IOIH: If you ask me, (please hold down the indignation till you read it all), the best thing to do is keep Bin Laden alive.
He is a cult figure to pubescent teenage boys, offering them heaven, virgins, and glory. To the Taliban, he is a genius who helped block the Soviets. To all extremists, who are heartened at his success against the last Superpower, he is a legend.
So let's make him a martyr to etch that legend in immortality where he can never screw up again? Even his death fits into his plan to mobilize and spawn more extremists. (He could be bigger than Madonna!)
I think he needs a few defeats first. Sparing him, we start wiping out his supporters.... not just the fighters in hiding with him, but the folks who clothe him, shelter him, feed him, finance him and fondle him.
Make it an enormous risk to aid him at all, so every current or potential supporter will feel death looking over their shoulder. Tie up the funds of known financial supporters, so they're frozen.
Defoliate the poppy fields; cut off this money supply by torch or defoliant.
Carefully select battles, even if few and far between, to ensure rousing defeats, without any victories for him.
Take random potshots at other terrorist groups in other Arab nations, again, via careful selection. A consecutive string of defeats demoralizes the fighters and weakens the appeal to fresh followers.
Expose his own materialism by publishing his financial connections and showing the opulent lifestyles of the wealthy supporters, which is a no-no in Islamic terms.
Embarrass and humiliate and damage his reputation. Only after his star is sufficiently dulled do you capture him, try him and sentence him to a life in isolated confinement, as we did to Rudolf Hess.
Granted, he deserves death. But it may be far more useful to use him as the bait when our real targets are others, until he's been thoroughly reduced in stature.
Charlie Manson's followers did the damage, as does Bin Laden's. Other than nuking a huge portion of the globe, this is the only way I can estimate accomplishing the task of eliminating the murdering followers. |
