Sunday, May 08, 2005
This Might be a Good Time to Focus on Bin Laden
MR. RUSSERT: Before you go, will we ever capture Osama bin Laden?
MR. SCHROEN: I think with the capture of Al-Libbi recently--gives some hope that the Pakistanis will cooperate if we put enough pressure on them, and maybe we end up doing it unilaterally but I think we're going to get him within the next three to four months.
MR. RUSSERT: Three to four months.
MR. SCHROEN: Well, that's my hope.
He also felt that that the Pakistani Intelligence knows where Bin Laden is, but won't say out of fear of the reaction of Islamic people everywhere:MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that we know where bin Laden is right now?
MR. SCHROEN: No, we don't know where he's at other than the general area.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you think the Pakistanis have a pretty good sense where he is?
MR. SCHROEN: I think within the military and ISID at a a certain level, they certainly do now where he is.
MR. RUSSERT: ISID being Pakistani Intelligence...
MR. SCHROEN: Pakistani Intelligence Service.
...
MR. RUSSERT: ...Is there a distinct possibility that Mr. Musharraf is afraid of capturing Osama bin Laden because he would fear that his government would be toppled?
MR. SCHROEN: In my opinion, that's a real likelihood, that the Pakistanis have cooperated pretty wholesomely in helping us capture a lot of al-Qaeda officers up to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and this-- the capture of Al-Libbi recently is a significant event but to take on bin Laden, there would be an uproar within that country and around the Islamic world that would really cause the foundations of the Pakistani government to be shaken.
My view of this is, if this indeed true, and it is possible Schroen has an axe to grind, but if he's right, in a situation like this, there is always someone in the know who can be persuaded to tell us where Bin Laden is hidden. Let's do that and get this guy ourselves.
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