Bin Laden Gets a Pass from Pakistan

[StreetScooby 5]

WTF???
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html
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Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials tell ABC News.

The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban.

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the tribal areas of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, but U.S. officials say his precise location is unknown.

In addition to the pullout of Pakistani troops, the "peace agreement" between Pakistan and the Taliban also provides for the Pakistani army to return captured Taliban weapons and prisoners.

"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director.

The agreement was signed on the same day President Bush said the United States was working with its allies "to deny terrorists the enclaves they seek to establish in ungoverned areas across the world."

The Pakistani Army had gone into Waziristan, under heavy pressure from the United States, but faced a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

"They're throwing the towel," said Alexis Debat, who is a Senior Fellow at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant. "They're giving al Qaeda and the Taliban a blank check and saying essentially make yourselves at home in the tribal areas," Debat said.

We are all engines of karma

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

The Pakistani Army had gone into Waziristan, under heavy pressure from the United States, but faced a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

...and their pride did not allow them to request help?

I hope it is all just a show - identify where he is and let the US blow him up with plausible deniability of Pakistani involvement. Still, it shouldn't be needed.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[StreetScooby 5]

Quote

I hope it is all just a show - identify where he is and let the US blow him up with plausible deniability of Pakistani involvement.

Now that's something I hadn't considered. I hope that's the case, also.

We are all engines of karma

[matthewcline 0]

That would actually make a little sense, since we would hate to harm a "friend" in the war on terror who has "stood beside us" in an effort to "defeat" UBL and AQ.

Since the positioning of the Paki Army has allowed UBL to remain free and protected, this could be just as you say, I hope so.

Defeating UBL wont kill the AQ, since it is a mutli-headed monster, but it will make it easier since he is the smartest and richest head in the basket.

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[billvon 3,120]

> the "peace agreement" between Pakistan and the Taliban also
> provides for the Pakistani army to return captured Taliban weapons
> and prisoners.

In addition, we have just endorsed this truce with the Taliban. Remember when we wanted to find and arrest/kill the man who pulled off 9/11? Now, five years later, we endorse a haven for him. Odd.

---------------------------
Bush backs Pak-Taliban deal
Chidanand Rajghatta
8 Sep, 2006

WASHINGTON: US president Bush on Thursday cautiously endorsed a truce between Gen Musharraf and pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan even as terrorist violence soared in Afghanistan and Al Qaida sent a sharp reminder of 9/11 with a video message ahead of the anniversary.
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[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

I hope it is all just a show - identify where he is and let the US blow him up with plausible deniability of Pakistani involvement

Well, now that was the plan until you went public with it. Now you've gone and blabbed it to the world. Nice job.

Loose lips sink ships, you know.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Some people just can't stop gobbing off.

No wonder they never were military.

[Skyrad 0]

Waziristan is eally only Pakistan on the map. Its a wild tribal rule area and has always been so. Every time the Pakistani Army or Police have tried to take control of the area they have benn beaten badly. I think the guy in the article is right, they've thrown in the towel, and had enough of loosing their own men. Besides, if America can't be bothered to look for Bin Laden and would rather persue interests in Iraq why the hell should the Pakistanis bother?
But seriously I'm sure if Bin Laden came out of that area then he would be hit hard, the amount of times he and his pals have tried to kill Musharaff.

PS
I only half had my tongue in my cheek.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[billvon 3,120]

>But seriously I'm sure if Bin Laden came out of that area then he would be hit hard . . .

?? We let him go in Tora Bora, and that was back when we hadn't overextended ourselves in Iraq. Today, with the situations in both Afghanistan and Iraq deteriorating, we have even less manpower available; why would we commit more manpower now?

Don't forget, he's really not a priority. We're not that concerned about him.

[kallend 2,150]

Quote

>But seriously I'm sure if Bin Laden came out of that area then he would be hit hard . . .

?? We let him go in Tora Bora, and that was back when we hadn't overextended ourselves in Iraq. Today, with the situations in both Afghanistan and Iraq deteriorating, we have even less manpower available; why would we commit more manpower now?

Don't forget, he's really not a priority. We're not that concerned about him.

You forgot the quotation marks.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Andy9o8 2]

Just for the record, I was being facetious. I agree it would be a nice strategy, but I was joking about us "revealing" it. I sometimes neglect to add the in order to keep it "dry".