Times Online: Barack Obama: it is no longer essential to kill Osama bin Laden

[SkinsHokieFan]

I guess those classified breifs he has been getting has changed his mind on this tough talk from the campaign.

It'd be nice if someone from our government would pull off the mask and finally admit he has been dead for years. Which also makes me wonder what the purpose of an Afghan surge would serve

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5520116.ece

Barack Obama suggested last night that removing Osama bin Laden from the battlefield was no longer essential and that America's security goals could be achieved merely by keeping al-Qaeda "on the run".

"My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him," he said. "But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America."

His comments, in a CBS interview, represent a significant watering down of the "dead or alive" policy pursued by President Bush since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. They also appear to contradict Mr Obama's own statements made in the election campaign.

As recently as October 7, in a presidential debate, Mr Obama said: "We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority."

Yesterday, the President-elect adopted far less aggressive language, saying his "No 1 priority" was to protect America from further attack.

"I think that we have to so weaken [bin Laden's] infrastructure that, whether he is technically alive or not, he is so pinned down that he cannot function," he said. "And I'm confident that we can keep them on the run and ensure that they cannot train terrorists to attack our homeland."

A new audio tape thought to be from bin Laden was broadcast yesterday, taunting President Bush for leaving his successor "with a heavy inheritance" that would force Mr Obama to choose between military defeat or drowning in economic crisis.

Asked about the tape, Mr Obama confirmed that the focus of his national security priority would be Afghanistan and the border region with Pakistan, saying: "We took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq."

He added: "We have to put as much pressure on them as possible. I've already spoken to my National Security team about how we're going to do that."

The White House has dismissed the latest propaganda shot from al-Qaeda, saying that it reflected bin Laden's "isolation" and desperation to remain relevant at a time when his ideology and mission were being challenged.

The tape, entitled "a call for jihad to stop the aggression on Gaza," was played over a still picture of bin Laden and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Pointing to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since the September 11, 2001, attacks, bin Laden said that al-Qaeda was prepared to fight "for seven more years, and seven more after that, then seven more...we are on the way to opening new fronts".

He urged Muslims to "join hands with the Mujahidin to continue the jihad against the enemy, to continue bleeding them", adding: "The question is, can America continue the war against us for several more decades? The reports and signs show us otherwise."

Joe Biden, the Vice President-elect, briefed Mr Obama yesterday after spending this week on a Senate fact-finding mission to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said: "Things are going to get tougher in Afghanistan before they get better. There needs to be more resources to attend to in the situation of Afghanistan." (sounds like what Bush has said for years)

Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, has recently stated he still hopes to capture or kill bin Laden before leaving office. "We've got a few days left yet," he said on Friday.

Last night, however, in another round of interviews, Mr Cheney cited the containment of the terror network as an important achievement of the past seven years.

"Osama bin Laden is — wherever he is — he's in a deep hole. He does not have much impact on the organisation as best we can tell. The important thing was to go after the organisation, after al Qaeda," he said.

"Even if you got Osama bin Laden tomorrow, you'd still have a problem in terms of whatever residue of al-Qaeda is out there.

"The situation now obviously is that we've got to continue to be engaged in Afghanistan. It's one of the most difficult places to work in because of the territory, the geography, the terrain, but also because it's one of the poorest countries in the world."

[Larry]

Prediction:

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that Bush is an utter failure for failing to kill bin Laden will have no problem with Obama moging the goal posts.

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that killing bin Laden would be an utter waste of government resources, and completely meaningless, will claim that this change is yet further proof that Democrats love terrorists.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Prediction:

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that Bush is an utter failure for failing to kill bin Laden will have no problem with Obama moging the goal posts.

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that killing bin Laden would be an utter waste of government resources, and completely meaningless, will claim that this change is yet further proof that Democrats love terrorists.

I will be my next 2 paychecks you are completely wrong

Its not 90 percent. But 97 percent

[.Guy.]

Its a ruse to get Osama to feel a bit safer so he ventures out more.

Then BAM tomahawk straight to the head!

