Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (30906)	2/23/2004 2:33:42 AM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793955

By capturing Bin Laden? M U.S. search for bin Laden intensifies By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES The Pentagon is moving elements of a supersecret commando unit from Iraq to the Afghanistan theater to step up the hunt for Osama bin Laden. A Defense Department official said there are two reasons for repositioning parts of Task Force 121: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed. Second, intelligence reports are increasing on the whereabouts of bin Laden, the terror leader behind the September 11 attacks. "Iraq has become more of a policing problem than a hunt for high-value Iraqis," the defense official said. "Afghanistan is the place where 121 can do more." Task forces typically change names when they move, so it is likely that the commando unit arriving in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region will take a new name. Task Force 121 is a mix of Army Delta Force soldiers and Navy SEALs, transported on helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The SEALs and soldiers are based at Joint Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, N.C. Delta-SEAL teams typically move into theater, practice missions and wait for military and CIA intelligence to provide the location of a target, such as Saddam. The new task force to hunt bin Laden in the Afghanistan area likely will be led by a Navy SEAL who was toasted in Washington while working antiterrorism issues in the Bush administration. The Washington Times is withholding his name because of the secret nature of the operation. Military sources said reports of bin Laden's movements are becoming more numerous as the fugitive Saudi, leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network, hides in the mountainous terrain straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. "They're getting better intelligence, and they've gotten better at fusing the intelligence," a second defense source said. A CIA-military intelligence team conducted a similar operation in Iraq to catch Saddam. Officers made a schematic of family members and Ba'athist officials close to Saddam and questioned them on his whereabouts. The team hit pay dirt when a recently detained Iraqi revealed precise information on the ousted dictator's whereabouts on a farm south of Tikrit. Task Force 121 joined a 4th Infantry Division unit Dec. 13 in raiding the farm and finding Saddam hidden in a hole. The commando task force took Saddam to Tikrit in a Special Operations "Little Bird" helicopter before he was imprisoned in the Baghdad area. Speculation that the United States is close to finding bin Laden heightened last month when military officers in Afghanistan predicted that the terror leader would be killed or captured by year's end. "We have a variety of intelligence, and we're sure we're going to catch Osama bin Laden and [Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammed] Omar this year," Army Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in January. "We've learned lessons from Iraq, and we're getting improved intelligence from the Afghan people." A few days earlier, Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told the BBC: "You can be assured that we're putting a renewed emphasis on closing this out and bringing these two individuals to justice, as well as the other senior leadership of that organization. They represent a threat to the entire world, and they need to be destroyed." Bin Laden is thought to be in the lawless tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Officials say U.S. troops do not cross into Pakistan, leaving the hunt on the ground for bin Laden to the CIA and the Pakistan army. But specific intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts might prompt the use of a Delta-SEAL task force to raid his Pakistan hide-out, officials say. Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, recently praised Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's willingness to send troops into unfriendly tribal areas, where bin Laden reportedly is popular. "I talk to him frequently," Gen. Abizaid said of Gen. Musharraf. "I just visited him the other day. I saw him after one of two assassination attempts. He knows that al Qaeda is trying to kill him, and he absolutely, positively wants to get the problem under control. "But there are difficulties that he has that are associated with working in the tribal areas that he has to work through on his own," Gen. Abizaid said. washtimes.com

To: michael97123 who wrote (30906)	2/23/2004 5:25:54 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793955

How do we win that f**g thing so we can win this f**g thing? mike edited: Mike, I believe we are winning that f*****g thing. At least we are right now. The demo propaganda machine supported by the left leaning press wants you to believe otherwise...but we are winning substantial battlefield victories. But this is not going to be over for a long while. It took over 3 1/2 years to get a German Govt up and running after WWII. The terrorists are organized on a worldwide basis now. I have written several times that I believe our leaders when they predict a 20-30 year war. I have also written that we have the upper hand momentarily, but the final outcome is far from certain. Yes we are taking casualties. We are inflicting far more. You are not seeing those figures. On average 10,000 Americans die everyday. Multiply the number of days since 9/11 by 10,000 and you will find 500 an insigificant number. Don't take me wrong I am not saying the men are insignificant. Just that it needs to be put in perspective...Over 3.5 million Americans die every year. Approx 9 million Americans have died since 9/11. Neither Kerry nor the press ever address the other 8,999,500. One out of every 7,300 American deaths has been a combat loss since 9/11. The press is totally focused on the one and ignoring the other 7,299. Our battlefield casualties remain a small fraction of our 9/11 casualties. But more are going to die. If the terrorists are successful many many more American civilians and soldiers are going to die. I do not want to be an alarmist but before this is over, casualties in the millions are not out of the question. WMDs have that kind of potential. The problem in the sunni triangle that concerns you is difficult but being appropriately dealt with imo. Ultimately the Iraqis will have to resolve it. We are trying take terrorists out there, but we will never get them all. There are numerous similar groups throughout the world that have not yet been significantly addressed. We are not going to rush in anywhere and get it over with. I believe this war is going to have to be expanded soon. We got spoiled by Grenada, Haiti and Panama. We want overnight military solutions because we got a few in the past. This war is markedly different. Different because of the multiple simultaneous attacks we already suffered; different because our opponents are well-organized and funded; different because our opponents are willing to volunteer to die for the opportunity to maybe kill one or more of us; different because our opponents are located world-wide. They are not all together in one small geographic location. This conflict is also different because on a global scale we are terribly outnumbered. I never thought we attacked Iraq and Afghanistan. I view it as a counterattack. We are going to have to conduct more counterattacks to even have a chance of winning. There are 15 million Muslim militants on earth. Their oft stated goal is to kill all Americans, kill all Jews, and kill all Christians. Their words are grim, their actions are worse. Their actions speak louder than their words as they pursue the goal. Kerry thinks he has an anti-war goal...Well he needs to clear that with the terrorists first. We all would prefer no war, but it is not in the cards yet for humans. Hell if I was one of the bad guys, I would send Kerry a campaign donation hoping to buy 4 or 8 more years of training and set-up time. America is a big ship to sink. Our adversaries believe they can do just that. If we fail to defend ourselves properly, they will succeed. uw