CIA Director Leon Panetta: Source AP/Dawn

If it is assumed by CIA director that Osama is in Pakistan then why dont they convey it to Pakistani agencies to capture him. Even if they dont convey us to capture him they have enough of their own security apparatus working in Pakistan for this purpose. There is absolutely no trust between Pakistan and US on winning the war.

The question is why there is no trust goes back many decades. Pakistan has not forgotten US’s role in 1965, 1971 and in Kashmir. Even though India has been staunch supporter of Russia but ultimately US ended up helping them. The hollow commitments of US of seventh fleet due to arrive is still heard in the corridors where it matters.

US won the war against Russia and the cost was very little to pay for. Instead Pakistan ended up paying for the fall outs of fall of communism. US which had the responsibility to clean the mess it created in Pakistan decided to leave Pakistan High & Dry with sanctions. Can we forget Pressler amendments and many others that followed. Even though US is saying that it will not repeat past mistakes but all those commitments are hollow.

Cowboys have to realize that we have limited resources to even fight for our own survival and what to talk about fighting for some one else. US has to step up and help Pakistan with its economic mess and provide Pakistan with what is required. Last nine years of holding meetings with not much to show for is not gonna take Pakistan out of its financial difficulties. First on the list is energy crisis and US can help Pakistan easily but they are dragging their feet on this issue but rather opposing China’s nuclear energy help.

CIA aka US has to rethink their strategy other wise they will have no face saving. Their lost in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan is proof of their ill planning. Americans are still living the lives of the Hollywood movies in which John Wayne and Clint Eastwood coming out with their men on horses and taking the bad guys out. They dont miss any of their shots and they cant get hit by any of the shots by enemies.

It is a laughter that CIA knew of Osama before 9/11 and since then they had no credible info about the where abouts of the world’s most wanted terrorist. If they dont know where Osama is then what the hell US is doing there. In his words there are only 50-100 Al-Qaeeda men in Kandahar. For God’s sake around 200,000 soldiers in Afghanistan cant take out 100 men.

World’s most sophisticated army cant capture 100 most dangerous men how are they gonna win the war in a country where many other powers had to leave with early success. It is easy to capture Afghanistan but it is not possible to rule this rugged terrain effectively for very long that is why Russians and British left after capturing it early on.

There is only one possibility and that is to work together with Afghans and reforming them and their society instead of altering them. US war against Russia that was fought in Afghanistan is the prime example of such approach. If US wants to succeed they will have to work with Pakistan (Not India) which has huge stakes in Afghanistan.

Fawad Manzoor

Osama thought to be in Pakistan: CIA Director
Source: Dawn, 28 Jun, 2010

WASHINGTON: CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Sunday said that the United States had no good intelligence on the whereabouts of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, although he was thought to be in Pakistan.
In an interview with the ABC programme This Week, Mr Panetta conceded that the war in Afghanistan had “serious problems,” but the US-led mission was making progress.

The last precise information US officials had about Osama’s whereabouts was in 2000, Mr Panetta said. “Since then, it’s been very difficult to get any intelligence on his exact location.”

The CIA chief estimated that no more than 50 to 100 Al Qaeda terrorists were in Afghanistan – mainly in Kandahar – and he said that Osama remains in very deep hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan near the Afghanistan border.

“He obviously has tremendous security around him,” Mr Panetta said of the Al Qaeda leader sought by the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

With further efforts to disrupt Al Qaeda operations and kill its leaders in Afghanistan, “we think ultimately we can flush out” Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri, the group’s second-in-command, Mr Panetta said.

He gave a sobering account of war in Afghanistan, saying the Taliban seemed to be strengthening with a stepped-up campaign of violence.
He cited governance problems, drug trafficking and the Taliban resistance as the major obstacles preventing a clear victory in Afghanistan.

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