Talk:Manhunt for Osama bin Laden/Archive 1

Archive 1

Article needs improvement

This article was split off from the main Osama bin Laden article. Here we can do a more complete overview of OBL's location, possibly including a timeline of his travels and some of those urban legends about his whereabouts, like that Swedish newspaper's mistaken claim that he'd been in Sweden. --Mr. Billion 05:47, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Maybe he is in Sweden, which is why nobody can find him in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Mrs.EasterBunny (talk) 21:34, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but two dozen Navy SEALs equals a decimated bin Laden. Two shots in the head is not realistic or in keeping with the tactics used by highly trained, aggressive special forces; especially those under gunfire. Conspiercery —Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.65.23.118 (talk) 00:27, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Removed similar information from OBL article

I removed the majority of similar information from the OBL article and added a 'direct' to here.

This is the text that was removed (diff):

On July 3, 2006, it was reported that in late 2005 the CIA had closed a unit called Alec Station dedicated to the search for and capture of Osama bin Laden. According to the New York Times, Michael Scheuer, a former senior C.I.A. official who was the first head of the unit, said the move reflected a view within the agency that "Mr. bin Laden" was no longer the threat he once was. [1]

Osama bin Laden is often stated to be residing within fortified caves in the rugged Tora Bora region that straddles the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Since November 2003 , claims have been made that he may be hiding somewhere in the Chitral area, or possibly in nearby Gilgit. This claim is based in part on a bin Laden videotape from 2003 in which trees peculiar to the mountainous region could be seen. In August 2006, an unnamed US official said that bin Laden is probably not in a cave, but in a comfortable house with his family and no more than two bodyguards.

In May of 2006 an American arrived in the conservative Islamic town of Chitral with two carloads of furniture and equipment to move into a house that was rented by the United States Embassy in the fall of 2005. The arrival created quite a scene, as locals thought they were members of the CIA or FBI, there to hunt for bin Laden. The New York Times identified them as Paul Aurdic, from the consulate in Peshawar, and a Pakistani colleague named Muhammad Iqbal. The local deputy police superintendent, Fazal Elahi, said the American told him he was there to prepare a vacation house for himself. According to Mr. Elahi, bin Laden is not living in the peaceful, resort-like region. Others said that outsiders could not reside there without being widely known.

On May 8, 2006 a member of the Pakistani parliament, a man named Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, warned that the Americans should leave the area immediately or there would be an uprising by the people of Chitral. He said that they were members of the CIA or FBI, and had been disrupting peace and tranquility there. They had been seen driving toward Chitral in an official consulate vehicle, he claimed, and then switched to unmarked S.U.V.'s in a town called Dir, about 25 miles to the south. "We can't allow the US to do this in our area," he was quoted as saying by the "Iran News Agency." He said that neither bin Laden nor Mullah Omar were in Chitral and, therefore, there was no need for any US agencies to be there. He told the New York Times, "I think Osama is dead and the Americans are keeping him alive for their own reasons." The Americans left Chitral a day before the demonstration took place.

ABC News reported about rumors on May 24,2006 that bin Laden was sighted in the Kumrat Valley in the Kohistan District of Pakistan. . The region is 40 miles east of the Afghan–Pakistani border.

An article in the Hindustan Times of New Dehli on August 18, 2006 stated that "A report with the government of India says al Qaeda's leadership was recently spotted near Darkot, a Pakistani village" which is at approximately 9,000 feet, at the foot of the Darkot pass (15,380 feet), near the border with Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. Darkot is in the Pakistani controlled Kashmir, about 105 miles from Chitral Airport, and 60 or so from the city of Gilgit. The Wakhan Corridor, which was Marco Polo's famous "Silk Road" to China, is described by the Hindustan Times as "Sticking out of northeastern Afghanistan, the corridor (a strip of land) is wedged between Tajikistan, Pakistan and the part of PoK known as Northern Areas." A former Soviet military base is said to be located in the area. He had previously been thought to be in that region as far back as October 2001.

That report followed an article of July 2006 in al-Hayat that "Pakistani authorities on Thursday (July 20, 2006) ordered the evacuation of a northern area of the country, near the border with China, of tourists and foreigners after receiving intelligence reports of the possible presence of Osama bin Laden in the area." Hundreds of tourists, most of whom were said to be European, were made to leave the Chilinji Pass and the Wakhan Corridor. All access to the area was then closed. It was reported that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri had decided to use the area bordering China because it is not controlled by US military, and US bombers would not attack the area for fear of hitting China.

-- That Guy, From That Show! 18:43, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

i think only osama should edit this article. he is the only expert in this field Eevo 15:28, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Good idea, then we could track his IP. I'll pass that along to him. --Mr. Billion 16:22, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

This article needs to be merged with the main OBL article, it has no significance unless it applies to him. User:CS92 16:11, 23 September 2006

It is very speculative and the OBL article is already too wordy as it is.

Visit Elvis sightings and suggest a merge with Elvis for example.

