Pakistan says US claim that bin Laden near capture is politicking

[Nambe]

ISLAMABAD (AFP)

Pakistan rejected as "politicking" a US official's weekend claim that Osama bin Laden was close to being captured.

"He can say this, but we have no sound information. This is a political statement," Rashid told AFP on Monday. ..

Rashid however said no new information had come to light, despite a rash of high-profile Al-Qaeda arrests which began mid-July.

"I think there is no confirmed information about him. We have no knowledge. Maybe he (Black) has. We exchange our information but we have no new information," the minister said.

"There has been no change (in the information) since then." ..

[Infomaniac]

1. Thanks for posting this.

I can only hope the media broadly disseminates this story as it did the original boasting news story about OBL's capture being imminent.

[EnfantTerrible]

2. That's... well frankly... I'm shocked

and here I thought we were safe.

Damn.

Another nugget ready to be ignored by the "liberal media"...

[LauraK]

3. Is Pakistan starting to turn on boy george?

Yesterday they said they would no longer turn over prisoners to the US and now they are calling the bushistas on their lies. Maybe we didn't make our last payment to the puppets.

[Longhorn79]

4. Of course, but who paid attention to their claim in the first place?

I mean besides the freepers?

[pa28]

5. I believe this . . .

They know some Democrats are afraid to make Bin-Laden an issue because the "October Surprise" idea has taken root. The failure to capture him is a legitimate issue. If he is captured before the election what we say now does not matter anyway. If he does appear it's too little too late at this point IMO. Bush promised "dead or alive" and has failed.

[GimmeDANEger]

7. is that Charles Bukowski in your avatar?

Or am I fucking crazy?

[pa28]

8. You got it. n/t

[LauraK]

6. His capture would destabelize the current unstable situation.

I can't believe the anti-US elements are still dependant on his money or his fame. I'm sure they would be quick to let us know they are alive and active.

[xchrom]

9. answer alex: the sound of cofer black being bitch slapped

q. what's the funniest sound in the world?

[acmavm]

10. The news that the bush* administration has more Muslim countries

targeted for preemption is known throughout the entire world. This does not play well with the populace in Pakistan or anywhere else with a big Muslim population. In fact, I'm sure that continued support of this administration while they are blabbing about future attacks can only bring problems for their own governments. And so their governments are going to have to distance themselves from the US in order to prevent destabilization in their own countries.

[struggle4progress]

11. kick

:kick:

[quaoar]

12. Inside of the real Bin laden

Bush is going to hire a lookalike to play the role and have him arrested the weekend before the election. By the time anyone figures it out the election will be over. Poof.

LOL

[doni_georgia]

13. And the answer is

(1) Divert attention. Something else is going on. Maybe, say, the release of a best-selling book. Something about a high-level conservative political figure and some white, powdery substance. No, not the kind you get in the mail.
Or maybe something else.

(2) Get people thinking "bin Laden." The Republicans have really only one strength card that they can play, and that's antiterrorism. The economy is not great and any "recovery" is a dead-cat bounce in the face of whiplash-inducing deficits. Family values? Nah. The only people who are buying into that would vote for Bush anyway. Jobs? Gee, I used to have one, but it ran away to join a cult in India somewhere. Or something. It's a long way away, anyway - across an ocean and everything.

(3) Maybe another hint in mid- to late September on the whereabouts of bin Laden. Drop a third and final hint in the first week of October. Countdown: 3...2...1...

(4) Sometime around, say, October 26th (the Monday eight days before the election): "Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him." A huge media fest ensues. The scramble for coverage, quotes, film at 11. Congressional and Executive branch Republicans preening and dishing out sound bites, all praising the incumbent's "leadership" in the "war on terror." Kerry can't get on the news to save his life. Or his candidacy. Given the week-long Reagan sendoff, a seven-day media orgy seems kind of likely.

(5) Oh, by the way, it's time to vote again.

I'm not saying it will happen, at least not quite like this, but the guy on Olberman's Countdown tonight - whoever he was, he was an unblinking lizard and I bet he sucks at poker, because he gave every impression, short of a neon sign flashing "DISSEMBLING," that he wasn't telling everything he knew - gave me every impression that Mr. bin Laden might well already be in U.S. hands.

As long as Bush doesn't tank from this Kitty Kelley thing or make more ill-chosen remarks about OB/GYNs, or actually go nuts and disrobe at a debate, they can hold on to bin Laden and play that card at the most opportune moment. And the diversion from releasing the news will make a huge smoke screen to obfuscate media attention whenever it occurs. I particularly loved the way Mr. Lizard claimed that the news media would know about bin Laden's capture "in a nanosecond." Bullcrap. The guys who bagged him could be shipped off for a nice debriefing, incommunicado. Or worse. But Mr. Lizard seemed awfully voluble in his statements, which made me even more suspicious. The whole interview set off big alarm bells for me.

This, folks, is a bad sign, a veritable comet in the sky heading right for us all. If Bush's people have bin Laden, then Bush will very likely win this election. I'm glad if he's no longer on the loose, but if he's being held for a timed news release, then I'm furious at the White House for trying to fool me and the other 300 million souls in this country.

Mac in Ga

[The_Casual_Observer]

14. Yes, black is simply talking shit

Just like bush.

[Raiden]

15. You mean Bush is using OBL for

political gain? No, it can't be.

[tblue37]

16. I think that there is a chance it could backfire.

If they trot him out at the last minute now, people actually could get pissed.

We need to make sure the "October Surprise" meme gets lots of play, with a strong suggestion that they have had him on ice for some time, or that they could have rounded him up at any time because they had him pinpointed and more or less surrounded, but they left him out there just so they could use him as a tool for reelection.

[VolcanoJen]

17. Reuters version here...

It's on Yahoo, and it's already on their front page:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=5&u=/nm/20040907/ts_nm/security_pakistan_osama_dc