Bin Laden could be arrested at any time, says US official (Cofer Black)

[allemand]

ISLAMABAD: US Coordinator on counter-terrorism Ambassador J Cofer Black expected on Friday that Osama Bin Laden and his collaborators could be arrested at any time and said, “Everything is in place and a little bit is needed to localise these people and catch them.”

<...>

“In counter-terrorism, the programmes are in place. We are after these guys globally. Success against people that you know about, Osama could happen tomorrow, could happen the day after, a week from now, or month from now. Everything is in place. A little bit is needed to localise these people and to catch them,” he said.

”I tell the people and the media in the US that I would be surprised but not shocked that Osama and all his lieutenants have been caught and none of these guys are in jail. It will be a good day for the people of this world in terms of counter-terrorism,” he said.

More:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-9-2004_pg7_8

Surprise, surprise... Why did it take them so long to put "everything in place"...?

[Bluebear]

1. Yes, at any moment. I'm shocked, shocked I say.

The BIG FINALE to the re-selection campaign.

[Seabiscuit]

33. I'm not shocked.

This is just more BS propaganda.

If it were at all real, it would have been anounced almost 3 years ago, when we were in Afghanistan, but we never intended to seriously capture him, because we never had enough troops there, and when we had him cornered, we didn't go after him in the mountain caves, we stood back while a bunch of rag-tags from local tribes crawled around, and got killed or bought off. IOW, we let him escape. THEN, we suddenly shifted all the rhetoric, personnel, and equipment to Iraq.

When I say "We" I of course mean Bushco.

What horseshit.

[JustCarbon]

53. uhhuh

and by captured they mean taken out of the freezer they've kept him in and thawed out

[Seabiscuit]

54. LOL!!!

They wish! :)

[oustemnow]

55. I tend to agree

they made virtually the same claim several months ago, with a similar vague-but-urgent timeframe.

[ps1074]

2. uh oh, we are hearing this for almost 3 years now

eom

[Piperay]

3. I'm surprised

I thought they were going to drag him out in chains during the repuke convention. :shrug:

[0rganism]

4. No kidding. I envisioned him lowered from the roof beams in a cage

Even if the pukes can't catch the real Usama, I'm sure they can find a way to get a prisoner looking a lot like him for the photo ops.

[susu369]

5. Placing bets:

I say October 8th....

[Eurotrash]

23. I'd say more like October 18

They're probably worried about pulling him out of the hat too early, lest the voters forget before Nov. 2.

[susu369]

46. Welcome to DU, Eurotrash

:hi:

[Emillereid]

30. Mid- October is probably a good time to take him out of cold storage!

[Catfight]

6. Who? never heard the name. n/t

[Enraged_Ape]

7. HORSESHIT. If they had OBL on the line, they would have at least...

mentioned his name at their ridiculous convention. As it was, the name "Osama" wasn't uttered once. NOT ONCE.

We all know how these clowns work. They are all sales job. If they knew where Osama was and knew that he was alive, they would have had to say his name at least once on the podium to remind us who the fuck he is, and to ratchet up the scare factor a little bit more before they catch him.

[Junkdrawer]

10. Yeah. 90% chance this is a ploy to remove "Where's Osama"...

from the MoveOn play list.

[LisaL]

14. Maybe they want

to make it a nice big surprise?

[Enraged_Ape]

16. Ahhhhh...no.

It would have been a lot more surprising for them to whip us up into fear and fury, with words about how Osama was still out there ready to kill each one of us dead, dead, DEAD. Then three weeks later, we CATCH HIM!! Yayy, Bush!!!

But no, there was NO mention of him. Just like there was NO mention of Bush's other miserable, horrible failures over the last four years. It was like Bush's Presidency began and ended on September 11th, 2001 (except for the "seven minutes", and the running around the country like a chicken with his head cut off).

No, Osama is clearly political poison for this administration, which means they don't have him, and they have no plans to have him anytime soon.

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. They also totally ignored Bu$h's reaction on Sept 11th, 2001

They all talked about how wonderful Bu$h's was on Sept 14th but what he said and did during the first 3 days of the disaster, weren't even mentioned.

