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After 7 Years, New Tactics to Find bin Laden

Shift to targeting other al-Qaeda leaders in hopes of picking up trail

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 10, 2008 7:57 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Seven years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the US has no bead on Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in Pakistan's lawless northwest. Frustrated by the lack of progress, American and Pakistani officials have shifted their strategy to target other top al-Qaeda leaders, the Washington Post reports, stepping up the use of drone spy planes to bombard the mountainous region.

Eleven Predator strikes have been reported this year, compared with three in 2007. In interviews with the Post, US and Pakistani leaders attribute their failure to catch bin Laden to a weak network of contacts in Pakistan's tribal regions. Both the Iraq war and serial bombardment have alienated locals, who see America as the enemy. "The American strategy should have been to stabilize the area rather than look for a needle in a haystack,"  one Pakistani security official tells the Post.

In this undated photo, Osama bin Laden is seen in Afghanistan. President Bush said he didn't care how Osama bin Laden was brought to justice. Just get him. That was back in 2001.
In this undated photo, Osama bin Laden is seen in Afghanistan. President Bush said he didn't care how Osama bin Laden was brought to justice. Just get him. That was back in 2001.   (AP Photo)
In this May 1, 2003 file photo, President Bush declares the end of major combat in Iraq as he speaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast.
In this May 1, 2003 file photo, President Bush declares the end of major combat in Iraq as he speaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In a 1998 file photo Osama bin Laden speaks to journalists in Khost, Afghanistan.
In a 1998 file photo Osama bin Laden speaks to journalists in Khost, Afghanistan.   (AP Photo)
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Next president will have to continue the hunt
AFP

Pakistan and Afghanistan, a double game
Rutland Herald (Vt.)

 
Pakistan • US military • Osama bin Laden • Afghan border • Predator • North West Frontier Province • spy drones • 9/11 attacks

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