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AP. 5 January 2002. Counting on Afghans to Catch Osama Bin Laden Hasn't Worked So Far. WASHINGTON - One reason the United States hasn't caught Osama bin Laden is the decision to depend on Afghans to do most of the hunting rather than commit thousands of U.S. troops on the ground, many military experts believe. The U.S. commander of the war, acknowledging that Afghan allies sometimes have different priorities than finding bin Laden, insisted Friday that relying on them still is the only way to operate in the big, unfamiliar and daunting country. Some Afghans probably are accepting bribes to free al-Qaida or Taliban fighters whom the U.S. wishes to interrogate, said Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of U.S. Central Command. Some may even feed bad intelligence to the United States to bring on attacks against their own enemies. In fact, two weeks ago, hundreds of al-Qaida members and their families escaped the U.S. onslaught in the Tora Bora mountains and reached Pakistan with the help of senior Afghan tribal leaders who were supposed to be U.S. allies, two eastern alliance officials said. Franks said: "We don't know where bin Laden is." And he said, "If we absolutely knew where (Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed) Omar was, then we probably would be taking pretty direct action." The drawbacks of using Afghans as America's eyes, ears and muscle have been apparent for some time, military experts say. After kicking out the Taliban, many Afghan tribal leaders have worked first to consolidate their own power, viewing the American goals as secondary. "Generally speaking, people are against the Taliban," said Ali Jalali, a former Afghan fighter who has advised the U.S. Army. "But among the local strongmen and warlords, there are some different priorities, some conflicts of interest." Around Tora Bora, U.S. officials acknowledge they have tried to use the incentives of money, weapons and cold-weather gear to get Afghans to search cave to cave for bin Laden. Pentagon officials have said that the longer bin Laden remains undetected, the more options he has for eluding hunters. Franks said Friday he could be dead or alive, in Afghanistan or elsewhere. American special forces have to rely heavily on their Afghan allies for intelligence about whom to trust, Dave said. At times, Afghans have switched sides so quickly that it's been "unnerving," he said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
