US is forced to abandon hunt for bin Laden

[Generator]

US is forced to abandon hunt for bin Laden
By Robin Gedye, Foreign Affairs Writer
(Filed: 14/12/2004)

Three years after Osama bin Laden fled American bombs in his Tora Bora hideout, the search for the world's most wanted man has all but come to a halt because of Pakistan's refusal to permit cross-border raids from Afghanistan, according to CIA officials.

Washington has downgraded its efforts to catch the al-Qa'eda leader in Afghanistan, from where he supervised the September 11 attacks, because it has become convinced that he is hiding in Pakistan's virtually lawless Tribal Areas, which hug the 1,200-mile frontier.

Islamabad refuses to permit cross-border pursuits by US special forces based in Afghanistan's mountainous frontier regions, agency officials told the New York Times.


http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/14/wosama14.xml


Can you imagine US media with this exact title?

[democracy eh]

1. BULLSHIT

The current admin will invade and occupy Iraq because of its potential terrorist ties.

but won't go after the known terrorist in Pakistan because they can't get permission?

I call BULLSHIT

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

20. our 'good friend,' Military Dictator Musharraff, at work again

aiding Bin Laden's escape

yet we attack a country that has jack shit to do with Bin Laden and no one gives a rat's ass.

[Djinn]

29. no fan of Musharaf

but to be fair he is currently (ironically for a dictator) protecting the freedoms of those Pakistani's who have no love of Islamic fundamentalists and no desire to live in a theocracy.

He has a very delicate balance on his hands - avoiding a civil war is presumably the pretence for refusing permission for the cross border operations - then there's the embarrasing problem of the support for the Taliban/Al Qaeda within the Pakistani secret service.

Nations all have their own interests/agenda's the world isn't always going to run based on US desires.

[Tight_rope]

66. YES this is BULLSHIT....Bin Laden is sitting in the WH chilling with *

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. You can run but you cant. . . uh. . hmm.

and hey, Pakistan, youre either with us. . .or. . . d'oh well.

[HawkerHurricane]

3. Osama Bin Forgotten

I hate this. I want this man dead, and the administration can't be bothered with the man who murdered 3000 Americans.

[CornField]

47. exactly -- Osama bin Forgotten

But, hey, we stopped that evil dictator in Iraq so that those citizens could live without fear for their lives... uhmm... wait a second...

[lovuian]

4. So the Killer of 3000 people goes free!!! Thanks to Bush!!!

:argh:

[Generator]

6. Yeah and Pakistan is supposed to be our "ally"

Won't permit it huh?

[tinanator]

15. arent permitted

they may be damned dirty bastards, but theyre our damned dirty bastards. Just like Osama.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. Meanwhile the right will just bash the French

[sakabatou]

35. So... he REALLY doesn't care about him

What an asshole.

[Sterling]

62. Worse yet the killer of 3000 people

gets to be president instead of inmate.

[Patsy Stone]

5. No...

never... Somehow, it's gonna turn out to be Clinton's fault. You watch! :)

[RandomKoolzip]

7. Yup. Watch it, the next thing you know, some dipshit freeper

will occupy this space telling tales of how Clinton had Osama in 98 but let him go. All buillshit of course, and easily debunked by wesbites like snopes.com, but yes, they've found out a way to blame even this.....on (the) Clinton(s).

[Patsy Stone]

10. They're still mad at Hillary

about that cookie remark she made 12 years ago. :)

[jimshoes]

8. Elections about

all wrapped up except the formalities. No need to keep up the pretense any more eh shrub?

[VegasWolf]

9. don't need to fake his voice to influence elections anymore. n/t

[Generator]

12. Hah! You're reading my mind

I was just thinking, Osama just pops up his head the last Friday in October before the national election, and then like some evil groundhog is not seen again until he is needed.

[durablend]

43. OBL's answering machine

"I'm not available right now but will be back in time for the 2006 elections"

BEEEEEEEEEP!

:crazy:

[blondeatlast]

76. I'd laugh, but it's too close to truth... nt

[Supersedeas]

50. but you never know when an Osama appearance might again be convenient

[sonicx]

11. isn't Pakistan aiding a terrorist?

the Bush Rules say we gotta invade.

