posted on June 15, 2005 07:48:37 PM new
American looses 1700 lives with 10,000 wounded plus spending billions. We still can't find these guys. What SHAME our Commander and Chief has brought to us all.
Taliban Chief: Bin Laden Alive and Well
Wednesday, June 15, 2005 4:19 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By SADAQAT JAN
Osama bin Laden is alive and in good health, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, a purported senior commander of the ousted Afghan religious militia said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday.
Pakistan's Geo television broadcast the interview with a man it identified as Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, a former Afghan aviation minister who said he still receives instructions from Omar.
Asked whether bin Laden is hiding in areas of Afghanistan that are under Taliban control, the man said he would not specify where the terrorist mastermind was hiding.
"Thanks be to God, he is absolutely fine," the man said.
The man wore a black turban to shield his face, making it impossible to recognize him or verify his identity. He wore a gray jacket, and an AK-47 rifle was propped next to him as he spoke in front of a red-patterned, Afghan-style rug.
Geo said the interview was recorded last week, but declined to say where.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, the government's chief spokesman Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and officials at the Interior Ministry were not available for comment Wednesday. In Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry also had no immediate comment, and an official at the presidency could not be reached.
A senior journalist at the independent station said on condition of anonymity that the interview was done near the Afghan town of Spinboldak, which is close to the Pakistani border.
The interview was conducted in broken Urdu, Pakistan's main language and the language in which Geo broadcasts most of its programs. Most senior Taliban speak Pashtu.
The man said the Taliban are still organized and senior Taliban leaders hold regular consultations.
"Our discipline is strong. We have regular meetings. We make programs," the man said.
He said Omar does not attend the meetings but "decisions come from his side." He did not say where those meetings take place.
In speaking about Omar, the man referred to the Taliban chief by his self-proclaimed title of "ameerul momineen" _ "leader of the faithful."
"Ameerul momineen is our chief and leader. No one is against him. Our ameerul momineen is alive. He is all right. There is no problem. He is not sick. He is my commander. He gives me instructions," the man said.
Asked whether he has direct contact with Omar, the man said: "I will not say whether I meet with him or not. But he is giving instructions."
A U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban in late 2001. The offensive was launched after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden and dismantle al-Qaida bases in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
posted on June 16, 2005 09:53:52 AM new
Slick Willy wasn't president when 9/11 happened. The sitting president ignored warnings of IMMINENT attacks. Sorry, ya can't change the facts
posted on June 16, 2005 11:44:09 AM new
Sorry Bear, The majority of Americans now feel your President's "HARD JOBS" have become too HARD for him. You just need to grin and BEAR the truth.
posted on June 16, 2005 06:17:59 PM new
kraft, I believe your right but I would like to see the Bastard caught. "DEAD OR ALIVE"
I guess you are wondering why that almost every week some General is on T.V. Saying they caught the number 5 terrorist, or the number 3 terrorist or the number 8 terrorist.
Now since they can't duplicate the numbers they are now saying we caught a very "important terrorist". They say these guys are very important but the killing of American troops go on at a greater rate.
Somebody is Bull Roaring somebody.
Now the question "ARE WE FIGHTING A WIN-ABLE WAR" is being said more and more.
posted on June 16, 2005 06:57:30 PM new
No, "dadofstickboy", it isn't political correctness or protesters who influence bush....remember, HE doesn't pay attention to people's(his employers) opinions.
His lack of planning and lies cannot be blamed on the "bleeding hearts".
""The end result would be exactly what the objective was from the beginning and the World would be happy that the mission was successfully completed.""
What exactly WAS the objective ? It's changed so often that it's hard to keep track of.
posted on June 16, 2005 07:15:18 PM new
How have I , or anyone else , tied bush's hands ? He wanted to invade Iraq and he did....
If we had influence on bush's trainers we wouldn't be in this stupid war, the ultra-rich would not get huge tax breaks, pollution control violators would be prosecuted and made to pay the fines, veterans would have all the convenient health care they needed, reservists wouldn't be doing two and three tours of duty andf coming home to job loss, bankruptcy and divorce.
