Operation bin Laden begins - Hundreds of Pashtun fighters reach Tora Bora caves

UPI | December 5, 2001

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So where did the bin Laden defender's go?

Seems like a nasty surprise could happen.

To find all articles tagged or indexed using taliban_list

Click here: taliban_list

[11B3]

Sounds as though they finally figured out that the reward is worth the risk. I wonder how much of that country you could buy for $25M? (A lot more than 72 virgins.)

[blondee123]

i have a feeling he has a surprise for anyone who approaches tora bora. time will tell, but he's not going to just sit in the cave awaiting the troops.

[Fulbright]

They may be getting nervous in those caves, but at this time of the year, their heat signatures are going to light up like a string of Christmas tree lights.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

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[HAL9000]

Operation bin Laden begins

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Dec 05, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- U.S.-backed Pashtun forces attacked Wednesday the suspected mountain hideout of Osama bin Laden in eastern Afghanistan in an effort to capture the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

Officials in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad said hundreds of Pashtun fighters have already reached the Tora Bora cave and tunnel complex where bin Laden and his lieutenants may be hiding.

About 35 miles from Jalalabad, Tora Bora was built in the 1980s with U.S. financial support as a hiding place for Afghans fighting the Soviet occupation army.

Bin Laden occupied the caves in 1996 when he moved to Afghanistan from Sudan and is believed to have further fortified the facility.

A tribal commander, Zaman Khan, who is leading the Pashtun forces looking for bin Laden in Tora Bora told journalists in Jalalabad that his troops had occupied parts of the complex.

"Osama's men had already pulled out of these caves when our men arrived there," he said. "They have gone deeper into the caves to avoid intensive U.S. bombings."

U.S. forces have been bombing Tora Bora for almost a week now to force bin Laden and his men out of their hideouts.

The campaign to capture bin Laden intensified over the weekend when CIA chief George Tenet visited the bordering Pakistani city of Peshawar where he is believed to have met some Pashtun commanders now participating in the operation.

Two U.S. gunships and 60 commandos are also believed to have reached eastern Afghanistan in the search for bin Laden.

Pashtun commanders in Jalalabad said the Americans have also asked them to repair the runway at the Jalalabad airport, damaged during U.S. bombings last month when the Taliban still occupied the area.

"The Americans apparently want to bring fixed-wing planes for a possible evacuation of bin Laden and other suspected terrorists," said a local commander, Hazrat Ali.

The airport already has arrangements for accommodating gunships and helicopters.

He said U.S. and British commandos were providing "technical support to hundreds of Pashtun fighters now in Tora Bora but are not directly participating in the fight."

Guided by satellite, U.S. and British troops are expected to call in airstrikes as soon as they see bin Laden's men.

Zaman Khan said that his attempts to persuade al Qaida and Taliban soldiers to surrender had failed and his men were forced to launch a strike. "As the first step toward forcing surrender, we are severing their water sources. It is impossible survive in these inhospitable, arid mountains without water."

Afghan officials in Kabul have described the latest operation against bin Laden as "the beginning of the end game for al Qaida."

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

[los]

"Afghan officials in Kabul have described the latest operation against bin Laden as "the beginning of the end game for al Qaida."

It seems that this "end" has been beginning for several days now. I must be patient however. I know its dangerous work. I would like to know for certain that the SOB OBL is actually in those caves.

[randita]

FNC reported this morning that strikes on Tora Bora have killed some of Al Qaeda's top commanders. Also reported that basically all that's left of the Taliban is the Arabic Al-Qaeda wing. Communiques coming out of the Tora Bora complex are entirely in Arabic.

[Ciexyz]

Our prayers are with the allied troops on this dangerous mission.

[meducksguy]

The Mindset of Osama? Should he be in there. Going back and forth between martyrdom and where is Alan Dershowitz ( spell check ) when you need him? A simular equasion on those around him? All for one and one for all or every man for himself? Changing by the day or hour? The knowing there is no way out for all or any who are there? What it may be doing to mindsets is to me a total fascination. AGREE? That old saying you make your own bed and therefore you have to sleep in it. A good nights sleep???????????

[WIMom]

Thank you! Let's make this the shortest fundraiser ever.
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Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 6

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[Mixer]

Let us just hope that they arent laying traps for us in there. I would hate to see that cave go boom with our troops inside.

Up till now they have had no strategy of defense during this war so I doubt they will start now. Pray for our troops and allies!

[2ndMostConservativeBrdMember]

Forgive me for interrupting your very important thoughts and profound wisdom, but we are in the midst of the most exciting fundraiser ever on FreeRepublic. I would hate for any of you to miss it!

Come visit us at Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 5

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[pchuck]

These caves are a good place to bury and detonate a nuke, or at least a couple of Daisy Cutters.

[ExiledInTaiwan]

I wonder how much of that country you could buy for $25M?

Not far away, in the Punjab, an unskilled farm laborer makes $10/ month. This is probably higher than in Afghanistan.

[Sabertooth]

p>Thanks again for all of your diligence in posting these articles HAL9000.

