Return-Path: <sentto-279987-3420-1004034288-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Thu, 25 Oct 2001 11:26:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 11602 invoked by uid 510); 25 Oct 2001 18:24:14 -0000 Received: from n21.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.71) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 25 Oct 2001 18:24:14 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-3420-1004034288-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.222] by n21.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 25 Oct 2001 18:24:13 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_0_1); 25 Oct 2001 18:24:47 -0000 Received: (qmail 89755 invoked from network); 25 Oct 2001 18:23:43 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by 10.1.1.222 with QMQP; 25 Oct 2001 18:23:43 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta2 with SMTP; 25 Oct 2001 18:23:43 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id f9PHekh14897 for iwar@onelist.com; Thu, 25 Oct 2001 10:40:46 -0700 Message-Id: <200110251740.f9PHekh14897@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 10:40:46 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Rumsfeld:.U.S..May.Never.Get.Bin.Laden] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit USA Today October 25, 2001 Rumsfeld: U.S. May Never Get Bin Laden By Jonathan Weisman and Andrea Stone, USA Today WASHINGTON - After 18 days of U.S. airstrikes on Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday that American forces might not catch terrorist Osama bin Laden. But he predicted that the Taliban regime harboring bin Laden will be toppled. "Yes, I think there will be a post-Taliban Afghanistan," Rumsfeld said during a meeting with the USA TODAY editorial board. "That is easier than finding a single person." He added that the United States should not be responsible for forming a new government. Since the bombing began on Oct. 7, President Bush has described the U.S. military campaign as only one part of an international effort to root out terrorists. Bush said Wednesday that the military "was slowly but surely encircling the terrorists." Bush said on Sept. 18 that he wants bin Laden "dead or alive." But recently he has played down the importance of capturing bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks, and stressed a less specific goal of smashing terrorism. For his part, Rumsfeld has tried to lower expectations for the military campaign by comparing it to the Cold War, which lasted a half-century. In a 50-minute interview, Rumsfeld cautioned repeatedly that it would be "very difficult" to capture or kill bin Laden: "It's a big world. There are lots of countries. He's got a lot of money, he's got a lot of people who support him, and I just don't know whether we'll be successful. Clearly, it would be highly desirable to find him." Even if bin Laden were killed, his terrorist network would carry on, Rumsfeld said. "If he were gone tomorrow, the same problem would exist." He added that the Taliban is proving to be a formidable foe: "These are very tough people. ... They've made careers out of fighting, and they're not going to roll over." Pentagon officials warned Wednesday that they had received intelligence indicating that the Taliban might poison humanitarian food supplies and blame the United States for resulting sickness and death. U.S. forces have dropped 785,000 packets of daily rations since the air war began, and relief organizations also are distributing food. Now those supplies could be used against the Afghan people - and U.S. efforts to win their hearts and minds, said Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rumsfeld said toppling the Taliban would not necessarily mean a united Afghanistan with a stable government. A U.S.-backed faction could control the capital, Kabul, and another - perhaps even the Taliban - could control the southern city of Kandahar, he said. But if the nation stops harboring terrorists, its political future would be of little consequence to the United States, Rumsfeld said. He said he would be "like an amateur brain surgeon" if he were to try to shape the government of a nation that has been engulfed in war for more than 20 years. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:57 PST