OT: What's Wrong With This Picture?

[norminn]

I thought it rather strange that the troop surge to Afghanistan would take about a year to complete, but, then, I've never been in the military and they do have a lot of stuff to pack up and move.

Now, just heard on the news that the Chief of the CIA unit in Afghanistan was one of those killed by a suicide bomber. In the fitness center. On a military base. In remotest part of Afghanistan. WTF is the US of A coming to?

I have an idea for capturing Osama....enlist a few of the worst of the worst gang leaders in any major prison in ...oh, California, Texas, Illinois. Offer them a bunch of money and amnesty, train them, drop them into Afghanistan. They get their reward when they capture Osama alive. Then give Osama a life sentence requiring he attend Christian services every Sunday and pipe Christian hymns into his cell 24/7. Treat him as Jesus would ;o)

[trader4]

As I understand it, the base was a combined military and civilian base enganged in reconstructing part of Afghanistan, winning over locals, etc. It hosted the CIA, which is why the CIA chief was there. So, before jumping to conclusions, I would give them the benefit of the doubt. If you were with the CIA and they give you a gym to keep fit, I don't see a discrepancy with the overall objective.

I'm sure they'll do real well by blending in inconspicuously with the locals and aeasily chieve the objective. How do you say "Where's Osama?" in the Pashto dialect? Maybe they could just take his picture on a card and point to it.

You expect that too? Why, so Obama can bring him to NYC for a trial? A $50mil reward hasn't produced him dead, or alive or even lead to information leading to his apprehension, which is all one would have to do to claim the reward.

[Doug Miller]

That's *another* thing I don't get: why so LITTLE?

Right after GWB announced that reward, I sent him a letter asking why the reward wasn't at least a billion dollars. I pointed out that given the population of the U.S. at the time, $1B worked out to only about three dollars and fifty cents per citizen -- and most of it could be raised through donations. I think that if he'd requested contributions to a reward fund on Sept. 12, by the end of the month it would have topped a billion easily, and we would have had Osama's ass, gift-wrapped, by Christmas. SOMEbody would have ratted him out for that kind of money.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I would've contributed 10 bucks if the guvmint promised than OBL would be dropped off the Empire State Building in flames. But you know what? It wouldn't matter. Independently owned al Qaeda franchises are popping up like Starbucks, and this will continue regardless of bin Laden.

[norminn]

The US probably publicized the offer on the internet in English :o)

[norminn]

Nooooooo....that would make him a "martyr". Give him the thing he would find the worst punishment.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

The only meaning of death we need to cater to is OURS, not his.

[trader4]

I had an entirely different thought at the time and still do. I wonder if offering 5000 cattle, sheep, whatever would have more of an impact. I'm not sure that the tribesmen living in the mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan even can comprehend what $50mil is. And I seriously doubt if $50mil won't motivate someone to make a phone call, that any amount of cash will work. I think in reality it has more to do with people not trusting that they will ever be paid off even if they do give him up. In that regard, establishing some intermediary that determines if the money is paid, with it held in escrow, might be beneficial. But again, not sure anyone would trust that it would be paid.

[Oren]

How much is a Billion in Afghani currency? Must be a bunch. Can the comprehend it :)

[norminn]

They could hold a good, old-fashioned hog roast to celebrate before they transport him.

[Steve B]

Do they get a double bonus if they bring him in sewn up inside a pig carcass? I'd kick in a twenty for that.

Steve

[Stormin Mormon]

Well said, chief. It's been mentioned some where. That the war on terror isn't about OBL, or Sadaam Hussein. It's about Muslims who want to kill or convert.

[Stormin Mormon]

How about a season of guest appearances on Sally Jessy Raphael?

"Oh, my. You poor dear big tough terrorist. How that must have made you feel!"

[Stormin Mormon]

About two blocks later, Muhammed the cab driver will have secreted him off to the airport, so he can catch his flight to Yemen?

[Stormin Mormon]

That would culturally insensetive. Somhow, to them, blowing down buildings full of office workers is AOK, but eating a pork chop is not.

[Stormin Mormon]

That sounds real, to me. Nothing like a billion or so Muslims knowing that you ratted out a Mega Mullah. They would outdo liberals in the rush to redistrubute the wealth, the rat's body parts, and eveything else. For the common good, of course.

Islam? You can run, but you can't hide.

[HeyBub]

First, to people in that part of the world, the difference between $100, ten million dollars, and one billion dollars is incomprehensible. Wealth there is measured in terms of goats and they don't have numbers in their system larger than about 85.

Why so little? Because it was never the policy of the United States, at least under the Bush administration, to kill or capture Osama ben Laden. The strategic goal of the US was to prevent another attack on the US or US interests abroad. Period.

To achieve this goal, tactical measures were implemented to eliminate or disrupt terrorist training, communication, financing, recruiting, movement, re-supply, and sanctuaries. That these tactics were successful is self-evident.

In the decade before 9-11, there were about one or two successful attacks against the US or US interests abroad per year: The 1992 WTC bombing, the USS Cole, attacks on our embassies, kidnapping of our ambassadors, and so on. Since 9-11 there have been zero.

That's not to say that killing or capturing OBL wouldn't be met with glee if it happened in conjunction with another operation, but it's simply not a goal in and of itself. Or rather wasn't a goal.

Given the current administration, if OBL were captured today in, say, Afghanistan, what would happen then is anybody's guess. Would he be brought to New York for trial in federal court? Sent to Gitmo? Turned over to the Afghans?

It would be a god-awful mess! I wouldn't be surprised if the official word today is: "Shhh! Look the other way!"

[Steve B]

Smitty, two weeks ago, I would have thought you were off your meds. Then I saw a program with Jesse Ventura, and I agree that there ARE some holes that at least need to be looked into. Some of these holes are as big as the sky. And they have all the stuff locked up in hangars, so why not?

I personally believe that there are many, perhaps thousands of pieces of "souvenirs" that made it into the pockets of Joe Average that, if turned in and tested would answer some questions one way or the other. That would just depend on "who" they were turned in to.

I guess we'll get the answer when they tell us what happened to John Kennedy.

And Marylin Monroe.

UFOs.

And others we don't even know about.

I am amazed that lots of the people interviewed hadn't met a "natural" death already. Dead men tell no tales.

There is clearly a foul odor surrounding this, and it would be a simple fix to allow access to the evidence. Scientists who have already spoken about it, and people who testified about it have been hustled into obscurity, some into retirement or unemployment. Most did not even make the 911 report. Some are in hiding for their lives.

"THE TRUTH! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

-Jack Nicholson, Prophetic words from a movie-

[Steve B]

Ya wanna know the REALLY scary part? Rosie O'Donnell might have been right. I always wondered why Bldg. 7 went down when it was away from the others. And if 7 had structural damage, why were a lot of others that didn't go down or were dropped later? Maybe the feds just wanted a new building.

You know that now, of course, we're going to be labeled conspiracy nuts, don't you? I had to quit startazing and meteor shower watching because of the heavy traffic of silent black helicopters at night was obliterating the sky.

"And you know something's happening, but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?" Bob Dylan circa 1966

Steve

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I never said anything about "conspiracy".

Star Tazing!? You never got back to us on blowing up gophers-- and now you're tazing stars?

Jim [sorry- couldn't resist either one]