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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (688586)	6/29/2005 10:00:00 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

Cheney says he knows where OBL is. I haven't heard him say it. Forgive me for not considering you a reliable source. If he has said it the fact that they "know" where he is could mean that they know a large area that he is in. For a long time we pretty much knew that Saddam was in Iraq, we "knew where he was", but it still took us awhile to find him. OBL is apparently better at hiding, or has better support from his friends. And the area we think (not reall know) he is in is a better area to "get lost" in. And they had him trapped at Tora Bora. That is a rather questionable statement. He was believed to have been at Tora Bora, but he may have left before any sizable American force arrived. Why haven't they gotten him? There must be a reason. Because a reasonably smart and tough individual with a lot of support, in an area that is physically, and politically difficult to search can stay hidden for a long time. We don't even know for certain that he is in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan Pakistan border. If he is, that is a great place for him to hide, the terrain is rough, he has a lot of supporters in that area. The people of that area are used to living more by their own rules than anything that the governments in Islamabad and Kabul try to put in place. They also have a lot of experience with smuggling and hiding things and they have a cultural trait of giving sanctuary to others and being very serious about not turning people who have been given sanctuary over to the government or to foreign armies. If he isn't in that area he could be anywhere and the world is an aweful big place for one person to hide in. He has contacts and supporters. He doesn't have to go to the ATM machine to get cash, and he isn't likely to make credit card purchases on a card in the name of Osama bin Laden. The only way we are likely to find him is if someone who knows where he is tells us, and while he is hated by many he is loved by others and is likely to stay around people that would be more devoted to his cause. Add to that the political and social reasons for not turning him in and the fear of Al Qaeda retaliation (even if the US protects the guy who turns him in they could go after his family, if we protect his immediate family, they go after his extended family, if we protect them, then his more distant relatives, I doubt we will bring his whole clan in to US and provide them with tight security). Considering all those facts its not really surprising that we haven't got him. OTOH we are making a real effort to get him and we have a big price on his head, so we might get him, but you can hardly count on it. It must be an intentional reason. Nonsense. Tim