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Binny and Ayman back in Afghanistan
2004-02-25
"We're on the road again,
Runnin' round and hidin',
On the road again..."
Osama bin Laden and his No. 2 man have moved out of Pakistan and are believed to have crossed the mountainous border back into Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence officials tell ABCNEWS.
"Mullins! Binny and Ayman have moved from Pakland to Afghanistan!"
"Right. I'll call ABCNEWS."
"Good man, Mullins!"
The intelligence reports come as Arabic television stations aired audiotapes purportedly made by bin Laden’s top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In one of the tapes, a man said to be Zawahri taunts President Bush and threatens new attacks on the United States.
"Arrr! We're gonna getchew!"
Zawahri and his boss, bin Laden, moved out of Pakistan as that country’s army stepped up pressure on tribal leaders in the far western area of Waziristan, U.S. intelligence officials tell ABCNEWS. The homes of suspected al Qaeda sympathizers in that region have been set on fire and there have been numerous arrests. Officials tell ABCNEWS they believe the two al Qaeda leaders have slipped across the mountainous border and re-entered Afghanistan. U.S. troops lack the authority to hunt for bin Laden in Pakistan, but they are free to operate in Afghanistan.
So Binny's accomodating us...
Among the places now targeted for a major spring offensive is the Afghan province of Kunar, where some U.S. troops are already operating, officials say. It’s about 200 miles from bin Laden’s last suspected hiding place in Pakistan. U.S. forces are scanning the area with satellites and unmanned predator aircraft armed with hell-fire missiles. But winter cloud cover has made it difficult to keep a constant clear eye on the area, a situation not likely to improve for at least a month.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#17  LOL, Steve.

Headlines required for this one.
How about

Chicks Dick Coughs Up Kerry Flu, Heat to Come.
(BillBoard)
Posted by: Shipman   2004-2-25 4:36:51 PM  

#16  lol!
Posted by: B   2004-2-25 11:36:37 AM  

#15  B, you've got it all wrong. He'll be caught coming out of Iran with a suitcase containing a North Korean nuke, Saddam's missing anthrax and a check from Teresa Heniz Kerry. Oh, and he'll be wearing a Dixie Chick T-shirt.
Posted by: Steve   2004-2-25 11:35:41 AM  

#14  he in mexico playing soccer.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-2-25 11:30:54 AM  

#13  and...(continued from above)..
for the photo-op I'd have the commandos storm in to catch a laughing, drunken, Binny giving Larry Flint a lap dance in his wheel chair,(with a backdrop of blonde dancing girls on stage exposing $1,000 bills in their g-strings)...and I'd get a good close up of Binny's face as it registers the surprise..

hahahahah. I can see it on the cover of the Enquirer now!!
Posted by: B   2004-2-25 11:28:52 AM  

#12  I don't know, Steve. It is a bit convenient that they are telling us that BL left Pakistan and went to Afghanistan...and right after the heavy hitting rumors leaked out, no less.

Besides who cares - more power to the Bush admin if they pull that one off.

If I were going to stage his capture....hmmm...the rat hole's been used...I think I would.....find him in a bar in Florida, watching the dancing girls, drinking whiskey, driving a fast car and living large at the Penthouse mansion. heh, heh.
Posted by: B   2004-2-25 11:14:36 AM  

#11  Asia Times Online has their usual wacked-out version of the hunt for Osama:

The war in eastern Afghanistan and the tribal areas in Pakistan is barely on, but the Pentagon's spinning machine is in high gear. Who will prevail: al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman "The Surgeon" al-Zawahiri, or Commando 121? The Pentagon's creative directors ruled that Commando 121, or Task Force 121, of General William Boykin - a self-described Islamophobe and a known Christian fanatic - was responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein, when in fact the former dictator was arrested by Kurdish peshmerga (paramilitary) forces acting on a tip by one of his cousins and then sold to the Americans, according to Asia Times Online sources in the Sunni triangle.
This week, without a blip in many a strategic radar screen, Commando 121 transferred from Iraq to Pakistan. On October 25 of last year, Asia Times Online reported that Boykin had been appointed in charge of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. European intelligence sources tell Asia Times Online to expect the same scenario "Saddam" for the eventuality of the capture of bin Laden and Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar. Bin Laden will be "smoked out", probably on a tip by an Afghan tribal leader willing to make a cool US$25 million. And all credit will go to the secretive Commando 121, which is known to comprise navy Seals and commandos from the army's Delta Force.
----------------
The information minister insists that Pakistan has not received from Washington any satellite pictures of bin Laden, al-Zawahiri or the al-Qaeda top 50 hiding in Pakistani territory. But much more interesting is his current estimation that US forces "would never enter Pakistan". Pakistan may have "sealed the border" with Afghanistan, but how to unseal it for the Americans is a matter to be discussed face-to-face by Rumsfeld and Musharraf this week. For this meeting, Rumsfeld can draw on his experience of discussing touchy issues with former CIA asset Saddam back in Baghdad in 1983.
--------------------
And what if bin Laden decides not to follow the script? According to sources close to the Pakistani newspaper Khabrain, bin Laden has made his seven bodyguards take an oath to kill him in the event that he is in any danger of being arrested. He will try to blow himself up. Western diplomatic sources, on the other hand, prefer to insist that if bin Laden is arrested according to the current Pentagon plan, the whole operation will be kept secret - to be disclosed only a few weeks or days before the American presidential election in November.

The only thing they missed was Dick Chainy and Haliburton staging the attempt on Perv's life.
Posted by: Steve   2004-2-25 10:33:14 AM  

#10  Ok, I'll bite. "Polo"
Posted by: whitecollar redneck   2004-2-25 10:18:24 AM  

#9  "Marco."
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-2-25 10:14:43 AM  

#8  I'm not holding my breath, but this does seem to fit the pattern of events leading to the capture of Saddam Hussein. For weeks, all we heard has "He was sighted in Tikrit. No, he's in Baghdad. US Forces have him surrounded. Nope, false alarm. Raid! Raid! Raid!" I don't think OBL is long for this world, but I'll wait and see.
Posted by: BH   2004-2-25 9:56:05 AM  

#7  Be assured that before this latest operation is over, there will be several varying reports pertaining to the whereabouts of UBL et al. Some will be speculative and originate from local civilian or host nation government types. Others will come from the US/UK side of the coalition and will be in response to query --or-- and this is key...may be information planted deliberately by friendlies with the intention to deceive or confuse those being sought. This is one where we will have to wait and see what shakes out. However, this certain: following the two attempts on Musharraf, the Paks are much more motivated now to do more to bring this objective to completion. Funny what a little bit of explosives and automatic weapons fire near the boss will do to further alter his outlook on life. As for UBL traversing the vaunted 100 square mile area, never forget that -- large entourage or not -- he has the home field advantage here (in several ways). He has been and will remain difficult to locate and fix.
Posted by: TerrorHunter4Ever   2004-2-25 9:46:05 AM  

#6  it's getting pretty close to the election...maybe we already have them. :-)
Ya never know!!
Posted by: B   2004-2-25 9:02:12 AM  

#5  I think the USA is preparing some credible deniability for the possibility that we might grab these two characters inside Pakistan.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester   2004-2-25 8:39:44 AM  

#4  Crikey! He was surrounded by the SAS in Pakistan at the weekend.. that's one supercharged donkey he's got. Conflicting accounts of his whereabouts are becoming numerous. Fingers crossed.
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-2-25 4:21:38 AM  

#3  If this is true the f****** are running from the hammer and ending up on the anvil.
The rumours of bin hidings plight are getting awfully persistent.

Oh and sludj, one or two persons should (with some luck offcourse) be able to slip from an area of a 100 scuare clicks, if they are traveling with 50 "fanatical" bodyguards in tow (according to most of the reports) things get a bit dicier.
Posted by: Evert Visser   2004-2-25 3:20:26 AM  

#2  I don't know. Why didn't Saddam leave Iraq and go spend his ill-gotten gains on some carribean island where noone would recognize him?
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2004-2-25 2:28:39 AM  

#1  I'd love to know how senior these unnamed "U.S. intelligence officials" are. It has always seemed odd to me that bin Laden hasn't tried to put as much distance between himself and Afghanistan as possible. How tight a noose can we put around an area that is even 100 square miles? It seems to me that a determined, smart, and careful person could find a way out. Anyone with experience have any thoughts?
Posted by: sludj   2004-2-25 2:24:25 AM  

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