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Who really believes that Osama bin Laden is still holed up in
the mountains of Afghanistan? With the money and resources
available to him, it doesn’t make sense that he would wait
like a rat in a cage to be caught and killed. We keep being
lured to articles in the newspaper that promise his capture.
"Surrounded," "Cornered,"
"Trapped," and "Encircled" are just a few of
the headline promises, but as we read deeper there are always
the fact that taunt us by the end of each article: We do not
know where he is.
Everyday we read the articles and we hear doubts from Franks,
Rumsfeld, and Bush. Towards the end of each article is a quote
from one of these military leaders. Rumsfeld has said about
Afghanistan, "we’ve known it was a likelihood from day
one (that the al-Qaeda fighters can escape to Pakistan). It is a
big country with a porous border. These folks have moved back
and forth across the borders. They have money." Does this
sound like the Defense Secretary has the enemy trapped? He also
admitted, "There’s no doubt in my mind that any number of
al-Qaeda have gone across various borders…." So why
should we not expect that bin Laden has been one of those
escapees? General Tommy Franks was forced to be blunt saying,
"The honest answer is we really don’t know (the
whereabouts of bin Laden)."
The bottom line is that if he is still in the area then he is
surrounded, trapped, cornered, and encircled. This is a big
"if."
Bush is doubting if and when the capture will take place. He
said that he doesn’t "know whether we’re going to get
him…" and warns it may take more than a year.
Americans are still holding on to false notions of winning
this war, based on the capture of the madman ringleader. We want
to believe that he is a rat in a cage, scurrying about his
cave-palace, regretting his deeds. But we have proof that this
isn’t so from the eerie video of him gloating and thanking
Allah. If hundreds of Taliban fighters have escaped into
Pakistan, you can be sure that bin Laden was among them. What if
he is still hiding in his cave in Tora Bora? What is he
doing, do you suppose? Waiting to be killed or captured? Does
that sound like the mastermind behind September eleventh events?
Not to me, and not to many Afghanis who know he is slicker than
that.
Would you be close by if the strongest military in the world
was after you? It is alleged that these mountains have
electricity, plumbing and internet service. If this is true, and
it isn’t hard to believe with all their money, it must be easy
for the Taliban and al-Qaeda to predict our military’s every
move. I am grateful for freedom of the press in this county, but
I have to believe that it has helped bin Laden stay a step ahead
of his pursuers. He knew the moment we started to suspect he was
in the Tora Bora mountain region. I am sure it was then that he
split, or even sooner.
The terrorists understand, if nothing else, that the longer
this war goes on, the more of a chance there is that the Muslim
world will tire of it and start to see it as a war against
Muslim people. Even Afghan fighters have expressed conflicted
feelings about fighting Muslims. One Afghan fighter has said
recently, "fighting against Arabs is fighting against
Islam." This attitude permeates throughout the Anti-Taliban
forces. Another fighter explained, "If I die fighting an
Arab, I’m an unholy martyr, but if I kill an Arab in battle,
he’ll be a shahid (a holy martyr)." He went on to say
"This is not a holy war. We are supporting Americans and
non-Muslims against Muslims." Many Afghan fighters had even
admitted to praying for Osama’s escape and safety. They are
not convinced of his guilt, and have sworn that if they found
him they would help him to escape. These Afghan fighters point
out that he is still a fellow Muslim, a philanthropist, and a
freedom fighter that helped save them from the Soviets in the
1980’s. Does this sound like America has convinced the world
that he is guilty and a terrorist?
As the "war on terrorists" endlessly toils on, the
world will start questioning their hearts and America’s
motive. We will collectively begin to question the real goals
and objectives of our attacks. Could it be true that we intend
to abolish terrorism? Do our leaders believe this to be
possible? Is there agreement on who is a terrorist and who is a
freedom fighter? Could we even begin to wipe away the many
enemies that plague our great nation? It is not rational to
believe that our government thinks we can accomplish this
objective. No, bin Laden is not trapped, cornered, or
surrounded, but even if he was, the victory would only be in our
minds. The war will last as long as our delusions last.
See
Mario's Mail
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