Pakistan’s ambassador to US: "Nobody knows" where Bin Laden is located

[sabra]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20149777/site/newsweek/page/3/


U.S. Intel Is ‘Absolutely Incorrect’
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States blasts Barack Obama and the National Intelligence Estimate conclusion that Pakistan is a safe haven for Al Qaeda.


<snip>

NEWSWEEK: Critics say Pakistan is not doing all it can to take out the Taliban and Al Qaeda. What’s your response?

Mahmud Ali Durrani: When (U.S. forces) act there’s often more collateral damage than killing the bad guys. We cannot afford that. Second, many times information is faulty. It’s not timely. It’s inaccurate. It’s the same intelligence you’ve been getting in Iraq. People here (in Washington) take it as the gospel truth. We challenge that very seriously.

...

Why haven’t we been able to get bin Laden and Zawahiri?

That was a failure of intelligence. As much a failure of (U.S.) intelligence, which has far greater resources, as ours. The track record is not very flattering.

...

Where do you think they are?

I think they are floating. Nobody knows. Let’s say he was in Pakistan and (U.S.) intelligence had definite information. Do you think they would let us sit on our rear ends and do nothing about it?

[JDPriestly]

1. Haven't we been paying Pakistan a lot of money?

If so, assuming Bin Laden is in Pakistan or moves about in or on the border of Pakistan, why doesn't somebody know where Bin Laden is? What is Pakistan doing with the money we are paying to it?

Or am I wrong. Are we not paying Pakistan a lot of money? It has been almost six years now. Bin Laden has followers, an organization. We have supposedly caught some of them. Where is Bin Laden? Is he dead? The Pakistanis should know this, and they should tell us what they know.

Face it, it is not in the Pakistani government's interest for us to find Bin Laden. Once we have found Bin Laden, we will start treating Pakistan like we treat other countries and Pakistan will not receive as much money from us. There is no incentive for Pakistan to help rid us of the threat of that small portion of Muslims who are fanatically anti-American and who lurk in their region.

In fact, there is no incentive for Bush to get rid of that threat either. It is that very threat that keeps Bush and his Republican buddies in power -- and Democrats in check.

If you want to solve a problem, you have to analyze the motivations behind the behavior causing the problem and deal with those motivations. No one is doing that with regard to the problem of terrorism. I am not talking about analyzing why terrorists do what they do. That is pretty obvious to me. They are confused, sick people. I'm talking about analyzing the motivations of the people who profit from and capitalize on the fear of the terrorists. Deal with those motivations and you can then deal with the terrorists like you deal with other sociopaths. They are no different.

[Myrina]

2. Yep, but he's probably paying them *more* - to stay 'invisible'.

:shrug:

[CottonBear]

3. I spoke with a soldier and asked him about Bin Laden's whereabouts

and why we can't find him.

The soldier said that if one considers all of the USA's spy technology, it is almost impossible to believe that we CAN'T find him. The soldier said that the US does not WANT to find him because then the ongoing, never ending war for profit would have to come to a halt thus impacting the military industrial companies' profits.

[JDPriestly]

4. Absolutely. Meanwhile back in Minneapolis, the state cannot

afford to repair the bridge. And who knows what is not being repaired elsewhere in the U.S.