lucky wilbury
10-19-2004, 06:26 PM
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB5HNVKI0E.html
U.S. General Says Bin Laden Apparently Alive but No Longer Controls Al-Qaida
By John J. Lumpkin Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 19, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) - The top American commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday he has no evidence Osama bin Laden is in day-to-day control of al-Qaida but suggested the long-absent terrorist leader is alive.
Lt. Gen. David Barno, speaking to reporters during a visit to the Pentagon, talked mostly of a lack of evidence about bin Laden's whereabouts, health and current role in the al-Qaida network. He remains, however, a critical target, Barno said.
Still, "I don't see any indications that he is in day-to-day command and control, as it were, of the al-Qaida organization or the other terrorist groups that work with him, certainly in the Afghanistan-Pakistan area," Barno said.
Barno suggested that bin Laden's death would be difficult to conceal from intelligence services, even if he died in a secret place, because his associates would talk about it. Recent communications from al-Qaida's top echelon have come from bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, as videotaped messages.
Early in 2004, Barno and his staff predicted bin Laden would be captured by the end of the year. No longer. "I retired my crystal ball, and I don't make predictions anymore in terms of when we're potentially going to get any of the figures out there that we pursue every day in Afghanistan," he said.
Barno called the Oct. 9 presidential election a success, and described stories of Afghans waiting in the snow for hours to vote. Some stayed in line even as insurgent rockets landed 200 yards away.
Another visitor to Washington, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, speaking to reporters at the State Department, characterized the elections as "a spectacular success" unprecedented in the South Asian country's 5,000-year history.
"The people of Afghanistan want their country to succeed," said Khalilzad, who was born in the South Asian country. "They want us to help them."
To do that, he said, the threat from Afghanistan's former extremist Taliban rulers must be ended, and the country's massive cultivation of opium, which accounts for half Afghanistan's economy, must be stopped.
Security forces must be built up under a strategic partnership between the United States and Afghanistan, he said.
"We have seen that the failure of Afghanistan causes problems that can have enormous effect on the security of the American people. We saw that Sept. 11," Khalilzad said. The airplane hijackers who attacked the United States on that day in 2001 were trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.
Barno said Afghanistan's major security problems include stemming the narcotics trade and trying to persuade former rank-and-file Taliban militiamen to join them into society.
U.N. surveys estimate Afghanistan's illegal poppy cultivation accounted for three-quarters of the world's opium last year and earned $2.3 billion.
Barno suggested that U.S. troops may eventually be used to interdict the drug trade but said it is less likely they will begin to eradicate crops. So far, British-trained Afghan forces have taken the lead in counternarcotics efforts, but the trade flourishes.
Promoting reconciliation with rebel Taliban fighters would be critical over the next six months, Barno said, but he offered no numbers on how many holdouts were still fighting.
"They want to join this political process. They want to join the economic development of the country," he said. "And they don't want to be living up in the mountains in the snow with an AK-47 any more."
The 100 to 150 senior Taliban leaders would not be allowed back, Barno said.
U.S. General Says Bin Laden Apparently Alive but No Longer Controls Al-Qaida
By John J. Lumpkin Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 19, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) - The top American commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday he has no evidence Osama bin Laden is in day-to-day control of al-Qaida but suggested the long-absent terrorist leader is alive.
Lt. Gen. David Barno, speaking to reporters during a visit to the Pentagon, talked mostly of a lack of evidence about bin Laden's whereabouts, health and current role in the al-Qaida network. He remains, however, a critical target, Barno said.
Still, "I don't see any indications that he is in day-to-day command and control, as it were, of the al-Qaida organization or the other terrorist groups that work with him, certainly in the Afghanistan-Pakistan area," Barno said.
Barno suggested that bin Laden's death would be difficult to conceal from intelligence services, even if he died in a secret place, because his associates would talk about it. Recent communications from al-Qaida's top echelon have come from bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, as videotaped messages.
Early in 2004, Barno and his staff predicted bin Laden would be captured by the end of the year. No longer. "I retired my crystal ball, and I don't make predictions anymore in terms of when we're potentially going to get any of the figures out there that we pursue every day in Afghanistan," he said.
Barno called the Oct. 9 presidential election a success, and described stories of Afghans waiting in the snow for hours to vote. Some stayed in line even as insurgent rockets landed 200 yards away.
Another visitor to Washington, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, speaking to reporters at the State Department, characterized the elections as "a spectacular success" unprecedented in the South Asian country's 5,000-year history.
"The people of Afghanistan want their country to succeed," said Khalilzad, who was born in the South Asian country. "They want us to help them."
To do that, he said, the threat from Afghanistan's former extremist Taliban rulers must be ended, and the country's massive cultivation of opium, which accounts for half Afghanistan's economy, must be stopped.
Security forces must be built up under a strategic partnership between the United States and Afghanistan, he said.
"We have seen that the failure of Afghanistan causes problems that can have enormous effect on the security of the American people. We saw that Sept. 11," Khalilzad said. The airplane hijackers who attacked the United States on that day in 2001 were trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.
Barno said Afghanistan's major security problems include stemming the narcotics trade and trying to persuade former rank-and-file Taliban militiamen to join them into society.
U.N. surveys estimate Afghanistan's illegal poppy cultivation accounted for three-quarters of the world's opium last year and earned $2.3 billion.
Barno suggested that U.S. troops may eventually be used to interdict the drug trade but said it is less likely they will begin to eradicate crops. So far, British-trained Afghan forces have taken the lead in counternarcotics efforts, but the trade flourishes.
Promoting reconciliation with rebel Taliban fighters would be critical over the next six months, Barno said, but he offered no numbers on how many holdouts were still fighting.
"They want to join this political process. They want to join the economic development of the country," he said. "And they don't want to be living up in the mountains in the snow with an AK-47 any more."
The 100 to 150 senior Taliban leaders would not be allowed back, Barno said.