[shuffnew]

26. depends on who he defines as the terrorist...

maybe Pakistan is helping another terrorist besides Osama.
:think: but who could that be? hmmmmm

[Southpaw Bookworm]

30. Google the term "ISI"

And look at Pakistan's close personal aid to terrorists.

[Charlie Brown]

13. The sad fact is

if Pakistan had been in this position three years ago, the current administration would have invaded Pakistan, and the majority of Americans would have supported it. I'll bet a majority of people at this very board would have supported it.

[Dhalgren]

52. Pakistan has nukes = no US invasion.

Very simple equation...

[blondeatlast]

77. Precisely, and so does India. Israel/Palestine are hardly the

only I/P we need to be fretting over.

Oops--we aren't supposed to be talking about that, are we?

[Sterling]

60. I would support it.

It makes perfect sense and would be justified nlike the Iraq war.

[Charlie Brown]

68. How would such an invasion be justified?

If Bin Laden were in Pakistan, and Musharraf refused to hand him over (without himself being implicit in Al Qaida), would this be a justification for open war? What of the Pakistani civilians who would inevitably parish? What of our own servicemen who would die in the process? Is the ascertainment of a single man worth the loss of which such action would inevitably lead? At what point would the liabilities exceed the benefits? All that for the sake of a single man (when not even guaranteed of his capture) seems like incredibly questionable logic. Why resort to force when it would seem to be what Bin Laden wants?

[progressoid]

14. Has it even been reported in our media?

[Generator]

18. There was a story in NY Times 12/13 and Pakistan denys it

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6708927/

Times report denied
A report in Monday’s New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. officials, said that the CIA had set up small bases along the border in late 2003 but that the operatives were being hampered by uncooperative Pakistani minders. It said the CIA had concluded that bin Laden was being sheltered by tribesmen and foreign militants in northwestern Pakistan and that he could be aiming to launch a “spectacular” attack on the United States.

The issue is a sensitive one for Musharraf, who is under pressure at home from hard-liners opposed to his strong ties with Washington.

“There are no CIA cells in Pakistan ... in our tribal areas, and there is absolutely no truth in this New York Times report,” said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the army.

[Career Prole]

16. Latest breaking news?

The Telegraph's Foreign Affairs Writer hasn't been paying close enough attention...

[LynnTheDem]

17. "All nations who harbor terrorists..." Just another bush LIE.

All mouth, all bullshit. All the time.

[MichiganVote]

19. SO...Osama is not planning to hit the US again?

[democracy eh]

21. maybe he has retired to a seaside villa on the Indian Ocean

and is comfortably living off his savings

Good Job W

I can not freaking believe that regardless of how difficult the task of finding Bin Laden is, that they did not pour every resource available (such as those in Iraq) after the SOB

[durablend]

45. Halliburton contract!

Don't worry...they've set him up REAL good.

Only stipultation is that he has to make a number of scheduled appearances before the 2006 and (especially) the 2008 elections.

[Mokito]

70. And his PNAC buddies

are picking targets for that "scheduled appearance" as we speak.

[JDPriestly]

22. Did I sleep through something?

Did the terrorists just give up after November 2? Or did I just sleep through the terrorist alerts since the election?

[shuffnew]

23. B.S., the US abandoned the search before it started ...

from getting his entire family out of the US on 911 and then not sending in US soldiers in Afghanistan (Toro Bora), and then heading to Iraq for a pre-emptive war. It does not appear to me there was ever any intent to capture Osama. IHMO

Appears they are only trying to put blame elsewhere... sure blame Clinton or blame Pakistan. It's all in the shrub plan PERIOD (IMHO anyway) Pure B.S.!

:puke:

[Virginian]

39. I repeat myself... Bush never wanted to capture Osama.

Oil flows thicker than water or blood. The bin Ladens are oil friends with the Bush family. Osama may not even be the person responsible and has agreed to serve as the face of terror. If he is responsible, his family has requested that he not be killed or captured and the Bush family has agreed.
I also think his appearance on Friday before the elections was a Rovian stunt to remind voters that he was still out there and he still wanted to kill us.

I am so strongly LIHOP that I am almost MIHOP.

