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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Bin Laden hiding in Presidency: Benazir |
| 2004-07-03 |
| Half-jesting, half-serious, Benazir Bhutto has told shocked Western capitals that the worldâs most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, may be securely hidden in the âbasement of the presidency of Pakistanâ, three years after George W Bush set out to hunt him down, The Times of Indiaâs online edition reported on Friday âBut youâll have to ask General Musharraf if it is trueâ, she finished mockingly in what many believe to be the swiftest, single-shot, character assassination in Pakistani politics. Benazirâs mock maliciousness towards Musharraf comes barely 48 hours after she made a humiliating appearance in a Geneva courtroom to deny she siphoned off millions of dollars of Pakistanâs money during her two terms as prime minister. The seriousness of the link Benazir made between the Pakistani president and the man being hunted down by 10,000 US troops was not entirely lost on Western politicians, pundits and press. Despite Benazirâs disclaimer about the âjokeâs veracityâ, terrorism experts returned to scanning the significance of Bin Ladenâs last known, hand-written communication. Earlier this year, the Saudi militant had told his mother he was âin good health and in a very, very safe place. They will not get me unless Allah wills itâ. Bin Ladenâs cheeriness, despite his debilitating need for regular kidney dialysis, has long been considered odd because he is reliably thought to be within the 150-mile border badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #8 I remember reading that one of his sons sounds just like the old man, and was the likely source of any tape purporting to be from OBL. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2004-07-03 6:14:20 PM |
| #7 Thank you, Larry. Any further information would be greatly appreciated. If we have no "current events" voice references by bin Laden, then I would have to vote for him taking the dirt nap too. This @sshole is far too fond of publicity to have avoided making more announcements. Our fuel air bombs can suck the lungs out of a human body at 100's of meters. I'd love to think that bin Laden died of suffocation with all of his external membranes hemorrhaging. Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-03 4:10:12 PM |
| #6 Zenster : "Weren't his most recent tapes verified to have been in his voice? Didn't they mention relatively current events that happened after we destroyed the Tora Bora complex?" As I recall, there was a verified audio recording from him after the initial bombing of Tora Bora. He was complaining about the bombing and said no human being should go through such a thing. The U.S. laid a lot of ordnance on those mountains after the recording was made. As far as I know, he's been silent since then. There have been some voice-over videos using old audio recordings and audio recordings that have been proven fake released after the Tora Bora bombing but none that I know of that have been verified by a reputable laboratory. I'm doing another search on that. If you have any links, please let me know. |
| Posted by: Larry Everett 2004-07-03 3:42:22 PM |
| #5 I wouldn't trust Musharraf to babysit my pet parakeet. I would, but the little sucker would be wired and stuffed with C4 first. While we're on topic, what about bin Laden? Weren't his most recent tapes verified to have been in his voice? Didn't they mention relatively current events that happened after we destroyed the Tora Bora complex? America's war on terror is well enough justified without propagandist spooks conjuring up false voice identifications to scare up continued public support. Bin Laden does need dialysis and portable units are not too common. I doubt that Osama has been able to get his kidneys draped over one of those, just yet. So, what's the skinny here? However much Benazir wants to snipe at Musharraf, the man has definitely shown less than forthright intentions. While I type this, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is probably sipping tea somewhere instead of sitting in a prison cell. If bin Laden is alive, he would very well need the sort of medical support found within a head of government's means. Just like rex, I cannot trust Musharraf to do anything but protect his own @ss. Keeping bin Laden as some sort of perverted "hole card" fits in perfectly with his sort of game plan. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-03 2:30:07 PM |
| #4 Despite Benazirâs disclaimer about the âjokeâs veracityâ, terrorism experts returned to scanning the significance of Bin Ladenâs last known, hand-written communication...Bin Ladenâs cheeriness, despite his debilitating need for regular kidney dialysis, has long been considered odd because he is reliably thought to be within the 150-mile border badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan. A shrew Bhutto might be, but I think some of you are taking her sentiments too literally. What she meant was that OBL was in "protective custody" in Pakistan with the full knowledge and permission of Musharraf. Why is that not a credible possibility? I wouldn't trust Musharraf to babysit my pet parakeet. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-07-03 1:31:59 PM |
| #3 Osama bin Laded has turned into a true bogeyman. The mere mention of his name brings to mind dark images and scares the kids. Bin Laden has an ego larger than Michael Moores' ass and if he is still among the living, we would have heard something verifiable from him by now. I think we can find him but, we're going to need cotton swabs and a back hoe to do it. |
| Posted by: Larry Everett 2004-07-03 1:04:58 PM |
| #2 the bitch is crying cuz she's loosing all plundered money.Good thing she and Nawaz are out of pakistan's politics. No1 shud pay attention to these has beens now. |
| Posted by: sakattack 2004-07-03 11:32:33 AM |
| #1 hmmm ...sounds a lot like "Others have said George Bush was a deserter, I will wait to decide until it's further investigated by the |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-03 9:45:28 AM |