In Three Months....

[zenith-nadir]

In three months Osama will have successfully evaded capture for four years.

You'd think after four years one could have turned over just about every stone in the northern Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. I think he is elsewhere.

 

[Number Six]

In three months Osama will have successfully evaded capture for four years.

You'd think after four years one could have turned over just about every stone in the northern Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. I think he is elsewhere.

I don't know if he's elsewhere or not but it doesn't surprise me he's been able to elude capture for this long. I bet it's actually very hard to turn over every stone along the Afghan-Pakistan border considering that there's more involved that just walking up to a stone and turning it over. Nobody has been able to kill a US President in 40 years and half the time everyone knows where he's at.

Or, maybe bin Laden has been captured and they're just waiting until right before the next election to make it public. (I'm being sarcastic with that remark.)

 

[Ladewig]

May I ask that you make future topic headlines more descriptive? Those of us with limited bandwidth want to know what threads are about without having to open them.

 

[Ziggurat]

In three months Osama will have successfully evaded capture for four years.

You'd think after four years one could have turned over just about every stone in the northern Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. I think he is elsewhere.

He certainly could be in Iran. But if he's in Pakistan, we can search the Afghan side for as long as we want, we won't find him. Pakistan has NOT searched every stone on their side of the border. They barely control their side of the border, and ran into serious military problems when they tried. And for various domestic reasons, the Pakistanis aren't willing to let us do the job for them either.

 

[zenith-nadir]

You'd think with electronic surveillance, satellite imagery, Predators, Special Forces, Afghani / Pakastani cooperation and other black program goodies one would be able to find anyone in a specific area after four years Number Six. That is why I feel he is elsewhere.

 

[Number Six]

You'd think with electronic surveillance, satellite imagery, Predators, Special Forces, Afghani / Pakastani cooperation and other black program goodies one would be able to find anyone in a specific area after four years Number Six. That is why I feel he is elsewhere.

Well I think technology can only do so much. I mean, can a spy satellite differentiate you from me if we're walking along wearing the same clothes? (I'm assuming that if bin Laden is out and about he's dressing similar to the people he's out and about with so as to not draw attention...and anyway he's probably not out and about all that much because he wants to avoid detection.

And as far as Afghani/Pakistani cooperation, getting cooperatin from the govt is one thing but getting it from the people in certain parts of the country is another. The latter is harder to get in areas where bin Laden is popular. All you can do is try to get an informant or else bomb entire towns that sympathize with him but of course the latter option isn't feasible.

If they do get him eventually though I bet human intelligence is the key. That's how they got Saddam and that's how they almost got al-Zarqawi. Eventually someone is gonna talk and that's gonna turn things.

But in a way I think getting bin Laden would be a bad thing because it might signal the end for some people and cause them to get complacent in this whole larger struggle for hearts and minds.

 

[BPSCG]

In three months Osama will have successfully evaded capture for four years.

[derail]
How does one unsuccessfully evade capture?

Nine times out of ten, when you see the word "successfully" in print, it's redundant.

P.P.P. (Personal Pet Peeve)

Carry on
[/derail]

 

[thaiboxerken]

I think that he isn't really being hunted, thus, he's not evading capture. He's just not turning himself in.

 

[WildCat]

And as far as Afghani/Pakistani cooperation, getting cooperatin from the govt is one thing but getting it from the people in certain parts of the country is another. The latter is harder to get in areas where bin Laden is popular. All you can do is try to get an informant or else bomb entire towns that sympathize with him but of course the latter option isn't feasible.

Even more than that, the Pashtun culture demands that you give refuge for someone seeking it, even if that person is your enemy. To give him up would disgrace not only your family, but your entire tribe. This is what makes this such a difficult task.

 

[The idea]

What we need is an Odd Couple reality show: Osama bin Laden and Salman Rushdie sharing an apartment.

 

[webfusion]

FOUND!

Osama was recently photographed --- he was 'hiding' in a clever disguise at the Palo Alto 7-11:

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[Mason]

Lenny: Hey George, looking for something?

George: Yeah, I lost my terrorist.

Lenny: Oh. I'll help, where'd you lose him?

George: Afganistan.

Lenny: Oh. So why're you looking in Iraq?

George: Because the light is better there...