Bin Laden 'surrounded' February 22, 2004 A BRITISH Sunday newspaper is claiming Osama bin Laden has been found and is surrounded by US special forces in an area of land bordering north-west Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Sunday Express, known for its sometimes colourful scoops, claims the al-Qaeda leader has been "sighted" for the first time since 2001 and is being monitored by satellite. The paper claims he is in a mountainous area to the north of the Pakistani city of Quetta. The region is said to be peopled with bin Laden supporters and the terrorist leader is estimated to also have 50 of his fanatical bodyguards with him. The claim is attributed to "a well-placed intelligence source" in Washington, who is quoted as saying: "He (bin Laden) is boxed in." The paper says the hostile terrain makes an all-out conventional military assault impossible. The plan to capture him would depend on a "grab-him-and-go" style operation. "US helicopters already sited on the Afghanistan border will swoop in to extricate him," the newspaper says. It claims bin Laden and his men "sleep in caves or out in the open. The area is swept by fierce snow storms howling down from the 10,000ft-high mountain peaks. Donkeys are the only transport." The special forces are "absolutely confident" there is no escape for bin Laden, and are awaiting the order to go in and get him. "The timing of that order will ultimately depend on President Bush," the paper says. "Capturing bin Laden will certainly be a huge help for him as he gets ready for the election." The article says bin Laden's movements are monitored by a National Security Agency satellite. On Thursday last week, General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said America had been engaged in "intense" efforts to capture bin Laden, who was believed to be hiding in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he insisted that the focus of the search had not narrowed for months.
IMHO Osama will be caught(killed preferably)this year and like Sadam(caught a day or two before made public) the news will be public after the necessary security measures are in place. Can you see the popularity numbers for Bush if it happened before the election?
I would say that the threat lives on. How powerful the terrorists really are you will never know because the US government would certainly like to have the terrorist threat saved to justify perhaps yet another war. It's a powerful argument after all. We want to get rid of terrorists, you know... Throw in a WMD threat and who can resist?
The last pockets of Al-Queda are being liquidated in Afghanistan-Pakistan. THose guys are going to be finished soon. Benito Bin Laden also. But the Islamic threat remains. That's much tougher than any group because it is an idea, an ideal, a cause, a raisone d'etre for so many. Maybe Bin Laden is boxed in. Maybe he will get caught one month before the election. Or, maybe he will get caught on inauguration day if the Dems take office, a page out of the Reagan playbook.
The Sunday Express just put up their Sunday cover. Very interesting. There is not a link to the story for now. www.express.co.uk
Osama Bin Laden Detected in Pakistan's Northwest, AFP Says Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and U.K. forces have detected al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, Agence France-Presse reported citing a report in London's Sunday Express newspaper. Bin Laden and as many as 50 supporters were ``north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta,'' the newspaper reported, citing an unidentified ``U.S. intelligence source,'' the news agency said. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is believed to be with bin Laden, the newspaper said, AFP reported. The leader of al-Qeada, which has been blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, moved 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the south to the Toba Kakar mountains about one month ago, the Sunday Express said, AFP reported. A U.S. defense department spokesman declined to comment on the report, AFP said. The area is under surveillance from a satellite while forces await orders, the newspaper said in its early Sunday edition, AFP reported. Bin Laden's whereabouts had been discovered from ``a combination of CIA paramilitaries and special forces, plus image analysis by geographers and soil experts,'' the newspaper reported, AFP said. (Agence France-Presse, 2-22) To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harrison at aharrison2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor for this story: Peter Hannam at phannam@bloomberg.net Last Updated: February 21, 2004 19:02 EST
Of course we already have Osama. Bush and the Repubs have him holed up somewhere with Jimmy Hoffa, Elvis, and assorted alien types. They'll all be released once Ashcroft deems the timing right to ensure Bush's reelection. How can the poor Democrats, with their impeccably clean election tactics, compete with the Hollywood-D.C. alliance that Bush lords over?