Posted on 10/30/2004 5:01:31 PM PDT by Saberwielder
Pakistan gives Al-Qaeda refuge
Nicholas Rufford
OSAMA BIN LADEN is being given safe haven with the help of Pakistani officials, British security sources believe.
Recent intelligence reports coming from remote tribal areas of Pakistan have indicated the Al-Qaeda leader is being given refuge by senior figures in the regional government.
America has given Pakistan tens of millions of dollars since the start of the war on terrorism and the hunt for Bin Laden. There is growing impatience in Washington at the failure of the military to capture him.
He is believed to be hiding along the mountainous 1,500mile frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where many people are hostile to America.
A senior British source said the growing view in the British and American intelligence communities was that Bin Laden was in the area and receiving support. Its the kind of help that suggests he is being protected or he has bought influence, said the source.
A videotape broadcast last Friday by Al-Jazeera confirmed that Bin Laden was in good health, despite reports that he was dying of kidney failure. His gestures also contradicted rumours that he had lost the use of an arm. He was dressed in a golden cloak and white turban at a lectern, in a pose similar to those adopted by the candidates in the US presidential debates.
Bin Laden claimed President George W Bush had misled electors by saying America was safer now than it was three years ago. He taunted the president for giving the hijackers more time than they expected to carry out the September 11 attacks, claiming Bush continued to read the book My Pet Goat to schoolchildren in Florida when told that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
A little girls talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers, Bin Laden said.
The best way to avoid another Manhattan was for the US to change its Middle East policy. Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or Al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands, Bin Laden said.
Magnus Ranstorp, a St Andrews University terrorism expert, said the tape could signal another attack: There has often been a correlation between Bin Laden appearing and attacks being launched.
The tapes main purpose would be to undermine Americas sense of security and damage Bush. What hes saying is less important than the fact he appears at all, Ranstorp said.
Absolutely.
Got a pic?
Screw "collateral damage" if he is given safe harbor any where BOMB IT!!!!!!!!
I am not a know it all - hardly - but I guess those Jay Leno moments when he questions unkowing folks off the street about history and political and military current events for laughs is not so funny in this time and age.
My aplogies. For somereason I come off as disagreable on the internet and it is far from my nature (at least I hope so).
And your conveyance has not gone without notice. At least by some anyway.
Me thinks that if just one city in Pakistan had a change in climate brought on by the one's seeking Usama why Usama would magically appear and be taken into custody.
Yeah, right. The same way they've executed Sheikh Omar.
So Destro, just out of curiosity, what is your take on the promotion of the F-22?
Or have you already conveyed that through obdurately chastising a good faith poster by calling him a "dick" and choosing to attempt a change in subject away from the thread?
Me thinks your polarity has changed tonight, however tomorrow may bring a polarity less conducive to interaction.
You, my FRiend have been focal to posting ridicule not I.
Chill and accommodate and perhaps your welcome will be more appreciated.
I called no one a "dick" - as far as I can remember :) Nor did I mean to sound so harsh - but it happened. We may all get back to normal temperment when the election is over.
I concede that he must be alive. But my guess is that his "safe haven" is actually Iran.
I think so too.
You did my FRiend and this was long before the election was a FR issue.
D@mn my good memory anyway!
Fool me once and shame on you, however fool me twice and shame on me.
Catching Bin Laden can happen tomorrow or in 5 years. The Israelis recently got a Pal terror leader who they *knew* was in Gaza for many years. And Gaza is like a football field when compared to the size of Waziristan.
If Bin Laden is in Waziristan, we will get him. I'm sure of that. Personally I think he's likely to be in Karachi or some other big Pakistani city.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the army spokesman, said the intensity of Pakistan's efforts in North and South Waziristan would make it impossible for bin Laden to hide there.
"Even if the tape was dropped here, that doesn't mean that he is here," Gen. Sultan said. "Nobody knows where he is, but he cannot be in Pakistan's tribal areas because of the presence of so many troops."
Sorry to say this,but most folks here don't have a clue on China's role in this equation.Pakistan's nukes have Chinese markings all over it & were specifically aimed at containing India in the subcontinent-something that helps Beijing.Pakistan has recieved & still recieves vast quantity of weapons from China,which will remain it's most valuable ally,not the US.In the event of a US invasion of Pakistan-it will square up into a US/India vs China/Pakistan scenario & we all know neither India or Washington wants to take on the Chinese for now as China will never allow Islamabad to be dominated or decimated.Trying to see India & Pakistan through an isolated prism is well,foolish,period.
>>Radical Islamists are out to get him and take over the >>country.
Dont buy that. The Army controls pakistan and nothing will change that. One general goes another will take over.
The so called islamic radicals can make noise but dont have the real power.
The idea that nukes will fall in their hands is also not plausible. Pak army is a big well financed organisation and does give a rats ass to what the mullahs say. If the people really had power in that country it would be a democracy. Its not.
>> THAT INDIA WOULD INITIATE THE NUCLEAR STRIKE THEMSELVES >>PREEMPTIVLEY
Even when they were at the brink of war a few years back India had said it will not strike first. So no chance of that happening.
The northern areas need to be invaded and set in order. Its pointless to be sitting ducks across the border in Afghanistan. It will also put pressure on pak to keep delivering.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.