So are they really about to catch Osama bin Laden? It's been in the news a lot!

June 16, 2009
Troops mass for onslaught on Taleban in 'bin Laden's mountain stronghold'
Pakistan was mobilising troops and artillery today to launch a massive offensive against Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, in his mountain stronghold of South Waziristan — also believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6501450.ece

Closing in on Osama bin Laden
June 16, 2009 - 11:55am
....."Twelve of the top 20 al-Qaida leaders have been taken out in the last several months since September 2008, and I think that we will continue to look for them. The target is to make sure that al-Qaida, as an operating entity, is put out of business," Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani says.
.....For the first time since Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. forces in Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001, the U.S.-Pakistani effort to capture or kill al-Qaida leaders appears to be making some headway.

The Central Intelligence Agency remains confident that bin Laden is still in Pakistan, and finding him is still a top priority.

CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Capitol Hill last week, said, "One of our hopes is that as Pakistani military moves in, combined with our operations, we may have a better chance to get at him."
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=778&sid=1697192

Osama Bin Laden Is In Pakistan: CIA Chief
:37pm UK, Thursday June 11, 2009
The CIA director has said he believes al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Al-Qaeda-Leader-Osama-Bin-Laden-Is-Hiding-In-Pakistan-CIA-Director-Leon-Panetta-Believes/Article/200906215301863?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15301863_Al_Qaeda_Leader_Osama_Bin_Laden_Is_Hiding_In_Pakistan%2C_CIA_Director_Leon_Panetta_Believes

CIA believes Osama Bin Laden still in Pakistan
By PAMELA HESS – 6 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA believes Osama bin Laden is still in Pakistan, and the spy agency is hoping to close in on him as that country's military cracks down on the northwestern tribal area where he is thought to be hiding. CIA Director Leon Panetta told reporters after a speech on Capitol Hill Thursday that finding bin Laden remains one of the CIA's top priorities.

"I guess one of our hopes is that as Pakistani military moves in, combined with our operations, we may have a better chance to get at him," Panetta said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFPpvPUFLq9RZkwi6LAeCbEe8BLwD98OLRCG2

Pakistani offensive to help nab Osama: CIA
By Our Correspondent
Friday, 12 Jun, 2009
US intelligence officials say that although the Al Qaeda reclusive leader has eluded a US manhunt since the September 11, 2001, he was not only alive but maintained some links with his top lieutenants as well.

‘Finding Bin Laden is one of our major priorities,’ Mr Panetta said. ‘One of our hopes is that the Pakistanis move in militarily, combined with our operations, we may be able to have a better chance’ to find the Al Qaeda leader, he said.

Mr Panetta said Al Qaeda ‘remains the most serious security threat’ to the United States and its leaders and continued to plot against America.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/09-pakistani-offensive-to-help-nab-osama-cia--03

Bin Laden 'is still in Pakistan'
Page last updated at 09:33 GMT, Friday, 12 June 2009 10:33 UK
Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is still hiding in Pakistan, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Leon Panetta has said.

Mr Panetta reiterated that finding Bin Laden remains a top priority for the US, adding that he hoped the chances of locating him were now improved.

"We have a number of people on the ground in Pakistan who are helping us provide targets," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8096552.stm

Panetta Says Chances of Finding Bin Laden Improved
une 11 (Bloomberg) -- CIA Director Leon Panetta said al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be in Pakistan and the chances of capturing or killing him have improved as that nation’s military continues its drive against Taliban militants.

“One of our hopes is that, as the Pakistanis move in militarily, combined with our operations, we may be able to have a better chance to get at him,” Panetta told reporters in Washington today.

Taliban militants have been pushed from the northwestern Swat Valley and have regrouped in the craggy tribal areas along the Afghanistan border where al-Qaeda leaders may be holed up.

Finding bin Laden is still “one of our major priorities,” and “last information we had,” bin Laden was in Pakistan, Panetta said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acajiWFwuWxM

Man On The Run
June 16, 2009:
June 11, 2009: The CIA believes that Osama bin Laden is still hiding in the Pakistani tribal territories, and that the Pakistani military operations there will greatly increase the chances that bin Laden will be killed or captured. Bin Laden would also be under a lot of pressure to leave the country, which would make him more vulnerable to detection. There aren't too many places bin Laden could flee to. Somalia and Yemen are the big al Qaeda hideouts these days, and both are much more vulnerable than the Pakistani tribal territories have been.
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20090616.aspx

Osama bin Laden Is a Dead Man
06/17/2009 01:16:35 PM EST Google
Almost exactly three years ago I predicted the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And a month later he was dead. Sometimes you can see the handwriting on the wall. Zarqawi had gotten careless and had also turned the local population against him, which I figured would eventually catch up with him. And it did. Now, I see similar handwriting on the wall for Osama bin Laden.

Here are the clues that Osama's days are numbered:
1. In one of his latest tapes, he was asking for donations to his cause. This is not something that was part of the regular fare before. If they're desperate enough to attach that to a threat that was otherwise bragging about how they're going to rip us apart, then they might be running low on cash. It doesn't sound very menacing to beg for a handout. If they're running low on funds, then they could be in a world of trouble.