No, "dad", the dictatorship of bush and company have had their own way and will continue to do so.....for awhile......
[ edited by crowfarm on Jun 16, 2005 07:26 PM ]
posted on June 17, 2005 06:38:18 AM newSlick Willy wasn't president when 9/11 happened. The sitting president ignored warnings of IMMINENT attacks. Sorry, ya can't change the facts
Ignored the facts? The same facts that Willie failed to pass along to him? But it would be moot if Willie had taken out Osama on the many opportunities he claimed to have tried.
A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
- Bill Cosby
posted on June 17, 2005 06:53:52 AM new
Hey Bear, Your Ignoring the facts. Remember "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE". How many years ago did Bush say those words? Its time for people like you to (GRIN AND BEAR) Bush's failures.
posted on June 17, 2005 07:05:12 AM new
How many times did Clinton say it bigpeepa. Bin Laden started bombing during the Clinton White House. What did Clinton do about it, nothing only served Monica in the oval office.
So now it is all Bush's fault. You had better start reading up to find out just when Bin Ladin started his bombing. The controversy surrounding the CIA and FBI and Clinton. It was way before 9/11. But just like the "lefties" they have tunnel vision and can't see the whole picture.
Democrats see the glass of water half empty where Republicans see the glass as as half full. Negative thoughts this time of the morning makes your day a disaster. Maybe if you would wake up on the "right" side of the bed instead of the "left" you would feel a whole lot better. But maybe you don't want to feel better. It seems like you like those negative vibes. Please don't tell me otherwise because you would only be lying.
posted on June 17, 2005 07:10:31 AM new
" Remember "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE"."
yes I remember that...didnt Steve Mcqueen play the lead role??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on June 17, 2005 08:09:27 AM new
Once again, it appears ol' peepa doesn't quite grasp that President Bush ISN'T the one 'hunting these guys down'. No...it's our soldiers who are doing so. But HE supports our troops alright....we can see THAT from his own words.
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Food for thought to all those who would like to see the US withdraw from Iraq.
---
WONDER LAND
Terrorism for Everyman
Is America losing the will to fight?
BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Friday, June 17, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
As far as I can tell, this is the recent news out of Iraq:
Yesterday: "Six U.S.
Servicemen Die in Iraq Violence."
Wednesday: "Surge of Violence Leaves 52 Dead in Iraq."
Monday: "Iraq-Bombing Update: Additional Bombings, Death Toll 10."
It is possible to extend this headline exercise of Iraq news to the horizon. As a physical principle no less established than the second law of thermodynamics, U.S. opinion polls in June outputted these headlines and stories:
June 12: "A Growing Public Restlessness: The June [Post-ABC News] survey found that 58% of its 1,002 respondents now disapprove of the way Bush is handling both the economy and the situation in Iraq.
June 11, AP: "Only 41% said they support Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, also a low-water mark." The "war," of course extends no further than these bombing reports.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the maestro of the Iraqi civilian slaughterhouse, has produced a steady shower of human blood, and as often happens, blood has been a public-opinion downer. Perhaps in his next life al-Zarqawi can come back as an American marketing consultant. Having established there is a U.S. market for American-associated death in Iraq, such as the front page of the Yahoo! news portal, al-Zarqawi is supplying it with daily product.
The up-or-down polls he reads are his profit-and-loss statement.
The June ABC-Washington Post poll asked: "All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with Iraq was worth fighting, or not?" 58% said No.
Precisely what conclusion is one expected to arrive at from any of this? If George Bush had never invaded Iraq, none of this would be happening? Or, if we removed our troops from Iraq, these bombings would stop? Or perhaps they will still be bombed, but we in the U.S. will not likely experience anything very bad?
If we removed our troops from Iraq, the terror would not stop. But the U.S. news of innocent civilians blown up in Iraq would move to the unread round-up columns.
Then, in a way, the phenomenon of terror would indeed shrink--to this: December 2004: A powerful explosion ripped through a market packed with Christmas shoppers in the southern Philippines yesterday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 58.