These folks have very selective memories. The illusion that you have to create for yourself, in order to believe in George Bu$h is mind boggling. Some days I think, that maybe if I drink the koolaide too, it won't hurt so bad?

[umtalal]

52. Pataki did mention him in his sad little speech. n/t

[goforit]

8. Probably found a look alike!!!......Perfect timing for election!!

[Vitruvius]

19. And a DEAD look-alike is the easiest fake; can't be questioned,

voice & mannerisms don't matter, and a dead man doesn't even have to look that much alike because the dead don't look much like the living.

[Eurotrash]

24. That's another very plausible scenario

On the evening of November 1, "unconfirmed" reports start blanketing the network news that Osama has been killed. Of course it will be impossible to confirm them before the election is over, at which time they will turn out to be false. But they will have done their job of once again swaying the election into the "tragedy" column.

[DS1]

9. I could be struck by a pirouetting Iguana 'at any time'

It's a pointless phrase - the check's in the mail

[AnnInLa]

11. Well, they definitely can't take him alive.....

from Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country": (shortened and edited for length)

Mr. Bush, something doesn't make sense. You got us all repeating by rote that is was Osama who was responsible for the attack on the US on 9/11. Even I was doing it. But then I started hearing strange stories about Osama's kidneys. There have been reports on Osama's health problems for years. In 2000 the AP reported he is suffering from kidney and liver disease and that his followers were trying to find a kidney machine for their ailing leader. On Hardball, a Taliban expert said "Osama appears to need dialysis treatment for his kidney problems, so he's got to be close to some dialysis. He really can't travel far." Is he running from cave to cave in Afghanistan with his tubes and dialisis machine trailing behind him? Or, maybe there is a dialysis machine in every 3rd cave in Afghanistan? How hard would it be to catch someone like this?

I would like to throw out a possibility here. What if 9/11 was not a "terrorist" attack, but rather, a military attack? What if the 19 were well-trained soldiers, the elite of the elite, unquestioning in their duty to obey their commander's orders? That they lived in the US for 2 years and were not discovered...that takes a certain amount of discipline, the discipline of a soldier, not the erratic behavior of some wild-eyed terrorist. George, you were a pilot once...how hard is it to hit a 5-story bldg at more than 500 mph? The Pentagon is only 5 stories high. Had the pilots been off by just a hair, they'd been in the river. You do not get this skilled at learning how to fly jumbo jets by being taught on a video game machine at some dipshit filght training school in Arizona. You learn to do this in the air force. Someone's air force. The Saudi Air Force? What if these weren't wacko terrorists, but military pilots who signed on to a suicide mission?

A 1999 article in "Foreign Affairs": "Like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia would like to leave Osama in Afghanistan. His arrest and trial in the US could be highly embarrassing, exposing his continuing relationship with sympathetic members of the ruling elites and intelligence service of both countries."

None of this is to say that Osama isn't a baddie or even that he didn't have something to do with the attacks. But, (did he have help from his Saudi connections?) Why, when Congress releases its own investigation into 9/11, you, Mr Bush, censor out 28 pages that deal with the Saudis' role in the attack?

[0007]

44. You certainly raise many points worth questionings

bin Laden would be an embarrassing situation if ever he was brought in a live. Which I doubt will ever happen. The U.S. may come up with a story that he was killed or took his life during an attempted capture.

[AnnInLa]

49. thanks....those points are Michael Moore's, I suggest

everyone read his book, "Dude, Where's My Country?"

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

12. "However, we are waiting for October in the Republican tradition

that was first created by the Reagan tricks team."

[kskiska]

13. They laughed at Madeline Albright

when she suggested this in a backstage aside to Morton Kondracke at Faux News. He announced it on the air and they all yukked it up, painting her as an idiot.

[Snellius]

15. Let's take a look at Ambassador J. Cofer Black

Look familiar? Or do they all look alike?

[leesa]

17. Yup. Uh-huh. So did the guy actually do anything to us?

No proof linking OBL to 9-11. There has never been an investigation into what happened that day. They just told us who they wanted us to believe did it, within minutes of the attack, and Americans fell for it.