2. The Pakistani army is moving into South Waziristan as we speak. They've already cleared out the Swat valley. Bin Laden was so nervous about that, that he did a tape on the intricacies of Pakistani politics, railing against specific politicians and their strategic goals. Gee, I wonder why he knows so much about Pakistan and cares so much about the army's movement into these tribal areas. He hears footsteps.

3. The Taliban who have traditionally protected Al Qaeda leadership have alienated the local population in Pakistan by carrying out a series of terrorist attacks against respected tribal leaders and innocent civilians. When you lose the local population, you're living on borrowed time.

4. We have a smart president. In the seven years after 9/11, the Bush administration could not for the life of them get the Pakistani government to move against the Taliban or Al Qaeda, who had taken shelter in northern Pakistan. They got almost no results in rooting out those forces from the Swat and Waziristan areas. I don't know if it's because they didn't know what they were doing or it was because they didn't really care to try.

But now we have a president who actually cares to get the job done and apparently knows how to do it. I say that because of the facts on the ground. A Pakistani government that was considered weak and ineffectual in the five months since Obama's inauguration has somehow been able to muster up a massive campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the north. I don't know what the Obama administration did behind the scenes to get this done, but they did it. They got results.

So, now Al Qaeda is being squeezed from the north in Afghanistan and from the south in Pakistan. They might be running out of money and out of options. They have lost the good will of their hosts and might be in some serious trouble here. So, given these circumstances, I'm willing to go out on a limb again and say I think Osama bin Laden will be killed or captured within the year (killed is far more likely; he might even die of natural causes as he attempts to flee the area in deteriorating health). If the Pakistani army blazes through South Waziristan the way they did in Swat, it might be quicker than that.

One final prediction -- if this does come to fruition, the right-wing in America will fervently claim that Barack Obama had nothing to do with it and that any Republican president could have done the same, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2009/6/17/131635/285/Diary/Osama-bin-Laden-Is-a-Dead-Man

If this ends with a "WE GOT HIM!" headline splashed across every newspaper around the world accompanied by a picture of a corpse with bloody, swollen, unrecognizable face, don't believe it for a second.

I hope they get him, plus that will almost for certain give Obama a second term.

:eyes:

:evilgrin:

sorry, "truthers".

:shrug: a link, perhaps...?

and I believe her hubby said he was dead. But, hey, what a great boogeyman he's made for certain propagandists. Come on Amerikkans, aren't ya'll quaking in your beds at night because of the boogeyman, OBL. What's that you say *? Oh, since 9/11, you really aren't interested if you catch OBL? Isn't that what he publicly stated because he got what he wanted--his war hard on for Iraq. OBL was just an excuse to exercise their real objective-raping, pillaging and controlling.

I believe ... it doesn't matter. Kill him if he is alive, make any of his followers frightened of the locals.

Pak rejects CIA's claim over Bin Laden's presence
2009-06-13
Lahore: Pakistan has rejected the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief, Leon Panetta's claims that Osama Bin Laden is hiding in the country.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar rebuffed Panetta's claims, saying reports about Bin Laden's presence in Pakistan do not have an iota of truth in them.
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jgnl9Aehgbc&title=Pak_rejects_CIA_s_claim_over_Bin_Laden_s_presence&tag=pakistan&tag=pakistan&?vsv=TopHP1

Osama dead, alive again!
Pakistan Observer
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Islamabad—Alive-again and dead-again! World most-wanted Al Qaeda leader Osma bin Laden is alive-again at least by the claims of CIA chief Leon Panetta who once believed that he is hiding in Pakistan.

The top American spymaster was Friday quoted as saying that “finding bin Laden remains one of his agency’s top priorities.”

The CIA chief also made no secret of his moves that “the Central Intelligence Agency has increased the number of officers and recruited agents, or locals who provide information, in Pakistan.”

.....Most Pakistani officials closely monitoring the militants activities believe that Osama is long dead but neither Al Qaeda nor its rivals would openly reveal that because it would not only demoralize the militants but can also raise the demand for an end to war on terror in Afghanistan and withdrawal of foreign troops.

Many foreign observers however dispute the claims of Osama’s death as there was no concrete evidence to support.

Foreign observers also believe that the “dead theory” is circulated to ease the rising tension along Pak-Afghan region while Pakistani experts argue that “alive-theory” helps those who are engaged in strategic locations.

Recently President Asif Ali Zardari told a media interviewer that he believed that Osama was dead but within weeks of that claim an audio tape of Osama was released via Al Jazeerah TV to directly attack President Barak Obama’s out-reach to Muslims. Pakistani experts believe that the “production of so-called Osama tape” was aimed at killing two birds with a single stone: it will justify the ongoing surge of forces and advance war gear into the area and it can keep the gap between Obama and the Islamic World.
http://pakobserver.net/200906/13/news/topstories11.asp