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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/06/o ... n-planned/
Osama bin Laden’s death may end Afghanistan war sooner than planned
By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, May 6th, 2011 -- 10:15 am
Word from the Obama administration is that with al Qaeda spiritual leader Osama bin Laden dead, U.S. forces may now have found the fast-track to exit the Afghan occupation.
It won't be easy, and it will require more than just political capital in the U.S., but unnamed officials tell The Washington Post's Rajiv Chandrasekaran that, with a negotiated settlement between America and the Taliban, the Afghan war's "endgame" will be nigh.
On one key front, the president can now put negotiators at the table with Taliban forces without being criticized for "negotiating with terrorists," Chandrasekaran noted. On another, Taliban faction leader Mohammad Omar will likely be under tremendous pressure to end his alliance with al Qaeda, breaking another key barrier to U.S. withdrawal.
"Bin Laden’s death is the beginning of the endgame in Afghanistan," an unnamed senior official reportedly said. "It changes everything."
That's likely to be music to the ears of many progressives -- and even some Republicans -- who've long hounded President Obama to pull U.S. forces out of the war-torn country.
"In the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s death, now is the time to shift toward the swift, safe, and responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops and military contractors from Afghanistan," read a letter signed by House Progressive Caucus earlier this week.
"We are hopeful that Osama Bin Laden's death will offer comfort to the families of the victims of unconscionable attacks on innocent life that have occurred throughout the world and on 9/11," they wrote, asking the president to support a "near-term and significant drawdown" of troops starting in July.
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Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), similarly, joined with Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) last month to support a resolution that would bring the troops home. It failed 321-93. His words, however, gained greater influence after bin Laden's death.
In an exclusive interview with Raw Story, Rep. Jones said he'd support an immediate declaration that America has won the war on terror.
"We could declare victory today," he said. "We have eliminated the leader of al Qaeda, bin Laden. He's now dead. So let's declare victory and start bringing our troops home."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who represents one of the districts most affected by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2011, said he too supports a declaration of victory and withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“This, I hope, will now give us the impetus for withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan, for which there is very little use that I can see for them remaining there,” he told Fox 5 NYC earlier this week.
JackRiddler wrote:8bitagent wrote:2. Is there ANYWHERE in the house that resembles the bin Laden videos, like the bizarre one from 2007? If not, than it's probably a fake. And why have all the bin Laden fakes been so bad?
Yet the Zawahiri videos look crisp, higher production? Where is that mansion book study Zawahiri is in?
I'll try that one. I'll say Z is for real and cares about his production values. Who says Zawahiri has talked to Bin Ladin in the last 10 years? Would he announce it if he hadn't, and discredit his movement? AQ is a decentralized phenomenon, where any spook center can walk in and set up a phony franchise and the rest will never know. The OBL videos may look so fake as part of the routine: hairy ugly crazy man with bad lighting talks about bad corporations like Michael Moore and says, Death to America, read Chomsky, vote for Kerry!
thatsmystory wrote:8bitagent wrote:Truth is so subjective. Did the towers collapse or implode? If Ramzi Yousef dreamed up the 9/11 plot on his laptop, than is "al Qaeda" truly responsible or is this a lie too?
What if the neocons aren't aware they were involved as truthers say, and in some odd way really were paranoid about Islamists as much as they ran the 9/11 tragedy for all its worth?
Why hasnt the US gone after the people who financed bin Laden?
All the major al Qaeda attacks appear to have been facilitated by intelligence agencies. US government officials protected the hijackers. Peter Lance finds it odd the '98 embassy attacks weren't prevented. US intelligence was on to the Yemen hub before the Cole attack or 9/11.
bks wrote:
I'm curious as to why do you think now the right time to cash in these chips? We're 18 months away from an election, and any short-term, mojo-fueled gains in the dollar or equity markets will probably dry up in a couple of weeks.
8bitagent wrote:Ha, I knew the kidney failure was a hoax all along:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42934673/ns ... bin_laden/
Reilly reviewed a list obtained by NBC News from Pakistani sources of nearly a dozen drugs found in the aftermath of the U.S. killing of the 9/11 terror mastermind on Sunday in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The medications provide some insight into ailments of the people living at the compound, but show no evidence of serious health conditions, such as the kidney failure rumored to afflict bin Laden.
“Quite honestly, there’s nothing here that indicates a long-term, chronic condition,” Reilly said.
The listed medications included drugs to ease the symptoms of stomach problems, such as ulcers and gastric reflux, Reilly said. A drug listed as Grucid, an Indian version of a drug sold in the U.S. as omeprazole, is used for that purpose, Reilly said. The list also includes something simply called “ulcer capsule.”
Bill Richardson: Killing bin Laden Means Obama Can Pass a Climate Bill
A BOLD CALL — Also at the gala was former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who said he thinks Osama bin Laden’s death might give him Obama enough political power to pass a climate bill. Either way, he called on the president to reengage on the climate debate, and cautioned environmentalists that they couldn’t afford to wait for a friendlier Congress: “You know if we do that, we’re doomed,” he said.
barracuda wrote:Phoney multi-volume sets of fancy-bound gilt-edged display books meant to evoke the cultured evidence of a traditional classical educational setting in the background are SOP for Al-Qaeda photo-ops.
crikkett wrote:barracuda wrote:Phoney multi-volume sets of fancy-bound gilt-edged display books meant to evoke the cultured evidence of a traditional classical educational setting in the background are SOP for Al-Qaeda photo-ops.
"Phoney"?
Inside this attaché case is irrefutable evidence that what I'm telling you is true.
Project Willow wrote:I would guess that a portion of the why now question is related to what happened in Wisconsin. Just over the past 4 or 5 months I observed my liberal friends beginning to notice the Wall Street tarnish on the Obama brand and this trend was ever more increasing in the left/liberal press as well. Immediately upon the Osama death announcement many friends snapped back into blind obedience. It was rather disturbing to watch.
8bitagent wrote:But they can't all be true, can they? Bin Laden couldnt be both frozen on ice, still require "renal dialysis" and be protected by the ISI? One of the bin Laden videos shows bin Laden in a very gravely sickly state, but why wouldn't they go with the kidney dialysis legend? I'm just asking, do you think there's any clarity on some of the theories or legends I listed or others, or is everything still in a strange sort of house of mirrors?
At this point the "ISI" blame game talk could go away and Hillary will come out saying all is cool and "we smoothed things over". Or it could keep escalating, especially if India has anything to do with it.
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