According to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (established after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing), there have been about 8,300 terrorist bombings in the world the past 10 years. They have killed more than 10,000 human beings and injured--often appallingly, one assumes--some 43,000 people. (There are separate tallies for arson, kidnapping, hijacking, etc. September 11 is listed as an "unconventional attack."
May 3, 2002: A bomb attack on a church in western Colombia has left at least 60 civilians dead and about 100 others injured. Officials are blaming FARC guerrillas for the bombing.
Before September 11 happened in the United States, and ever since, factions with grievances have been blowing up unprotected people going about the act of daily life--shopping, praying, taking their children to school, laughing with friends, burying the dead--all over the world. Places where the sudden cloudbursts of blood don't always merit our front pages include Spain, Colombia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Russia, Afghanistan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Egypt and elsewhere.
July 7, 2004: At least five people were killed and 11 wounded when a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew herself up inside a police station in the Sri Lankan capital.
Living in the U.S., one could make the cold-blooded calculation that 21,000 dead and 55,000 injured from all terrorist acts over 10 years is a drop in the bucket and that the war in Iraq has mainly increased the rate of death. This may be true. But if as many suicide bombs went off in Manhattan as have gone off in Israel, Manhattanites would have demanded martial law and the summary execution of suspects on street corners. Their greatest goal in life would not be, as it is now, the closing of interrogation rooms on Guantanamo but instead the erasure of terrorists hiding across the East River.
Feb. 9, 2005: A car bomb exploded near Madrid's main convention center, injuring 43 people, hours before Spanish and Mexican leaders were due there and after a warning from the Basque separatist group ETA. It was the worst blast in the Spanish capital since last year's March 11 al Qaeda train bombings.
No matter how fat the diet of stories about Iraq suicide bombings or Gitmo shoved down our throats and no matter how many distraught opinion-poll results come back up, no serious person can allow post-9/11 American security to be reduced to that.
The death march of homicidal zombies in Iraq is trying to push us toward accepting the idea that acts of unrestrained violence against other human beings is now a normal part of politics. It is not normal. Any civilized person should want to resist the normalization of civilian killing as a political act--whether in Iraq, Spain, Indonesia or Kashmir.
These matters have been at the heart of John Bolton's marooned nomination to the U.N. Mr. Bolton's adversaries criticize his impatience with large bureaucracies tasked to the war on terror, such as the State Department, and worry he won't respect the U.N. "system."
The U.N. itself has never been able to even agree on a definition of terror. A high-level U.N. panel bluntly concluded last year: "Lack of agreement on a clear and well-known definition undermines the normative and moral stance against terrorism and has stained the United Nations' image."
Little wonder, then, that our own news coverage of these repeated slaughters of civilians in Iraq also lacks any normative or moral context unfavorable to the perpetrators. And little wonder that in such a world the only "side" many people in the U.S. feel comfortable with is heading for the exits.
---
Mr. Henninger is deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. His column appears Fridays in the Journal and on OpinionJournal.com.
posted on June 17, 2005 06:50:49 PM newRemember "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE".
What about "We will hunt him down and smoke him out"
it appears ol' peepa doesn't quite grasp that President Bush ISN'T the one 'hunting these guys down'. No...it's our soldiers who are doing so.
Yeah that is right. Bush is not doing a thing. Whose war is it Linda? It is not the soldier's war. It is Bush's war!!!!
Who said "we will hunt him down". Bush said it. The word "we" implies Bush and other people. I do not see Bush taking up a M-16 assult riffle and getting in the trenches to hunt down Osama.
I guess when Bush says "we", what he really meant to say - I will send your sons and daughters into combat and hope they come home alive while I take all the credit for "liberating" Iraq.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
----------------------------------
President George Bush: "Over time the truth will come out."
President George Bush: "Our people are going to find out the truth, and the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind."
Bush was right. The truth did come out and the facts are he misled Congress and the American people about the reasons we should go to war in Iraq.
