Associated Press,
March 3, 2005
Search for bin Laden faces complications
BY KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Osama bin Laden remains Public Enemy No. 1 but
recent developments raise questions about the ability of U.S. forces
to track down the elusive terrorist and the resources dedicated
to the hunt more than three years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Fresh reminders of the unsuccessful search come as intelligence
officials indicated this week that bin Laden has been in contact
with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top al-Qaida figure in Iraq, enlisting
his help in planning attacks inside the United States.
Current and former government officials say there is no doubt
that the Bush administration wants bin Laden "dead or alive,"
as the president said shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. But skills
and dollars may fall short of desire.
Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told the
Senate Armed Services Committee this week that bin Laden and the
al-Qaida senior leadership have been "our priority target"
since Sept. 11 but added, "It's important for all of us to
know that military forces do best in attacking the network as
opposed to looking for a specific person."
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in December 2004
"the trail has gone cold," and U.S. officials largely
agree.
Bin Laden is believed to have evaded capture first during the
2001 battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan and then by hiding along
the Afghan-Pakistani border with his top deputy and a circle of
supporters protecting him at all costs. Some experts believe he
may also be spending time in Pakistani cities.
U.S. personnel including CIA paramilitary, contractors and some
of the military's highly trained special forces have been on the
hunt. In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service said
18,000 U.S. forces remain in Afghanistan, running down al-Qaida
and Taliban, joined by thousands of Pakistani forces and agents.
Yet a former intelligence official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, wondered about recent decisions on U.S. resources.
The official said intelligence and military assets were moved
from Afghanistan to Iraq for the Jan. 30 elections there, and
it's unclear whether they went back.
Asked to confirm the shift, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry
Venable said, "As a matter of security, we don't comment
on operational matters."
The Pentagon consumes roughly 80 percent of the classified intelligence
budget, estimated at $40 billion.
The No. 2 commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, recently
said he was concerned that U.S. policy-makers will seize on an
apparent drop in militant attacks to cut coalition troops to ease
the pressure on forces stretched by their deployment in Iraq.
Olson added that he did not anticipate any letup in the mission
to find bin Laden.
Since the late 1990s, the government has debated how best to
get the terror leader and what his capture is worth. In the 2001
Patriot Act, lawmakers authorized the State Department, through
its Rewards for Justice Program, to pay more than $5 million.
In November, Congress authorized increasing the reward for information
leading to bin Laden's killing or capture to $50 million. But
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hasn't boosted the reward.
State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said officials are constantly
assessing the success of their efforts. "There are no plans
at this time to raise the reward. It is at the discretion of the
secretary," he said.
Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who was behind the most recent rewards
legislation, said the department is moving fast - "for the
normal speed limit at the State Department" - in its consideration
of the November legislation.
Kirk applauded other efforts under way, including a recent television,
newspaper and radio campaign in four languages to remind Pakistanis
about the reward. He was responsible for this legislation too.
Kirk advises patience. On a trip to Pakistan in January, when
newspaper ads were running, he said U.S. officials were getting
a dozen tips a day on al-Qaida's leadership - up from zero.
James Pavitt, head of the CIA's clandestine service until last
summer, said he supports putting anything on the table to find
bin Laden.
"That said, for the most part, it is hard for you and me
to comprehend what that sort of money is," Pavitt said. "Imagine
what it would be for the person in a position to give the tip.
Would they be in the position to know the difference between $1
million, $5 million, $10 million?"
While the symbolic importance of capturing bin Laden remains
high, Pavitt also stressed the importance of going after the network.
"The issue is a network, and it is a network that is more
diffuse than it was three-and-half years ago," he said.
Meanwhile, bin Laden continues to operate. He released a video
addressed to the American people days before the November elections,
appearing healthy, shaven and lit by studio lights.
Within the last several weeks, U.S. officials say bin Laden has
been in contact with al-Zarqawi, who first pledged his loyalty
to bin Laden in October. Al-Zarqawi is believed to run his own
network in Iraq - aligned with al-Qaida and receptive to its cause
but maintaining some autonomy.
Yet Vince Cannistraro, former head of the CIA's counterterrorism
center, said the message may be good news: "If you've got
to go to Zarqawi to ask him to do operations in the U.S., that
sounds pretty desperate."
Copyright© 2005
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