According to Brian Ross’s ABC News article “Are We Any Closer to Catching Osama bin Laden?,” Osama bin Laden and his corporation are still a strong threat to the United States. As to capturing or killing him, that is no longer the priority it used to be. As a matter of fact, the United States knows less about his whereabouts today than it did four years ago.
Since Osama bin Laden’s last appearance on video, there have been many reports that he had been killed, but all of these have been unconfirmed or discounted. One Internet message claimed Osama bin Laden had been found hanged by two CNN journalists, but this report was quickly discredited, along with many others of the same nature: that he had died from a heart attack or from kidney failure; that he was killed in a U.S. air raid; or even that he had shaved his beard and was posing as a Las Vegas lounge singer.
In Osama bin Laden’s absence, meanwhile, Egyptian doctor Ayman al-Zawahiri, seems to have assumed leadership. According to Fawaz Gerges, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College, Ayman al-Zawahiri really seems to be the leader and the face of al Qaeda. Whoever is in charge, however, U.S. officials say Osama bin Laden’s organization remains eager to strike again.
Who is this guy?
Osama bin Laden was born in 1957 as the seventeenth of fifty-two children. (And you thought you had a lot of siblings…) Osama bin Laden’s father, Muhammad bin Laden, was a poor laborer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, whose family became the second-richest family in the country, second only to the royal family. Muhammad imposed tough discipline on his children and insisted they follow strict Muslim practices. He also was very keen not to show any difference in the treatment of his children, which, to be sure, could get difficult when you have fifty-two of them.
Osama bin Laden graduated from a Jeddah university in 1979 with a degree in civil engineering. With the support of the Saudi and U.S. governments, Osama joined the Afghanistani resistance, and became a commander in the guerilla wars against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. After the war ended, Osama bin Laden and about 40 confederates formed al Qaeda, a name which translates as “The Base.” Their goals included driving the United States out of the Middle East and overthrowing the government of Saudi Arabia.
In 1996, Osama issued a “fatwah,” a religious ruling, urging Muslims to kill U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia. “The U.S. government has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous, and criminal,” he told CNN. In 1998, Osama issued a second “fatwah,” this one calling for attacks on U.S. civilians.
Osama is believed to have plotted or inspired the following attacks: the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the 1995 truck bombing of a Saudi National Guard training center, and the 1998 explosions at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He is also considered a prime suspect in the September 2001 attacks that crippled the Pentagon and destroyed New York’s World Trade Center.
Although Osama bin Laden’s location is currently unknown, intelligence experts speculate that he is still in the wild mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, perhaps dreaming new dreams of hate.
Some people are pretty sure that we know where Osama is, we just aren’t going there because of diplomatic stuff. :) WND ran an article in which the author interveiwed some mercenaries (“mercs”) who all said they knew where he was, but no one wanted to go there, because it is heavily guarded, and the area is lined with the bodies of mercs who tried to capture/kill Osama and were captured, tortured, and killed (and left out as a warning).
Another interestind development…remember those four SEALs killed on a mission in Afghanistan? Well, that unit was equipped as a sniper unit, and was operating in an al-Qaeda stronghold region. Some analysts presume that they were hunting Osama.
I heard on some news program a few weeks ago that they suspect Osama is in Pakistan. Obviously, we can’t go into Pakistani territory to hunt him without permission. Even more obviously, a Muslim government isn’t too likely to help very much in tracking down our Public Enemy #1. Unless he still is in Afghanistan, I think it’s pretty unlikely we’ll ever catch up with him, but of course that’s just an uneducated guess on my part. I never thought we would catch Saddam either. :)
I heard on some news program a few weeks ago that they suspect Osama is in Pakistan. Obviously, we can’t go into Pakistani territory to hunt him without permission. Even more obviously, a Muslim government isn’t too likely to help very much in tracking down our Public Enemy #1. Unless he still is in Afghanistan, I think it’s pretty unlikely we’ll ever catch up with him, but of course that’s just an uneducated guess on my part. I never thought we would catch Saddam either. :)