[skinsfan_1215]

Its a ruse to get Osama to feel a bit safer so he ventures out more.

Then BAM tomahawk straight to the head!

For some reason the tomahawk thing got me laughing.

[Califan007]

I will be my next 2 paychecks you are completely wrong

Its not 90 percent. But 97 percent

LoL...I was thinking more like 98.3% myself.

[Koolblue13]

God I pray we don't follow through with the Afghanistan surge.

I also pray we don't hand our troops over to NATO or the UN to handle the region either.

And I am far far from religious.

[Larry]

For some reason the tomahawk thing got me laughing.

It's because we all love mocking Native Americans using stereotypical imagery.

[Enter Apotheosis]

What's wrong about what Obama said? Where is he being a hypocrite?

If we are able to completely cut off Bin Laden's contacts with the outside world, America is effectively protected from his direct influence. This does NOT necessarily mean that the capture and/or death of Bin Laden is magically off the to-do list or that we have completely forgotten about the rest of al-Qaeda.

[Redskins Diehard]

Prediction:

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that Bush is an utter failure for failing to kill bin Laden will have no problem with Obama moging the goal posts.

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that killing bin Laden would be an utter waste of government resources, and completely meaningless, will claim that this change is yet further proof that Democrats love terrorists.

I'm glad he has changed his mind....although I am not sure I am in favor of him "moging" the goal posts...sounds perverse to me and definitely not "Presidential"

Finding/killing one man has never been a reasonable measure of success....wasn't for the past 7 years and won't be for the next 7 or 8. We had our chance to "nip" his movement in the bud years ago and decided not to take it.

So now that you have predicted the boards reaction...care to share your own?

[WARLORD1863]

Apotheosis, read closely:

Mr Obama said: "We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority."

as opposed to the recent:

"But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America."

To narrow it down further; one statement says we will kill him, and its part of our top priority. The other says if we cut him off from communication, we've done our job. Killing him isn't a priority, as he further explains it probably won't do much to quell activity of Al Queda in Afghanistan.

To be even more blunt: We need to kill him vs. we don't really NEED to kill him.

Nowhere did anyone accuse Obama of neglecting attention to Al Queda, bud. In fact he specifically states that he's going to continue with the campaign in Afghanistan (fighting Al Queda and the Taliban is inferred by this).

However, killing Osama should still be a high priority. We're not talking about a political leader here, we're talking about the guy who pushed the button on 9/11. Simply cutting him off from communication is not enough, in fact I can't fathom the logic behind simply accepting this when he has murdered thousands of good people. Just thinking about that day when the world turned upside down enrages and saddens me.

He must be killed, and anything to the contrary is simply unnacceptable.

[WARLORD1863]

Finding/killing one man has never been a reasonable measure of success....wasn't for the past 7 years and won't be for the next 7 or 8.

Oversimplified analysis. Killing Osama won't magically make everything better, but that isn't the point! 9/11 is the point, and he needs to answer for it.


**EDIT** Just wanted to add that isolating Bin Laden and screwing with Al Queda's inner workings is an objective that seems to have already been met during the Bush administration. What will be determined in Obama's stint is how well the troop surge will work in Afghanistan to push out the remains of the Taliban and how he will continue to disrupt Al Queda operations... and if he could actually bring Osama to justice (if he's still alive).

[Drop]

What's wrong about what Obama said? Where is he being a hypocrite?

If we are able to completely cut off Bin Laden's contacts with the outside world, America is effectively protected from his direct influence.

Let's use some common sense here. If he's still pumping out audio recordings, assuming it's really him, is he really cut off from his contacts with the outside world? That doesn't seem very logical.

[Thiebear]

Prediction:

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that Bush is an utter failure for failing to kill bin Laden will have no problem with Obama moging the goal posts.

90% of the people who've spent the last 7 years claiming that killing bin Laden would be an utter waste of government resources, and completely meaningless, will claim that this change is yet further proof that Democrats love terrorists.

Done and Done... nicely written.

[dfitzo53]

Considering the formidable resources the United States has at its disposal, part of me thinks that if we could've found Osama it would have happened by now.