- WASHINGTON (UPI) - Terrorist
mastermind Osama bin Laden "is not a target" of the military
campaign in Afghanistan, despite a $7 million reward on his head and repeated
statements by senior officials that the United States intends to bring
him to justice, the general in charge of the 33-day-old war against terrorism
said Thursday.
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- "We have not said that Osama bin Laden is a target
of this effort. What we're about is the destruction of the al Qaida network
and the ... Taliban," said Gen. Tommy Franks, commander in chief of
U.S. Central Command, at a Pentagon news conference, his first since the
U.S-led strikes began on Oct. 7.
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- The apparent change in tenor, according to a defense
official, is not to suggest that bin Laden is not still wanted, but to
recognize that basing a war around killing or capturing one man is folly.
-
- "If we happened to get him with a bomb or missile
in a cave, it wouldn't end the war," said a defense official who spoke
with United Press International on background. "There are at least
22 other guys just as bad as him ... Osama bin Laden has cloned himself."
-
- Indeed, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld carefully elucidated
his goals for the campaign on its first day; they include disrupting al
Qaida terrorist network and collecting intelligence to continue pursuing
the organization around the globe. He did not mention bin Laden, who has
proved to be elusive.
-
- Franks' comments are in contrast to the tone struck by
the United States in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks
on New York and Washington that killed about 4,600 people.
-
- On Sept. 16, Vice President Dick Cheney said: "What
we are going to do is aggressively go after Mr. bin Laden, obviously, and
all of his associates, and even if it takes a long time, I'm convinced
eventually we'll prevail."
-
- In a news conference on Sept. 17, President Bush said
he wanted to get bin Laden. "I want justice. There's an old poster
out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.'"
-
- Government officials have been trying to strike a less
emotional tone since, pointing out that by making bin Laden the U.S. main
focus, it can lionize him into a mythic hero among his supporters. It also
sets the United States up for the appearance of failure if he escapes the
conflict unharmed even if the Taliban is toppled in Afghanistan and al
Qaida broken.
-
- Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke struck a middle
ground Thursday.
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- The capture or death of bin Laden "fits into the
broad picture that we are going after terrorists and those who harbor and
foster and sponsor them around the world. As we've said repeatedly, this
is not just about one man and one network; this is about terrorism globally.
But that is definitely part of our objectives," she said.
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- Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights
reserved. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/11/8/172400.shtml
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