We're STILL waiting for the "white papers" that Tony Blair promised would prove OBL did 9-11. The tapes were fake and OBL talking about how surprised he was that the towers fell was exactly what many of us Americans said as well.

[Pastiche423]

28. Are those the same "white papers"

that Powell promised us?

Did the same dog eat both papers?

[xchrom]

18. well, why the hell not...

mcglaughlin said on his show that he thought wmds would be found in october -- so i wouldn't be surprised to see obl ''captured''.
i just happen to believe this crew of pukes is that evill -- to pull dirty stunts like this off.
when this much money, power and greed all come together -- anything is possible.

[mountainvue]

21. Are they kidding with this shit? n/t

[Khephra]

22. They've downplayed OBL so much

that they'll have to start constantly talking about him again, if his capture is to have any effect on the country. If you hear Bush mentioning OBL 343 times in each speech in the coming days then you'll know they've got him and that they've got their October Surprise ready.

[PATRICK]

45. The real reason for downplaying

is that no one can be 100% sure if Osama is alive, but the exploitation is so tempting and some trickery so possible that keeping the IDEA alive without investing any real Bushco reputation in it is absolutely required. Osama as an idea can be manufactured and "caught" or "killed" and if it later is discredited they can feign an almost disinterested surprise. Of course, torturing his lieutenants might come up with the real info whatever that is- if ever they deign to release credible testimony.

Of course, our stalwart investigative journalists cannot imagine that, but even when it comes up there are no public positions by Bushco to hit at.

Their real dismay in Afghanistan was losing touch with assurity on the taking or killing of Osama. That is as open to interpretation as the mystery of Osama's survival.

[campaignextra]

25. Here's some more on this

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/extra/archives/000803.html

[moondust]

26. My plans are in place and I'm ready to win the lottery at any time!

I just need to localise some numbers and then cash in my ticket after the drawing! B-)

[area51]

27. if "Bin Laden could be arrested at any time",

Don't tell G.W. Hoover. He's said that he doesn't know where OBL is & doesn't give a damn about him.

[bvar22]

29. Can we buy an Osama?

You know, take up some collections, hit Soros and a few others for some bucks. The Pakistani government is notoriously corrupt. Maybe they would sell Osama to us.

We could have Kerry and Edwards lead Osama out on stage and hand him over to bush* in front of all the cameras saying, "Don't worry, george*. We got him for you!"
.....maybe.

Sweet Dreams. (WOW! What's in this stuff? I gotta get some more of this.)

[pinniped]

31. Catch him or not makes no difference to me.

* has been nothing but a miserable failure since it was hatched in that lab.

Are these assholes going to claim the ever elusive OBL was captured in IRQ?

[kayell]

32. In other news, undertakers announced a new process that makes

freeze damage very difficult to detect.

[lefthandedskyhook]

34. Ramp up the rhetoric, folks!

John Kerry would have captured bin Laden long, long ago.

Swing voters need to be asking themselves why this move is being made so close to the election. This is no more a coincidence than rampant outsourcing of jobs, the massive and unnecessary deficit, or the systematic fabrication of intelligence on Iraq.

America deserves better.

[gatorboy]

35. I think this is just a desperate attempt,

to make up for the lack of Usama talk during the convention.

People started asking questions so they pushed this story out. You have to admit though, these guys are fast on their feet!

[sofa king]

36. Sorry, but I dissent. Arresting Osama might be the real crime!

I think there is a strong possibility that something actually good has been happening.

Online publications such as warwatch and militaryweek have for the past year or so been reporting that Osama and his boys are effectively confined to a single valley along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Whether by intention or by design, we busted that Pakistani nuke scientist selling secrets to world and dog. The public payback was that Pakistan parked two divisions on the border right on top of Osama's spot. It's nearly certain that the private agreement includes an expansion of US special operations onto the Pakistani side of the border.

Having Osama trapped like a cornered rat is actually a good thing in some ways. al Qaeda has provisions for having its higher leadership knocked off. Take Osama out and while it would hurt a lot, al Qaeda would simply spawn new leadership and communications networks elsewhere.

