(