I believe it was Charrison who asked me what I would have done about Osama bin Ladin instead of invading Afghanistan. I?m leaving this board but I felt I owed him an answer before going. I?ll respond to this thread for a while, but that?s it. Charrison (hope I?ve got the right board member), take your best shot.
If our goal was to capture Osama, I would have put maximum carrot and stick on Saudi Arabia to provide what help it could. Not what help it wanted to offer, but what help it could provide. I believe they could provide much more help than they want to.
Second, put pressure on the Pakistani government to have him put in a position where a lightening raid by a small, highly competent, U.S. military team could make a lightening raid and take him prisoner or, if that was not possible, kill him. If our troops, of which we?re so fond, but who failed so badly in rescuing the hostages in Iran, aren?t up to it, we could hire Israelis, who succeeded so well in rescuing hostages from Uganda. Second choice would have been to put maximum pressure on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to fix his location, plant a homing device for GPS positioning and take him (and the rest of the village) out with a cruise missile.
The Taliban were drawn primarily from the Pushtun population, with which Pakistan had close contacts and supported. Despite all the great novels written to the contrary, I don?t think any European descended double agent could have penetrated the organization sufficiently deeply to accomplish this job. Hence the use of one of Saudi Arabia?s or Pakistan?s covert resources.
Pakistan has a big problem with drought. There are only three dams in the country and many rivers just flow into the desert and vanish. While I was perusing the Saudi and Pakistani possibilities, I would have made it clear to the Pushtun portion of the Afghanis that generous help with the drought, water supplies, and economic development would be available but for the fact that they harbored Osama and his ilk. I?d make the same clear to Pakistan. One of the reasons, among others, that Pakistan didn?t surrender Osama is the Middle Eastern belief in the right of a guest to protection while he?s a guest. That?s on the face of it. Under a large carrot and stick approach, I don?t think Afghanistan would have made too much of a fuss if Osama had been kidnapped by the West. The issue would be too volatile for Pakistanis to do the kidnap.
If our goal was to capture Osama, I would have put maximum carrot and stick on Saudi Arabia to provide what help it could. Not what help it wanted to offer, but what help it could provide. I believe they could provide much more help than they want to.
Second, put pressure on the Pakistani government to have him put in a position where a lightening raid by a small, highly competent, U.S. military team could make a lightening raid and take him prisoner or, if that was not possible, kill him. If our troops, of which we?re so fond, but who failed so badly in rescuing the hostages in Iran, aren?t up to it, we could hire Israelis, who succeeded so well in rescuing hostages from Uganda. Second choice would have been to put maximum pressure on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to fix his location, plant a homing device for GPS positioning and take him (and the rest of the village) out with a cruise missile.
The Taliban were drawn primarily from the Pushtun population, with which Pakistan had close contacts and supported. Despite all the great novels written to the contrary, I don?t think any European descended double agent could have penetrated the organization sufficiently deeply to accomplish this job. Hence the use of one of Saudi Arabia?s or Pakistan?s covert resources.
Pakistan has a big problem with drought. There are only three dams in the country and many rivers just flow into the desert and vanish. While I was perusing the Saudi and Pakistani possibilities, I would have made it clear to the Pushtun portion of the Afghanis that generous help with the drought, water supplies, and economic development would be available but for the fact that they harbored Osama and his ilk. I?d make the same clear to Pakistan. One of the reasons, among others, that Pakistan didn?t surrender Osama is the Middle Eastern belief in the right of a guest to protection while he?s a guest. That?s on the face of it. Under a large carrot and stick approach, I don?t think Afghanistan would have made too much of a fuss if Osama had been kidnapped by the West. The issue would be too volatile for Pakistanis to do the kidnap.
Facebook
Twitter