Originally posted by: bamacre
I have watched many of the debates, both Republican and Democrat, and I cannot remember any of the candidates talk about these men and the fact that they are still free.
Have we forgot about 9/11? Has the war in Iraq taken over the discussion of foreign policy? It is highly thought, if not confirmed, that these two men are now in Pakistan, rather than Afghanistan.
Bush has failed to bring them to justice, as he promised to do. But he's not up for re-election, so assuming that these two men are still free when Bush leaves office, do you think the next President aught to make it a priority of catching or killing these guys? If not, why? If so, how?
Maybe not, but these are significant captures/deaths:
Waleed bin Attash
Police on April 29, 2003, arrested alleged al-Qaida operational commander Waleed bin Attash, suspected of helping plan the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and five other alleged al-Qaida operatives in a raid in Karachi. U.S. officials also suspect Attash, a Yemeni also known as Tawfiq Attash or Khallad, coordinated the activities of two hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. law enforcement officials said a plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the U.S. consulate in Karachi was uncovered with the arrests. Pakistan's Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayyat, declined to comment directly on the plot, but said the arrest helped avert a major terrorist attack.
Mohammed Atef (aka Abu Hafs)
Atef was reported killed in mid-November 2001 in a U.S. airstrike near Kabul, according to "credible" intelligence reports received from the region. He remains on the FBI's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists," however. U.S. officials said Atef, 57, was one of bin Laden's most senior deputies and a family member - his daughter was married to one of bin Laden's sons in January 2001. Atef also was a co-founder of the al-Qaida terror network and was a member of the group's ruling council, the officials said. He served as al-Qaida's top military commander. They also believe that the former Egyptian police officer was the key planner behind the Sept. 11 attacks, the bombing of the USS Cole and the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Along with bin Laden, he was indicted in connection with the embassy attacks.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Mohammed, one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, was captured in a raid in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, on March 1, 2003. U.S. intelligence officials describe Mohammed as the third-ranking official of al-Qaida, behind only Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. They say he became head of military operations following the death of Mohammed Atef, who was killed by a CIA Predator strike in November, 2001. U.S. investigators believe Mohammed, working under bin Laden's leadership, planned many aspects of the Sept. 11 attacks. The uncle of convicted World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, Mohammed also is believed to have participated in or planned virtually every major al-Qaida strike, including the attacks in 1998 on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Tunisia; and a deadly attack last year on a synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba. He and alleged Sept. 11 co-conspirator Ramzi Binalshibh gave an interview to an al-Jazeera TV reporter in which they claimed to have orchestrated what they called "the martyrdom operation inside America."
Abu Zubaydah
Considered a senior planner of al-Qaida terrorist operations, he was captured by Pakistani authorities in March 2002 and turned over to the U.S. military. Zubaydah, also known as Zain Al-Abidin Muhahhad Husain and Abd Al-Hadi Al-Wahab, was shot several times while trying to evade capture but survived and was turned over to U.S. authorities. A 31-year-old Saudi citizen of Palestinian descent, Zubaydah was, at the time of his apprehension, the most senior al-Qaida member to be captured. U.S. intelligence officials say he later provided useful information about pending plots, including intelligence that led to the detention of Jose Padilla, the American who federal officials allege was plotting to use a radiological weapon on U.S. soil.
Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi (aka Shaihk Saiid; Sa'd al-Sharif)
Al-Hawsawi, who authorities believe was the main money man behind the Sept. 11 operation, was arrested in Rawlpindi, Pakistan, on March 1, 2003, with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. He is described as a "supporting conspirator" in the indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks for allegedly providing financial support to the hijackers using bank accounts he controlled in the United Arab Emirates.
Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman
Allegedly a senior al-Qaida operative and the son of the blind Egyptian sheik accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, was arrested in February 2003 in Quetta, Pakistan. U.S. officials say Abdel-Rahman ran a training camp in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks and also had a role in operational planning. His father, Omar Abdel-Rahman, is in a U.S. prison for a 1994 plot to bomb landmarks around New York City.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
Al-Qaida's Persian Gulf operations chief who believed to have been heavily involved in the planning of the bombing of the USS Cole. Al-Nashiri, a Saudi, was captured in November 2002 in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Nashiri was arrested based on intelligence provided by Saudi authorities, sources told the Associated Press. He was transferred to U.S. custody shortly after his apprehension and was questioned at an undisclosed location for several days before his apprehension was announced by U.S. officials. U.S. officials say he has been surprisingly cooperative.
Ramzi Binalshibh
A 30-year-old Yemeni, Binalshibh was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks after a gunfight with Pakistani police that left two other suspected al-Qaida members dead and five others in custody. Pakistan turned Binalshibh, accused of being one of the main planners of the Sept. 11 attacks when he was a roommate of suspected ringleader Mohammed Atta in Hamburg, Germany, over to U.S. authorities within days of his arrest and he was flown out of the country to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar
An al-Qaida recruiter who allegedly enlisted Mohammed Atta and other key members of the terrorist cell that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks while preaching at a mosque in Hamburg, Germany, in the mid- to late-1990s, reportedly is being held in Syria. Zammar, a German of Syrian descent, was arrested in Morocco after leaving Germany on Oct. 27, 2001, and was subsequently transferred to Syrian custody.
Ali Qaed Sinan al-Harthi
A senior al-Qaida member believed to have been involved in the planning of the attack on the USS Cole, al-Harthi was killed on Nov. 4, 2002, in Yemen by a Hellfire missile fired by a CIA-controlled drone, U.S. officials said.
Abdul Rahim al-Sharqawi
Also known as "Riyadh the Facilitator," al-Sharqawi reportedly is in the custody in an unidentified country where U.S. officials have access to him. The circumstances of his capture are not known. Considered a "top 25" al-Qaida leader, al-Sharqawi was responsible for coordinating logistics and finances for al-Qaida operations before his apprehension, which occurred before April 2002.
Mohsen al-Fadli
Described by U.S. officials as a senior Kuwaiti member of al-Qaida and the network's senior leader for the Persian Gulf, al-Fadli, 21, was arrested by Kuwaiti security forces in November 2002, who said the apprehension foiled a plot to blow up a hotel in Yemen used by Americans. He was sentenced to five years in prison by a Kuwaiti court in February 2003 for "joining the military forces of a foreign country which endangered Kuwait's political ties."
Abu Zubair Haili
A Saudi operative captured in Morocco in June 2002, Haili was nicknamed "the Bear" because of his size. An associate of top al-Qaida leader Abu Zubaydah, he was described by U.S. officials as an al-Qaida recruiter and planner.
Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi
A Libyan who ran some of bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan. He was captured by Pakistan and turned over to U.S. authorities in early January 2001.
Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi (aka Abu Abdallah)
Al-Iraqi, allegedly an al-Qaida training camp director, was reportedly captured by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan in January 2001.
Zaid al-Khayr
Al-Khayr, a Saudi accused of serving as an al-Qaida trainer at training camps in Afghanistan, reportedly is being held in Pakistan.
Abu Jafar al-Jaziri
Al-Jaziri, a senior al-Qaida logistics coordinator, was reported killed in mid-January 2001 during U.S. bombing of the al-Qaida training complex of Zawar Kili in eastern Afghanistan.
Abu Salah al-Yemeni
Al-Yemeni, an al-Qaida logistics coordinator, reported was killed in mid-January 2001 during U.S. bombing of the terrorist training complex of Zawar Kili in eastern Afghanistan.
Tariq Anwar al-Sayyid Ahmad
Ahmad, a high-ranking member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which is closely linked with bin Laden's al-Qaida network, reportedly was killed by an airstrike near the Afghan town of Khost in early November 2000.
Muhammad Salah
Salah, described as a senior figure in Egyptian Islamic Jihad, also believed to have been killed near Khost, probably in the same strike in which al-Sayyid Ahmad died.
Tawfiq Attash Khallad
Described as an al-Qaida operational commander.
