NATO Says Bin Laden Now in Pakistan

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 18, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

            Announcing the obvious, an unnamed senior NATO official with information about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar indicate they’re now in rugged mountainous Northwest Pakistan.  “Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave,” said the official, confirming that the renegade leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban are living comfortably in Pakistan, the recent site of U.S. predator drone attacks, especially in the Waziristan border region.  Since escaping on motorbikes Dec. 12-17, 2001 during the battle of Tora Bora, Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Omar, have eluded the biggest manhunt since chasing Nazis after WW II.  With the CIA and MI6 in full pursuit, it’s been difficult to explain over the last nine years why Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Omar have escaped detection in the wake of Sept. 11.

            CIA and U.S. Special Forces have pursued Bin Laden since Sept. 11 to no avail.  Terrorist planning has shifted from Afghanistan to either Bin Laden or al-Zawahiri’s unknown locations or to regional terror cells in Yemen, Somalia and now Pakistan, where NATO recently puts the terrorist fugitives.  While there’s a $25 million prize on Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri or Omar’s heads, the three have gone incognito in the North Waziristan region of Paksitan, along the Afghanistan border.  Pakistani officials continue to deny Bin Laden’s presence or, for that matter, that Pakistani’s intelligence service the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] tips Bin Laden off with U.S. troop movements.  “It’s a baseless assertion, we reject it,” said a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official.  “The report has not been substantiated by any evidence and has just been put out to malign Pakistan,” said Pakistani authorities.

            Pakistan’s forceful denials reflect the sensitive nature of any cooperation with the West, especially regarding tracking down al-Qaada or the Taliban.  Calling it a “baseless assertion” exposes Pakistan’s vulnerability.  Most terror experts believe that Bin Lade has long since left Afghanistan, changing Obama’s mission.  White House and Pentagon officials know that the U.S. war in Afghanistan reflects old thinking about Bin Laden and Omar’s whereabouts.  Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen sees recent developments as proof that the U.S. is making progress in capturing Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Omar.  Centcom commander Gen. David Petraeus, now in charge of U.S. forces the Afghanistan, said in August that Bin Laden remained in the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border.  Pinpointing Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri in Pakistan changes the game.

            Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of the late President Benazir Bhutto, receives billions in U.S. aid and hasn’t produced Bin Laden or anyone else on the CIA’s most wanted list.  While the ISI has coordinated with the CIA on recent predator drone attacks, the Pakistani government denies any such cooperation.  “I categorically deny the presence of Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and even Mullah Omar,” said Pakistan’s Interior Minister Raman Malik refusing to acknowledge publicly the presence of the world’s most notorious fugitives.  Without any reach into in ungoverned tribal lands in the mountainous region along the Afghan border, Pakistani officials continue their denials without much credibility.  All indications point toward Bin Laden’s presence on Pakistani soil.  Neither U.S. nor Pakistani officials acknowledge Bin Laden’s whereabouts.

            Recent revelations about Bin Laden’s location raise disturbing questions about the advisability of the Afghan War.  Adding 50,000 troops since taking office, President Barack Obama has continued same strategy as former President George W. Bush, shifting only minor emphasis back to Afghanistan.  While there’s an exit strategy in place of Iraq, there’s no such plan in Afghanistan.  If U.S. officials acknowledge privately that Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Omar are no longer living or planning terrorist attacks in Afghanstan, it raises doubts about the current mission.  When Barack talked about shifting gears from Iraq to Afghanistan, he did so assuming that al-Qaeda or Taliban operations were based out of the country.  Recent reports, if true, call into question the current troop surge, placing U.S. assets in Afghanistan when the terrorist fugitives have long-since relocated.

            Reports of Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Omar hiding out in Pakistan open up a can of worms for both U.S. and Pakistani officials.  Nine years after Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. appears no closer to ending Bin Laden’s reign of terror.  Obama’s insistence on escalating the Afghan War disappointed many of his supporters, especially independents now leaning toward the GOP in the midterm elections.  While the president’s approval rating has suffered from a sluggish economy, his management of the Iraq and Afghan wars hasn’t helped.  Given that there’s some truth to recent revelations about Bin Laden, Obama must respond accordingly, shifting gears in Afghanistan and redirecting efforts to Pakistan.  Whether the operations are covert or not, the public wants results after a long nine years.  Obama better reset the mission or face more problems down the road.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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