Bin Laden cornered in Pakistan's northwest: report
Sat Feb 21, 6:18 PM ET
LONDON (AFP) - US and British special forces have cornered Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a mountainous area in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, it was reported.
Quoting "a US intelligence source," the Sunday Express newspaper said bin Laden and "up to 50 fanatical henchmen" were inside an area 16 kilometres (10 miles) wide and deep "north of the town of Khanozai and the city of Quetta".
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Okay, let's walk through this for a moment.
If the US captures ObL, there'll be a Roman-esque spectacle of triumph for a while. All the usual admin suspects will deliver heroic speeches, columnists will write about the glorious moment and johnny-come-lately critics will concede that the admin 'got something right' (though some will say 'what took so long?').
The real fun begins after this bacchanal ends.
Guilt
Everyone assumes ObL is guilty of 'masterminding' 9-11 - either through direct order or supportive complicity - but I don't think we've seen any hard evidence to-date. The issue of proving his guilt will surely come up and complicate matters.
Status
The Bush admin has chosen war, both as a course of action and as a way of discussing terrorism and the proper method to counter it. If a state of war exists between ObL's organization and the US, some will argue he should be treated as a prisoner of war or a war criminal.
But of course, despite the admin's attempt to label 'failed states' as 'terrorist havens' or, terror states (it's painful to write such a stupid phrase) there is no al Qa'ida nation. So, the war against al Qa'ida is similar to whatever sort of 'wars' have been waged against mafioso, narcotraffickers and earlier terrorist groups.
The question of how to label ObL will be dismissed at first (in the flush of victory) but will rise to prominence as time passes.
International Claims
More than Americans died in the collapse of the WTC and shockwaves from the event have moved in all driections across the globe. The US will claim the imperial right to decide ObL's fate but we can expect contenders.
Imprisonment / Fate
It's likely the admin will continue the policy it's established for imprisoning 'terror suspects' - hustling them away to 'secure' and sometimes undisclosed locations because the danger they pose, even without weapons, is supposedly so off-the-scale. ObL, re-fashioned within the American mind to be a villan of James Bondian proportions, will be treated as if he were a cyborg or an alien: extraordinary measures will be taken.
As for his fate, nearly everyone will demand death - probably publicly broadcast (to facilitate the 'healing process'). Anyone objecting to death will be labeled a traitor.
The calls for death will be complicated by ObL's uncertain status (POW? enemy combatant? capo de tuti capo?).
Ennui
If ObL is captured, there will be rejoicing in the beginning, followed by two realizations; one for the administration and its lackeys, another for the general populace.
For the admin - how do we sell this endless war to the people without a focus point? The cold war was an easy sell, the USSR was real and possessed real weapons. The 'war against terror' is more difficult; without ObL, what is the hook? It fades into a mist of general threat. This will be enough for some who believe fervently what they're told but for millions of others it won't be sufficient.
For the populace - after the champagne flattens, we wake up to realize nothing's actually changed; the US is still at war with the shadows, the government still tells us to 'be vigilant' as the color coded threat scale slides up and down and US troops are still in Iraq. What has really been accomplished?
DRM