February 23, 2004
I DON'T THINK THAT WORD MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS (via mc):
U.S. SEARCH FOR BIN LADEN INTENSIFIES (Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
The Pentagon is moving elements of a supersecret commando unit from Iraq to the Afghanistan theater to step up the hunt for Osama bin Laden.A Defense Department official said there are two reasons for repositioning parts of Task Force 121: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed. Second, intelligence reports are increasing on the whereabouts of bin Laden, the terror leader behind the September 11 attacks. [...]
Task Force 121 is a mix of Army Delta Force soldiers and Navy SEALs, transported on helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The SEALs and soldiers are based at Joint Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, N.C.
Delta-SEAL teams typically move into theater, practice missions and wait for military and CIA intelligence to provide the location of a target, such as Saddam.
The new task force to hunt bin Laden in the Afghanistan area likely will be led by a Navy SEAL who was toasted in Washington while working antiterrorism issues in the Bush administration. The Washington Times is withholding his name because of the secret nature of the operation.
Could someone look up supersecret in the dictionary and see if it includes exposure in a major daily newspaper?
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 23, 2004 11:57 AM
Ms. Plame must be inflamed.
I think this is a bit of misinformation and they'll stay in Iraq to get Saddam's top General or they'll move to Afghanistan hoping the news will flush the now nervous rabbits to a new briar patch and draw a bead on it ... or both. Something's definately up in the border area.
Maybe Novak would know.
Posted by: Genecis at February 23, 2004 12:53 PMIs that anything like double secret probation?
Posted by: Bluto at February 23, 2004 01:11 PMOperation Inago Montoya, perhaps, if they are looking for a name?
Posted by: Rick T. at February 23, 2004 03:04 PMThey may have a general idea of where he is and hope that he'll move to avoid the "trap" and thereby give away his location.
Posted by: Pete at February 23, 2004 03:30 PMThey way CENTCOM got Saddam was by being boringly methodical and grindingly thorough. It wasn't the CIA saying 'go there' and a fancy elite SEAL commando team jumping in with a dramatic assault. It was every-day regular-joe GIs doing an exhaustive search, talking to the locals every day, learning the tribal allegiences and family connections, and doing this for months and months.
I think that one requirement for a "super-secret" commando outfit is that noone knows that it exists or where it is going.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at February 23, 2004 06:48 PM