ABC News: Bush Administration Blocks U.S. Forces to Catch Bin Laden in Pakistan?

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After 9/11, the main aim for the White House was to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were based on that claim. But it now seems capturing bin Laden doesn’t seem to be a top priority at all for the Bush administration according to a New York Times report.

The plan was originally hatched six months ago to attack Osama bin Laden after he had re-organized a network of new training camps inside Pakistan and near the borders of Afghanistan. The new training camps also have more recruits, rising to 2,000 in recent months from 200 early this year.

The plan was blocked from being implemented because of infighting among U.S. intelligence officials and White House officials. The White House officials didn't want to cause controversy in Pakistan, saying it was very risky to attack the rugged mountainous area filled with bin Laden sympathizers.

If they feel that way, why can’t the U.S. forces and the Pakistani army have a joint operation to nab bin Laden? Pakistan is getting nearly billions of dollars from the government to fight Al-Qaeda terrorists. .

The U.S. has conducted many unmanned drone attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, killing several key Al-Qaeda figures. But some of the attacks have hit civilians and one attack earlier this month had killed several Pakistani border guards instead and Pakistan is not very keen to allow further U.S. strikes within its territory.

The Taliban, a close ally of Al-Qaeda, is also getting strong inside Pakistan and have launched a lot of attacks against Afghanistan recently by crossing the porous border areas. The new Pakistan government has made a series of truces with the militants in Pakistan, but after these attacks has called off the truce.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will be visiting Washington next month. Some of these issues will be discussed, such as whether Pakistan can manage on their own or whether the United States will be allowed to take action directly against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.

Bush administration instead of trying to focus on catching Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda operatives, they are trying to wage a war against Iran according to Seymour Hersh. Elite American commando units are already operating inside Iran and trying to destabilize Iran’s religious leadership and Congress has allocated more than $400 million for the covert operations.

Hersh added that the U.S. special forces have seized members of the Iran commando force al-Quds and taken them to Iraq for questioning. But the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker .has denied the report.

If the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars were founded on the basis of catching Osama bin Laden, then what are these wars for that has cost so many soldiers and civilian lives? I hope George Bush and Dick Cheney will explain it to the public and to the world.