Bin Laden may not be in charge anymore

[Gunslinger]

I'm not sure if this follows the whole "no news is good news" premise or not.  I beleive IMHO that there's alot to this story and to Bin Laden that the public is not privey to.  Either way this is kinda interesting.

U.S. Envoy: Bin Laden May Not Be Controlling Al Qaeda

Monday, December 12, 2005

 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  Usama bin Laden may no longer have operational control of his terrorist network, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said Monday.

Ryan Crocker said bin Laden cannot communicate with his followers because he likely is hiding in a remote area, Pakistan's Geo Television and state-run PTV reported after the ambassador met with local journalists.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Peter Kovach, who was at the gathering, confirmed the substance of the reports. He said the comments were made at a lunch for senior Pakistani journalists.

Neither station broadcast a tape of the remarks, and Kovach said he had no recording, either.

According to Geo, Crocker also doubted suggestions that bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had effective control of Al Qaeda, saying the fact that he issues occasional video and audiotaped statements does not prove anything.

The Al Qaeda No. 2 was last heard from on a tape that surfaced Sunday, urging all Muslims to take up arms and saying a refusal to join the fight against Jews and Christians would lead to the defeat of militant Islam.

He said the global Islamic community had "no hope for victory" until all Muslims signed on to the Al Qaeda-led jihad. His comments were contained in a 48-minute tape entitled "Impediments to Jihad."

The video portion of the tape was a still photo of a white-turbaned al-Zawahiri with English subtitles running under it. The audio appeared to be his voice speaking Arabic.

It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the tape.

Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding in the mountainous area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, though there has been no hard evidence of their whereabouts for years.

Bin Laden has long been considered by intelligence officials and terrorism experts to be more of an inspirational figure and financial backer for Al Qaeda, with day-to-day operations falling to underlings, including al-Zawahiri.

Crocker's comments follow similar ones last week by Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki bin al-Faisal.

Turki, a former director of the Saudi intelligence service, said he believes bin Laden is alive but there is some question about whether he still leads Al Qaeda. Bin Laden has not been heard from since an audiotape released in December 2004.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said last week he did not know whether bin Laden was dead or alive, and he would not speculate.

In October, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, retired Vice Adm. Scott Redd, said bin Laden cannot communicate with his followers the way he had in the past because "the more you communicate ... the more vulnerable you are."

Crocker also said he had no confirmation of the reported killing in northwestern Pakistan of Al Qaeda leader Hamza Rabia, though he added that he had no reason to doubt Musharraf's assurances that Rabia was dead.

Rabia reportedly died in a Dec. 1 explosion in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region along with two other alleged Syrian bodyguards. Pakistani officials said the blast was caused by bomb-making activities.

But local residents said Rabia died in a missile attack and parts of what appeared to be a missile were found at the site, but neither Pakistani nor American officials have confirmed that version.

[Skilless]

I saw this article earlier.  It's amazing how the doomsayers and defeatists refuse to see the plea from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the #2 man, for more Muslims to join the fight or else they will lose for what it is; An admission of defeat.  As far as some are concerned, the war in Iraq is lost.  I would bet that there are already people accusing the US government of fabricating this article as propaganda against the righteous freedom fighters...

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Skilless
I saw this article earlier.  It's amazing how the doomsayers and defeatists refuse to see the plea from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the #2 man, for more Muslims to join the fight or else they will lose for what it is; An admission of defeat.  As far as some are concerned, the war in Iraq is lost.  I would bet that there are already people accusing the US government of fabricating this article as propaganda against the righteous freedom fighters...

Good point.  I think AQ lost alot of the sympothy they got form muslims when they started attacking fellow muslims in the name of islam.  It's  like they lose their "moral legitimacy" with fellow muslims.  Case in point would be the recent attacks in Jordan but I beleive it started long before that.

it's kind like Insurgents call Iraq election ‘satanic project’

These terrorists don't fight for freedom, religous or otherwise and I think muslims are starting to see that.

[Yeager]

All it takes is one freakcrackpot islamic militant with a small WMD in a large population center and game on.

[Thrawn]

Dear god in heaven, when did Bin Laden ever have control over "Al Qaeda"?

Remember, loose confederation of diverse goups?


News Flash!  Bin Laden may also not be in charge of the Girl Guides.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Thrawn
Dear god in heaven, when did Bin Laden ever have control over "Al Qaeda"?

Remember, loose confederation of diverse goups?


News Flash!  Bin Laden may also not be in charge of the Girl Guides.

So are you saying he's not important or not worth capturing?  

or are you just stating the obvious (IE what the article says):

Bin Laden has long been considered by intelligence officials and terrorism experts to be more of an inspirational figure and financial backer for Al Qaeda, with day-to-day operations falling to underlings, including al-Zawahiri.

[Vulcan]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
So are you saying he's not important or not worth capturing?  

or are you just stating the obvious (IE what the article says):

It'd be better if he died in obscurity.

[storch]

Originally posted by Vulcan
It'd be better if he died in obscurity.

I agree.

[dmf]

Actually I'd rather see him shaved hanging by his feet upside down in New York for the whole world to see him die slowley. But I guess that wouldn't be politically correct would it?

[Eagler]

Originally posted by Vulcan
It'd be better if he died in obscurity.

or out in the open ... just as long as he dies and is NOT captured..
last thing we need is another monkey trail going on in the ME ...

[Vulcan]

Originally posted by dmf
Actually I'd rather see him shaved hanging by his feet upside down in New York for the whole world to see him die slowley. But I guess that wouldn't be politically correct would it?

Actually theres a lot of Muslims who would just love to see this happen. Can you guess whY?

[storch]

Originally posted by Vulcan
Actually theres a lot of Muslims who would just love to see this happen. Can you guess whY?

I suspect the people who would rather see that are
1. mainstreamliberalpress
2. yourapee'nswithcameras
3. hollywoodbooshhaters
4. momusandvulcan

arabs and moslems could probably care less, they would figure it was the will of aliyah.

[john9001]

ben laden dosn't care about Al Qaeda anymore, he now has control of the democratic party, and soon control of the USA....YEEEAHHHAAA

[Sixpence]

Well, if we find him hiding in a hole like sadam, let's just chuck a grenade in and walk away

[Tuomio]

Its unclear to me, how well it has been proved, that Osama did'nt die in Afghanistan. With the current material that has been shown, Living Bin Laden theory doesent pass the occams razor IMO. Not that it matters much if he is physically alive or not. This recent video fortifies my position.