But, if we have them cornered and al Qaeda leadership is still trying to exert control from their hiding spot, that allows us to monitor and to some extent control their highest level communications. Every time they send a directive we have a chance to intercept it and use it to our (national security) advantage. Everytime someone outside tries to send a message in, we have a chance to send back a fallacious instruction, like "the Boss says don't kill anyone this week." It hasn't rendered al Qaeda totally ineffective because they are a confederacy of independent psychopaths instead of a single-party oligarchy like we are, but it may be helping.

If this is the case, it is obviously something you don't want to advertise too loudly.

However, please don't think that I'm some sort of apologist for the Bush Administration. One reason why this post is speculative is because the scenario above would be a cleverly conceived and competent approach to international terrorism, which would obviously not be in keeping with everything else the Bush administration has done to date.

But we probably do agree on one thing. The way I see it, if you have the dumb sonofabitch holed up in a cave, listening to his radio broadcasts, reading his mail, and using that information to hunt down and terminate al Qaeda's operatives, that's a good thing. The absolute nadir of scummery would be to sacrifice that intelligence coup for political gain.

The way you would do that is to walk in and wreck everything you've carefully put together in order to wave Osama's head around in a cynical attempt to win an election at the cost of suffering a major intelligence setback in our "war." That's a decision guaranteed to cost American and other lives.

And I think that George Bush and Karl Rove would do it in a heartbeat if they thought it would buy them three points in the polls. My guess is Osama's capture will be announced on Sunday, October 10, 2004, at halftime of the four o'clock EST football game, with a press conference timed to trump the 60 Minutes broadcast.

[VOX]

41. Your theory presupposes that Osama is still the "head of the serpent"

Osama is nothing if not cagey. And if he is indeed in ill health, as has been widely reported, would he not have made some contingency plans for his demise? If he is committed to his takedown of the West, it's not a stretch to think that he would have passed along all pertinent information to his successor(s). He could be kicking back in his hideout, watching ESPN and sipping green tea, while his appointees elsewhere in the world are busy networking.

Your theory also presupposes that Osama has dropped his guard regarding the flow of information coming in/going out, and that he is now a veritable font of goodies for our intelligence, just too precious to take out.

Sorry, I have a very tough time accepting this scenario.

[PATRICK]

42. An idea but it is only

more cover for the timing of the arrest, a twisted reason for a delay.
It is sketchy since even the dumbest Al Qaeda bravo would not want to gush his plans to Osama. In effect the leadership ceased to function pretty much as Hussein did when he went on the lam. Osama's clearing house for 911 plans went remote from the details, nor did he personally do much except to move the money- which may be another big reason nothing much big is happening.

And who is alive anyway? No convincing tape or message has ever come out to prove Osama is as alive as these gossips consistently take for an absolute article of faith. No ifs ands or buts, but extreme confidence unwarranted by anything but myth. Speculation that Osama and one-eyed jack were obliterated? That Osama died from wounds? Doesn't even ring as a possibility. Why is that? Only if these titillating Osama-droppers know something substantially more than we know.

But if something goes awry and only shreds or lower level lieutenants are rounded up, they can innocently claimed that osama is buried in the rubble- because- as you all know- Osama WAS there and WAS alive. On their say so, not on the evidence. It never comes up in the media discussion the vaguest hint of doubt that Osama is there at all. Never- and therefore you can confident that any spin can be orchestrated around the unchallenged myth.

Yes Virginia, there is an Osama, and I bet the wide eyed media idiots actually do believe it without question, unlike the smarmy condescending prose artist who lectured to that little girl.

[sofa king]

47. You both make excellent points.

What it really comes down to is that the sources I've been checking seem to agree that someone important is there along the border, and they've been under observation for a very long time. Even if Osama is jammin' Nusrat Fateh ali Khan while playing Vice City, or if he's dead, those guys holed up there are still very important for some reason.

There seems to me only two really decent explanations for why that's happening. The first is what I suggested above. The second is that they've been put "on ice" for just this very occasion, which is what I think both of you are implying--forgive me if I'm wrong on that.

