Abu Aardvark: Bin Laden located? don't know why I'm not seeing this reported or discussed anywhere, but much of the Arab press is reporting that, according to the Interior Minister, Pakistan has narrowed down bin Laden's location to a specific point along the Pakistan-Afghan border. For Arabic speakers, here's the story on al Arabiya. Maybe it's not being reported because it isn't true… I dunno. Most of the stories coming up on Google News are of the “bin Laden trail still cold” variety. But I'm seeing it in the Arab media and not in the English, so thought I'd pass it on.
Hey, I just had a crazy thought. Wouldn't it be just wild if they managed to catch bin Laden just in time for the Republican convention? Or, even wilder, a few weeks before the election? Wow, that would just be crazy good luck for Bush. Crazy!
It would be nice to see a newspaper look into this, wouldn't it?
I don’t know, professor. I try to keep my conspiratorial bent under control, but if Osama’s led down the aisle at the RNC in chains, I may just snap and be forced to believe they’ve had him in a cage for six months waiting for the opportunity.
Does this make me cynical?
I urge anyone interested in this topic to listen to the recent speeches given by Sarah Chayes, ex-NPR reporter who left her reporting job after the fighting stopped in Afghanistan to work in redevelopment there. Here is her speech at the Commonwealth Club: http://www.commonwealthclub.org//archive/04/04-05chayes-audio.html
She also spoke on KQED Forum (San Francisco public radio, http://kqed.org). That program is interesting as well, but the radio archive doesn’t have links to specific programs, so you have to use their search function to locate the segment.
She has been running a dairy cooperative in Kandahar. She states that the high level Taliban figures from the deposed regime are living openly in Quetta, and that everyone there knows exactly where they are, including the US military based there, who are extremely frustrated at not being able to go after them after their incursions into Afghanistan. While the Taliban isn’t Al Quaeda, I think it is indicative that Pakistan authorities very likely have had access to information about OBL’s whereabouts for a while.
You fell for arab propaganda. The arab press tries to portray bin laden as a folk hero, one step ahead of the coppers. They often report he is cornered, only to out-sly his pursuers and escape.