I hate how * thinks of us as the disposable unwashed masses. I hate it even more that his supporters can't see that they are being played for fools.

[SammyWinstonJack]

41. I think you have nailed it!

on every point. I myself am MIHOP.

[Sterling]

61. If people can't see MIHOP in the face of this kind of shit...

We cannot save the human race. It's pretty damn obvious what is going on here.

[NuttyFluffers]

24. "Aw, shucks, Pakistan. That's just... fiddlesticks"

"golly gee whiz, can't we, pretty please, at least kinda just peek a little here or there and try to find him? Aww.... Well, ok, Pervez, I tried." *shuffles away dejected*
-- 'These Colors Don't Run' America

so, are we a paper tiger? gee, that's a hard question...

[Solly Mack]

25. and people will buy this. believe it. repeat it back.

and yet another flag-wrapping lie is born.

[bobthedrummer]

27. "Who Is Osama bin Laden?" by Michel Chossudovsky

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html

"The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks"
by Michel Chossudovsky
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html

9/11: The BCCI Connection
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KUP310A.html

Campaign contributions of post-Iraq War contractors
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=contrib

on edit:I'm a LIHOP, at a minmum, believer.

[Gregorian]

31. So why did we go to Afghanistan? Why Iraq?

Satan is really getting to like this George Bush guy. He's warming up his best coals for him. I can hardly wait to die. Because from where I'm going, I'll have front row seats to watch him writhe in hell. Forever.
George doesn't realize that even though there seems to be no justice on earth, there IS justice in the universe.

[proud patriot]

32. pardon the language but ..Fuck That

:think:

[Runcible Spoon]

33. didn't realize they were even TRYING to find him

:evilgrin:

[kcass1954]

48. Neither did I...

I thought they had abandoned the thought of capturing Osama a long time ago.

[Just Me]

34. Can I imagine US media with this title?

No.

But, I thought the "telegraph" was a Rupert profit.

[lebkuchen]

36. We need those soldiers to hunt down pissed off Muslims in Iraq

just another Bush-created catastrophe

[goforit]

37. How convenient...........proof of mihop all the way!!

[reprobate]

46. Not proof, but a reasonable assumption.

Especially when you consider the close family ties of the Bushes and the Bin Ladins. They were both big investors in Carlyle among others. They would dine in each others home.

How could anyone expect a bush to imprison a bin laden? It does not compute.

[Straight Shooter]

38. Little Boots looks up to mass murderers and protects them.

Google Henry Lee Lucas, the only one on Death Row ever to escape the death sentence under georgie the executioner.

Lucas was a notorious serial killer, and a practicing Satanist. He didn't die, but the born again Karla Faye Tucker died, because she just didn't kill enough people to earn georgie's admiration.

Little Boots admires people who kill on a grand scale. He never intended to get Osama. Anyone who thinks he did is kidding themselves.

There's one more thing about Little Boots and who "gets away with murder" in his realm. It's always quid pro quo.

[Dhalgren]

53. Good take - dead on...

[Deja Q]

40. Pakistan, eh? They're not friends with India... as I recall,

India has the IT industry and has the (current) support of one-time pal of Saddam known as Donald Rumsfeld, et al.

The Indians may be bright, but they sure as hell are stupid. They'll be betrayed just as every previous government has once we're done with 'em.

[MissMillie]

42. Does this mean it's time to invade Pakistan?

I mean... they're harboring a terrorist right?

Hey... where do you think the army for the next invasion is going to come from? Aren't the troops spread a little thin already?

[durablend]

44. Nah, Iran has more terraists...

Or was it Canada?

:crazy:

[TankLV]

73. Cuba

it's closer.

[ivolsky]

49. Back to Tora Bora

We have long known that Bush botched up the Tora Bora invasion by (1) not putting in the 10th Infantry Mountain Division to supplement the Northern Alliance (relying to heavily on them-- as it turns out they were al-Qaeda sympathizers) (2) diverting Frank's attention from conducting the Tora Bora operation to planning the Iraqi invasion. Normally commanders are given 30 days to draw up war plans, in this case Franks had less than a week.