Osama Paki-pool Update:Osama bin DEAD-pool Pick a day! Any day! Or flag me for a QikPik! Update
Still plenty of open dates, so flag me on this thread (not my mailbox) if you want in. As you've noticed, since he doesn't look like he'll make it to Pakistan, I went ahead and changed the name of the pool. Sue me. KayEyeDoubleDee raised a good question the night... What's the effective time zone for the pool? I should have established this earlier, so I think the only fair thing to do is say that it's whatever Time Zone bin Laden is killed in (or appears in Pakistan, which seems increasingly unlikely.)
November, 2001 November 16: First day of Ramadan! November 17: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub - Nope. November 18: OPEN November 19: OPEN November 20: OPEN November 21: OPEN November 22: Azzurri -- Thanksgiving - Nope. November 23: Sabertooth - Nope. November 24: Jefferson Adams - Nope. November 25: Victoria Delsoul - Nope. November 26: airborne - Nope. November 27: harpseal - Nope. November 28: snippy_about_it - Nope. November 29: Tunehead54 - Nope. November 30: Travis McGee - Nope.						December, 2001 December   1: alancarp - Nope. December   2: onyx - Nope. December   3: AfghanAirShow - Nope. December   4: Straight Vermonter - Tick… tick… tick. December   5: Pokey78 - On the bubble. December   6: proudofthesouth December   7: null and void -- Pearl Harbor Day December   8: MaeWest December   9: justlurking December 10: glock rocks December 11: KayEyeDoubleDee December 12: Washi December 13: FreedomFarmer December 14: irish guard December 15: hattend Not sure when Ramadan ends, but around here somewhere. December 16: nunya bidness December 17: abner December 18: anniegetyourgun December 19: Collier December 20: mdittmar December 21: Nick Danger December 22: okie01 December 23: peteram December 24: RasterMaster -- Christmas Eve December 25: Go Gordon -- Christmas Day December 26: Loyalist December 27: Brian Allen December 28: Snow Bunny December 29: Alabama_Wild_Man December 30: CIApilot December 31: Miss Marple -- New Year's Eve
January, 2002 January   1: Freeper 007 -- New Year's Day January   2: spectr17 January   3: lainde January   4: Woodman January   5: Semper911 January   6: be-baw January   7: aruanan January   8: PoisedWoman -- Elvis's Birthday January   9: Diogenesis. January 10: JeanS January 11: is_is January 12: garycooper January 13: Torie January 14: JohnHuang2 January 15: coteblanche -- Martin Luther King's B'day. January 16: Sunshine55 January 17: lmr January 18: eastforker January 19: LibWhacker January 20: Gritty -- Anniversary of Dubya's Inagural January 21: bwteim January 22: Mike Darancette January 23: Shooter 2.5 January 24: kylaka January 25: butter pecan fan January 26: itwasntme January 27: WRhine January 28: nevergore January 29: veronica January 30: InfraRed January 31: Ernest_at_the_Beach						February, 2002 February   1: mvonfr February   2: afuturegovernor -- Ground Hog Day February   3: JennysCool February   4: deadhead February   5: VietVet February   6: Slyfox February   7: GeronL February   8: Calpublican February   9: OnAMission February 10: gwmoore February 11: EaglesUpForever February 12: nonliberal - Lincoln's Birthday February 13: America's Resolve February 14: beowolf - Valentine's Day February 15: I_Had_Enough February 16: vinci February 17: aquawrench February 18: 2Jedismom February 19: ScottK February 20: b4its2late February 21: OPEN February 22: Amore - Washington's Birthday February 23: katze February 24: HAL9000 February 25: OPEN February 26: OPEN February 27: Slicksadick February 28: Poohbah
March, 2002 March   1: OPEN March   2: womanvet March   3: OPEN March   4: OPEN March   5: jrewingjr March   6: OPEN March   7: OPEN March   8: OPEN March   9: lilsparky March 10: OPEN March 11: VRWC For Truth March 12: OPEN March 13: OPEN March 14: OPEN March 15: X-FID March 16: Happygal March 17: Hillary's Lovely Legs - St. Patrick's Day March 18: OPEN March 19: Lancey Howard March 20: OPEN March 21: Bogey78O March 22: Abn1508 March 23: Tex-Con-Man March 24: seeker41 March 25: OPEN March 26: CJ Wolf March 27: OPEN March 28: JerseyHighlander March 29: OPEN March 30: OPEN March 31: OPEN						And here are a few of Freepers who think that they know something that the rest us don't… October 10, 2001: susangirl - She's actually got a cool theory, which you can read HERE. April   1: Free Vulcan April   2: grizzfan April 14: Faraday April 15: LLAN-DDEUSANT April 28: operation clinton cleanup April 29: dennisw May 17: Flipyaforreal
If you're unsure what the whole "Paki-pool" idea was about, click this link to a thread posted by Travis McGee on October 25th... Will Osama Appear In Pakistan? The operating theory is was that Osama bin Laden had a plan all along to show up in Pakistan, have himself declared the "Imam al-Mahdi" (a long-prophesied Islamic savior-figure), and start a civil war in an attempt to gain control of Pakistan's nukes. Sound crazy? So is he. Crazy evil. It's still an interesting read.
Here's another:    Black Flags of Islam   Portents of the Imam al-Mahdi, the Moslems' prophesied deliverer of Jerusalem? Click on the Black Flags for the link

[MeekOneGOP]

BIG Texas BUMP for President Bush, The Allied Troops and for Mike Spann:

CIA officer Mike Spann, in this undated family photo, is the first American known to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. Johnny ``Mike'' Spann, 32, who entered the Marine Corps and then joined the CIA in June 1999, was killed in action during a prison riot at Mazar-e-Sharif. His body was recovered Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 the CIA said, without providing details on the circumstances of Spann's death. (AP Photo/Family Photo via the CIA)

[MaeWest]

Thanks for the 'pool ping'. Things are looking up. Go get 'em, guys! (And oh, uh, and try to do it on the eighth, 'k?)

[91B]

Sabertooth-how can I get in for March 4th-it's my birthday.