I think it is a mistake to take these comments about a planned attack on US soil lightly. We have this false sense of security right now that we are safe due to our increased security measures, yet you see news reports almost weekly exposing some flaws in our security at airports, nuclear plants, and so on. This is not a man to ignore and take lightly...hopefully Bush will recognize this and keep an extra eye and ear out for "chatter" and signs.
Bin Laden is a clown. They've been "planning" for 4.5 years? To pull off an attack a drunk college kid could figure out? Give me a break. I'm surprised he can even operate the tape recorder. Sure, keep our eyes and ears open, but also cherish these humorous moments, because it sure seems like we must be honing in on this dope.
Of all the tapes this guy has ever put out, this one jsut comes off as a knee-jerk reaction of a scared man. "Damn, that one hit close!!!" Now time for a joke: Three guys, a Canadian farmer, Osama bin Laden, and an Engineer are working together one day. They come across a lantern and a Genie pops out of it. "I will give each of you one wish, which is three wishes says the Genie. The Canadian says, "I am a farmer, my dad was a farmer, and my son will also farm. I want the land to be forever fertile in Canada. " Pooooof! with the blink of the Genie's eye, the land in Canada was forever made fertile for farming. Osama bin Ladin was amazed, so he said, "I want a wall around Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran so that no infidels, Jews or Americans can come into our precious state." Pooooof! again, with the blink of the Genie's eye, there was a huge wall around those countries.. The Engineer asks, "I am very curious. Please tell me more about this wall". The Genie explains, "Well, it's about 5000 feet high, 500 feet thick and completely surrounds the country. Nothing can get in or out, it's virtually impenetrable." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Engineer says, "Fill it with water."
You miss the point. The po' local islamists in Iraq can't drive their Toyotas to America and shoot people with AK-47's. That kind of extremist is not going to be a problem here--never was, never will be. When we leave they will go back to killing each other, which is much more in our interests than having them unite against us. The well-financed international terrorists of 9/11 that were based in Afghanistan and now in Pakistan are still a problem and will hit us again. The US occupation of Iraq doesn't hurt them at all. The airpower/special forces backed regime change in Afghanistan certainly did hurt them and should have been the model for continued action against Al Qaida. There is no question that Bush is pounding his shoe on the table. Whether or not he has the right table is open to serious doubt.
I disagree. They weren't a problem simply because it didn't gather enough attention for their interests - not because they couldn't do it. Any extremists islamists is our problem. And it will be. Osama is obviously scared $h*tless. If they are going to Iraq to fight us, and we're winning, it does hurt them. What's the problem again?
We've done overt ops before in Afghanistan with drones. Dude they are flying over these areas all the time....Pakistan included and have been for years now. They get info, they check to see if it as reliable as it can get, and they fire. Case closed. This isn't new. When they get info, they'll fire no matter where these thugs are. I didn't say they would occupy this area. But you keep saying gotta get these people in Pakistan......OK, how without having anybody in there to find them? And to put people in there to find them we would need huge masses of troops. Keep flying the drones, get the info and FIRE!!!!!!
Threefold. 1. We aren't winning in Iraq, this should be obvious to everybody. Occupations can't be "won". We are either occupying or we are not. The insurgency is as strong as ever and bolder than before. 2. It hurts us too. Our military capacity is WAY down. The army is hurting badly in trying to keep units rotated into Iraq. Our international prestige has been diminished. Our post-9/11 war-on-terrorism support has vanished. Superpower weaknesses in a guerilla war have been revealed again. 3. Distraction. Human, material, and financial resources are being squandered in the wrong place. We are fighting their preferred type of war instead of ours.
Let's get one thing straight bub......the war in Iraq is OVER and has been for years now. We have won the war.....what's happening now in a country of 30 million is: training Iraqi forces to take over and helping to rebuild their infrastructure. That's it. The war is over and was won. While we are there training their forces to protect themselves, we will be attacked by ragtag thugs and we will find them, retailate and kill them. But the war in Iraq has already been won.
Yes, we have been there, but covertly. We are covertly overflying Iran and North Korea, too. Overt bombing, admitted to by the US and Pakistan governments IS something new. This could be the beginning of an effort to finally go in a get the Al Qaida leadership . . . or it could be the beginning of a split with Pakistan. Time will tell. I don't think so, not in this terrain. This is an airpower and special operations war, usually best conducted covertly. I think if we are being overt about air strikes in Pakistan, then overt Green Beret/Delta Force/SEAL/CIA operations are surely being contemplated. This is what we need to do. NOT another Iraq-like invasion and occupation. Hit 'em hard and disappear. Leave them to solve their own problems. On this we can agree.