In order to justify the second, we would at least have to try to do the first. It's just my opinion, but I have a really hard time believing that the entire intelligence community would be complicit in holding those guys simply for political gain. They've already gone to the mat once for this President and their reward was some Vaseline and a towel to bite down on. They wouldn't stay quiet about something as callous as this... would they?

Then again, the world is a strange place, run by even stranger people. I guess we'll get some more clues soon enough.

[VolcanoJen]

37. Kick

:dem:

[Feanorcurufinwe]

38. If I were on the run, and it had been in the papers for 2 years

that I was hiding in a particular place, I don't think you'd find me there.

[miss_kitty]

39. haven't they been this close about 90 times before?

it's like the orange alerts we keep hearing about...we're safe but we're in danger, we have him but he got away.
can't they just track him down through the dialysis machine he's supposedly hooked up to?

[0007]

40. What a rag!

Get a load of the crap, it is not even good propaganda.

"President Bush and Musharraf understood that fighting terrorism was important regardless of ethnicity, nationality and religion and criminals had to be confronted. “As Americans we are grateful and praise Pakistan’s performance. It is our objective to support our colleagues in this endeavour,” he added. Asked what if President Musharraf were assassinated he said, “We as a country greatly admire President Musharraf. Pakistan is very well served by him. Relationships transcend individuals.”

[GOPAgainstGW]

43. BULLSHIT ALERT!!! - VERIFIED GOP "TEXAS MAFIA" FIX!!!

[susu369]

48. Remember the leaflet the Pentagon dropped with this photo ?

That has to be one of the most bizarre stories I've heard.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/01/04/ret.bin.laden.leaflets/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) --The Pentagon is trying to persuade remaining al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan to surrender by distributing leaflets that contain a doctored image of Osama bin Laden in Western-style dress.

The two-sided paper is being dropped in areas of Afghanistan where the United States believed al Qaeda fighters are.

The leaflet has an image of dead Afghan soldiers with the following statement, with spellings retained: "Usama bin Laden, the murderer and coward, has abandoned al Qaeda. He has abandoned you and run away. Give yourself up and do not die needlessly, you mean nothing to him. Save your families the grief and pain of your death."

On the other side is an altered image of bin Laden, shown without his turban or beard and dressed in a white suit and tie. In large letters, it states: "Usama bin Laden the murderer and coward has abandoned you!"

--snip--

Some analysts say the altered photograph will not play well in some parts of the Muslim world, where there is already suspicion of the United States.

Asked whether the leaflet could be used by some to say the United States is willing to doctor or make up things -- as has been alleged about the videotape found in Afghanistan by the United States -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had not thought about the possibility

Rumsfeld, speaking at Thursday's Pentagon media briefing, said there was "nothing much" the United States could do about what others might claim about the leaflets.

"The whole premise of bin Laden's activities in the world are premised on lies and the fact that people will say things, like you just said they might say, is true," he said.

[Darranar]

50. What is this, the fifth time?

With all the times they've been "close", they should be a few inches away from him by now....

[TheCentepedeShoes]

51. Thanks for reminding me

to send the hubby to the Fart N' Fetchum for a lotto ticket. We're a sure winner!

[bamacrat]

56. Shocking

It's amazing how the inevitable capture of Osama bin Laden happens to fall right after the RNC. That that's not "fate" I don't know what is, Mr. B*sh congratulations your rigged election is here.:puke:

[Moderator]

57. Kick

:dem:

[Aidoneus]

58. bullshit--if it was even remotely true,

they wouldn't be talking about it.

[are_we_united_yet]

59. How about October?

Sounds like a good month to me.

[Ohio rules]

60. Same old story. It's one year old

They were supposed to catch him last spring....at the latest.

[robbedvoter]

61. Like the death of the McDonalds founder would effect sales (Bill Maher)

By now, this becomes almost as irrelevant as sSddam.

[Bhaisahab]

62. Yeah right! The Pakis are denying it!

The top government spokesman, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said the recent comments about bin Laden by Cofer Black, the State Department's co-ordinator for counterterrorism, were a "political statement."

"We don't have any information about bin Laden," Ahmed said.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1094468465971&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968705899037