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Report: Osama Alive and Well

A high-level member of al-Qaeda, Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, was interviewed on Pakistani television today and said Osama is alive and well, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar.

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.

On a related note, 14 people were killed in Afghanistan today:

Fighting between about 90 suspected Taliban rebels and hundreds of Afghan soldiers and U.S.-led coalition troops left seven insurgents dead and 10 wounded, while a rebel attack on a medical clinic killed a doctor and six others, officials said Wednesday.

....Even though U.S. military commanders are upbeat about progress in making Afghanistan secure, there has been a sharp rise in violence since spring. President Hamid Karzai's administration has warned that Taliban-led rebels and al-Qaida militants are trying to subvert crucial legislative elections in September.

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    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#1)
    by theologicus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#2)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    Does anybody truly believe that anyone (from "our side") is actually looking for Osama?

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#3)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    I'm Tom Bodet, and I'll leave the light on for you. Motel Sicks? Bad jokes aside, one hopes this is. Thankfully one person isn't gonna turn our crappy policy into gold. Or even tin. But hey, maybe he's hiding in Iraq.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    But everyone know we defeated the taliban.
    "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." - G.W. Bush, 9/13/01 "I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'" - G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI "...Secondly, he is not escaping us. - Bush, 12/28/01, as reported on official White House site. "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02


    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    If Osama was caught, the American people would demand we bring the troops home and stop waging war. The mission would really be accomplished. Bush and the boys can't have that, now can they.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    have you seen him publicly exhorting his followers lately? seemed he did that quite often before Afghanistan invasion(I realize that was pretextual to take over oil pipelines). Could Bush have him secretly locked in the White House?

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    Apparently OBL is able to communicate just fine with his followers. They once again control much of afgan territory and we're in for a record crop of heroin. Yep, mission accomplished. BTW, do you think bush was lying then about capturing the man that planned the single greatest attack on american soil? Yes, saddam is a baaaad man. But he had nothing to do with 9/11, he didn't have any WMDs, no nucUUUlar capabilities or plans to attack america. He didn't harbor or train terrorists. OBL OTOH ...

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#8)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    Nice work Monkey Boy. The guy claims responsibility for 3000 lives lost and it's been nearly 4 years now that he's on the loose. Clinton's DOJ had the WTC I bombers convicted and doing life by then. Of course, those guys didn't baknroll the Whitewater project (like Harken Oil, also a dismal failure).

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:04 PM EST
    What a waste. I feel sick about this whole mess. American kids coming home with arms and legs blown off - just like those horrible WWI injuries. If we had never invaded Iraq - if we had never invaded Afghanistan, would we be worse off now? Tens of thousands of soldiers here defending America...are YOU better off for it??? Now I know how Fred Dawes feels...

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#10)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:05 PM EST
    mfox, I know what you mean. I think the righteousness of the afgan invasion is debateable. (by debateable, I mean exactly that, I don't know whether it was right or wrong, I would love to see actual reasoned debate on the subject.) They offered to turn OBL over to a neutral country for trial, but the thirst for 'texas justice' was running pretty high at the time. Turns out that would have been a quicker path to justice, but I can understand the reservations about justice perhaps not being done. OTOH, you don't declare "Dead or Alive" and then say 'Oh, never mind' and attack a country that had nothing to do with it. OT for mfox; Do you ever visit Body and Soul? I was curious because there is a debate re women bloggers and commenters under the heading "Woman Blues" I was curious about your take on.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#11)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:05 PM EST
    Sailor writes:
    They offered to turn OBL over to a neutral country for trial, but the thirst for 'texas justice' was running pretty high at the time.
    You leave out one small point. We had to agree to leave the Taliban in power, and they got to pick the country. Such a deal!

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#12)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:05 PM EST
    The taliban was the gov't of another country. Just because I disagree vehemently with how they run their country is not a reason to overthrow them. And they were in 'good' company, can you say Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Pakistan, Mozabique, Liberia, Uzbekistan ... etc. They said neutral, not their choosing. They were open to negotiations. Maybe not honestly, but you never know until you try. What did we accomplish there? Record poppy crop, no free elections, our puppet controls basically one city, women are still repressed. OTOH, we certainly achieved our objective, we now have an oil pipeline there.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#13)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:05 PM EST
    Sailor writes:
    Maybe not honestly, but you never know until you try.
    Sailor, please. You have to know better than that. BTW - You have no strategy, just to not do anything except try and catch the terrorists after they have killed. That was tried for 22 years and the result was 9/11.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#14)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:05 PM EST
    Sailor writes:
    Maybe not honestly, but you never know until you try.
    Sailor, please. You have to know better than that. BTW - You have no strategy, just to not do anything except try and catch the terrorists after they have killed. That was tried for 22 years and the result was 9/11.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:07 PM EST
    Osama needs Bush, and Bush needs Osama. To better recruit cannon fodder.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:07 PM EST
    Sailor.... He didn't harbor or train terrorists. Not sure what cave you live in but you are dead wrong here. Not only did Saddam harbor terrorsts, several (including the guy that hijacked the Italian cruise ship in the 80's)lived in Iraq... but he also paid families of suicide bombers... You, like most of the left, need to get your facts straight.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:07 PM EST
    Che'... Clinton's DOJ had the WTC I bombers convicted and doing life by then. LOL...Clinton is the reason 9/11 happened. Too bad he didn't go after more of these guys (including Osama) when he had the chance.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:07 PM EST
    Clinton is the reason 9/11 happen
    C'mon BB, you are better than that. You may recall there was a millenium bomb plot that was thwarted by the authorities (under Bill Clinton)as well. And they didn't even need the patriot act! I'd say his anti-terror record is a little better than Bush's. But let's lay most of the blame on the 8 murderers who hijacked the planes, shall we?

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:08 PM EST
    kdog.... Agreed.... however I'm just trying to point out that Clinton had several opportunities to do more. People tend to forget how many terrorist acts happened under his watch. I think he was way too soft.. thus leading to 9/11.... my opinion

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:08 PM EST
    If anyone is still expecting our boys to find Osama, I've got two words for you...Eric Rudolph. 'Nuff said?

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#21)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:08 PM EST
    Claxton, Please continue. Kidding. Excellent obersavtion. We didn't even have the people who knew our OWN back yard well enough.

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#22)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:08 PM EST
    please provide links that saddam supported terrorists. saddam was secular, the main reason that the Muslim population of the ME didn't all rise up to attack us. Yes, kdog, the clinton admin either stopped or successfully prosecuted all terror incidents on his watch. bush's record: No OBL No WMDs No nukes found Trampled the US constitution Lied to the american people about all of the above. As they used to say; Close, but no cigar;-)

    Re: Report: Osama Alive and Well (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:10 PM EST
    "Posted by Sailor: "I think the righteousness of the afgan invasion is debateable." Not to Dick Cheney. It's a simple matter of Where the Pipelines Need to Run. It has NOTHING to do with terrorism, other than the 'terrorism' of blowing up foreign oil pipelines. Bush threatened Afghanistan with invasion in July 2001. Again, 9i1 having those effects on our democracy months before it happened! Jim: "You have no strategy, just to not do anything except try and catch the terrorists after they have killed. That was tried for 22 years and the result was 9/11." 9i1 resulted from Dick Cheney and others eliminating the aircover that USED TO PROTECT (for more than 22 years) the major cities of the United States. Your idea is racist (Collective Guilt theory). It isn't legal, and it isn't effective.