Osama bin Laden releases a new message. Why can't we catch this guy?

The Associated Press

Osama bin Laden: Everywhere and nowhere?

Featured Topic | Posted 36 weeks 4 days ago

Osama bin Laden releases a new message. Why can't we catch this guy?

Is Osama bin Laden alive? Is he dead? Is he a myth? Well, he released a new recording on Wednesday, slamming the publication of drawings that allegedly insult to the Prophet Muhammad. In a new audio message, bin Laden warned Europeans of a strong reaction to come.The message, which appeared on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an AK-47. A voice believed to be bin Laden's described the cartoons as taking place in the framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned Europeans that a reaction would come.

So why can't the United States or Western intelligence agencies capture bin Laden? Is the focus on al-Qaida not enough? Or too much? Does bin Laden still matter?

Ben likes: Bin Laden's translator

Wretchard/The Belmont Club

Any decisive effort to "get Bin Laden" must take the shape of intelligence operations within Pakistan itself. A large military force to "get him" will not be needed. What's needed is information. So how far are the hounds from Bin Laden? We are looking at a seven-month old episode in the ongoing hunt for OBL and one can only assume the game has moved on. Although Rahim's arrest has only now made U.S. news headlines, the article in the Pakistani Nation indicates that Osama must have known his inner defenses were breached as far back as August 2007, which is unfortunate.

Considering that Muhammed Rahim was an aide of long standing and must have known practically everyone in his inner circle the chore of building a wholly new network would have been extraordinarily difficult and in my view nearly impossible. The task is so hard I doubt whether Osama can long remain secure in Pakistan.

Joel likes: Fighting terrorism means getting Bin Laden

William M. Arkin/Washington Post

Osama bin Laden is not some obscure second-tier lieutenant to be pursued in the intelligence community's cat-and-mouse game. For more than five years now, Bush and Co. have been pooh-poohing the importance of killing the al Qaeda leader and perpetrator of 9/11.

Bin Laden not only is titular head of that organization, but he is also inspiration for hundreds if not thousands of terrorists. His survival in the face of the "war" against terrorism -- regardless of the deft Washington utterances that we're not really trying to get him -- symbolizes a hope on the part of many terrorists that they could succeed in taking down America and the West, just as they "defeated" the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

The most important issue for the next president is how to fight terrorism. Bin Laden is its leader, and every day he survives, false hope and grand delusions fuel our enemies.