Many details here: www.politicalthought.net under column section, "The October Disruption"

[tom_paine]

51. "Forced" MY ASS! The Busheviks WANT their Former Employee Bin Laden

(Osama Bin Goldstein for you Orwell fans)

to remain free.

They NEED him for LIHOP/MIHOP #2, which is coming soon.

They NEED their Boogeyman Bin Goldstein, just as The Party, Nazi, Commie, or Orwell's 1984 INGSOC, always need them.

[Bush was AWOL]

54. Pure Horshit from this administration

They will invade any country they want. Let me get this straight. It's ok to invade a sovereign nation to go after a guy who has never threatened our country and who was of no threat to our country, but it is not ok to go after a guy who is supposedly responsible for the deaths of 3000 Americans. Yep, this is going to go over real well with the 9/11 families.

[GOPBasher]

55. "We will bring him to justice!" --tough man Bush

[robbedvoter]

56. Forced? Then I am forced to wear this button

http://www.EvolveFISH.com/fish/media/B-Where'sOsama.gif
http://www.EvolveFISH.com/fish/buttons.html

[spooked911]

57. Obviously Bush is saving OBL for the next attack

And if this story doesn't convince you that 9/11 was an inside job, nothing will ever convince you.

The US media will never call Bush on this treason because the media won't touch anything involving CIA covert operations.

[BlueDog2u]

58. Osama seems to be somebody's Asset

Hm...Anyone who saw even five seconds of that recent tape knows that he is more likely in Saudia Arabia than Pakistan.

[MADem]

59. I thought he looked tanned, rested and ready

Beautiful thobe, snowy white turban, looked like he'd had the full spa treatment, too...nice manicure, maybe a facial, a massage. He looked like he was living large and loving it, and eating well, too. If he is living in a cave, it must be as nicely appointed as any of our gubmint's undisclosed locations, and have a skylight so he can catch a few rays every so often.

He sure as hell didn't look like a guy on the run, in fact, he looked like he was announcing his candidacy.

So, we are either incompetent because we cannot find this unusually tall man in a land full of short sonsabitches, or we don't really want to catch him. The sad thing is, either scenario is horrifying in its implications. What has our country come to?

[BlueDog2u]

69. Exactly

He's been poolside in Saudia Arabia. And I'm sure "our" people know he's there. Just wait until SA gets within the sights of the neo-cons, then you'll know he's there. Meanwhile it appears that the next game is Iran. God save us from these idiots.

[TankLV]

74. Awfully pretty good for a dialysis patient.

He has no kidneys - remember.

[alexisfree]

63. They have him anyway they will have other uses for him later

[zann725]

64. You mean: "U.S. forced to abandon their PRETENSE of hunting for Osama

n/t

[clem_c_rock]

65. OSAMA is dead - unless you are ignorant enough to believe these tapes

How could a guy, requiring constant kidney dialysis, be running around the mountains of Afghanistan.


http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/19/gen.musharraf.binladen.1.19/index.html

[MADem]

71. I think the dialysis story is bullshit

I think Osama got a bad, bad, BAD kidney infection many years ago, partly due to dehydration, and they rehydrated him and gave him a run of dialysis---once. I think his kidneys are weak, but they haven't failed. I don't think he needs continuous dialysis at all.

Alternatively, he just might have gotten a kidney transplant. Iran has some very fine doctors who could pop one in without any trouble, or for all we know, he might have stopped in to one of the many state-of-the-art hospitals in Saudi Arabia for the surgery. He probably sent off to the poor villages of Pakistan for a compatible donor, and those operations work better if you can just pop it out of one person and into the other.

Hell, he's been lounging around doing not much of anything, he's had time to have the operation and fully recover. You have to wonder if maybe he had it around the time he did that tape where he wasn't moving his left arm and shoulder (which seemed to work fine in the most recent video).

[clem_c_rock]

72. IF this was so the US press would be ALL OVER THIS THEORY

Then they could shut us crazies up w/in seconds

[struggle4progress]

67. kick for dribbly gush

:kick:

[pinniped]

75. Their next excuse will be that international super-terror mastermind...

al-Zarqawi is also in Pakistan. All "boogeymen" they know will never be found will eventually end up in Pakistan. Omar is probably already there too.