-- That Guy, From That Show! 08:19, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Could someone please tell us if this guy is dead? Or where he is? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.63.117.40 (talk) 15:32, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

He was last spotted minding a department store here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.102.80.212 (talk) 17:23, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

In response to 71.63.117.40, uh...yeah, I'll text him real quick. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.202.38.225 (talk) 20:47, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

References

Movie

The film Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden is due for release in about one week's time. Maybe we'll find the answer then! Grover cleveland (talk) 15:24, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Location

Bin Laden is beleived to be hiding in the Hindu Kush mountains either westward of Pakistan's borderline. Or eastward of Afghanistan's borderline. The area is about 600 miles in the size of the expanse. And there are 12 mountain peaks in this area which reach to heights of about five miles into the sky from the sea level. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.241.128.231 (talk) 04:13, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Never traveled outside Muslim world?

There was a widely publicized photo in which a large part of the Bin Laden family poses for a photo in Sweden, including a pre-teen Osama. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.143.165.25 (talk) 01:15, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Some one might do well to incorporate some of the maps from the book called Bin Laden which seem to be an honest accounting of Osama's where abouts during December of 2001. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.241.132.170 (talk) 04:30, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

According to El Mundo (Spain) quoting Sur, Bin Laden was one of the Arabian holidaymakers in Marbella, Spain [2]. --Error (talk) 21:29, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Osama has retired to a condo outside Las Vegas in the golf resort of Mesquite. To film his videos he retreats to the hills in nearby south west Utah. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deconnors (talk • contribs) 12:06, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Osama bin Laden phenomenon

What's the difference between this article and the Elvis Presley phenomenon? Viriditas (talk) 00:50, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Reference links updated

Updated the two History Commons links in the references. Old links were outdated and might not work. 98.67.83.141 (talk) 17:05, 16 July 2009 (UTC) Black Max

Added sentence to the lede

After reviewing other articles on subject and their references. 72.228.150.44 (talk) 05:38, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Aw come on, for christ sake, there really ought to be an exhaustive and a precise and confident time line and break down that carefully outlines all of Bin Laden's actions and movements from 1999-09-01 and well into to 2002-12-31 or later.

How about a google earth map outlining all of his steps and movements through the mountains and caves of Afghanstain. How about a thousand of us all go into our local libraries across the nation here in the US and we all carefully absorb the written word and text in various books about him by trust worthy authors.

This Wikipedia article and others about him is steeped in so many errors and flaws to numerous and countless.

In the interest of focus and pin point accuracy when writing this Wikipedia definition of him. It should probably involve something that is alot more highly reliable and trust worthy than just highly questionable audio tapes and video forgeries and endless miles of media sensationalism and propoganda and lies that have occurred between 2001-09-11 and now.

I beleive that he died somewhere in mid December or late December of 2001 by mass over head bombing and not by enemy bullet fire.

But his ghost is kept well alive by the powers that be even in January of 2010 .

There are so many prevailing lies that are both blatant and subtle for which are clouding the truth and are protecting the liars even to this very day.

That much is clear.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.241.147.236 (talk) 08:16, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Osama_bin_Laden" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.241.136.139 (talk) 08:31, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Adjusted this thread (which I created). Since last visit here have read or saw an interview with Bin Laden's son where he commented on recent audio's released by his father. His referral to the Sr. Bin Laden in the present tense and as being alive implies that he recognized his voice on the tapes. I think this is the strongest evidence ATM that Bin Laden may have survived. 72.228.177.92 (talk) 04:47, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Gary Brooks Faulkner? Is this individual spamming the page with his exploits, or is that somehow a significant item? The case of Ayman Al Zahawri, who definitely is still alive and who has not been seen with bin Laden since '03 indicates to me that bin Laden certainly is dead so I don't see that this can be anything else (but see my entry above). bin Laden, were he alive, would surely by now have given the world some proof of it, so on the basis of that alone, together with all the circumstantials, I have to discount the son's recognition as being either mistaken, self-serving, or a recognition of a pre-mortem recording. 11:15, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

As far as the comment/thought of the original respondent to this thread, yes it is possible to construct to some degree such a timeline, and no doubt it has been done many times. But the commenter shows naivete with respect to actual institutional behavior in his or her assessment of the readiness, accuracy, and methods with which such a determination could, as it probably eventually will, be made. 72.228.177.92 (talk) 11:25, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Aerial view of the compound

Hi, I found this image. Perhaps you want to illustrate the article with and perhaps somone knows a better image, without the blanked section? --Pilettes (talk) 19:17, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Reconsider Nomination For Deletion

Unlike the situation during the previous proposal for deletion in 2007, in May 2011 I'm not sure there is still a purpose to this article. While it is well referenced, the references boil down to gossip in the absence of actual information. Unless someone wants to rework this as a history of that gossip, I believe it has outlived its usefulness. Documentation of OBL's actual locations during the period 2001 - 2011 is better served in the main biography, as what is currently known gets fleshed out. Cmholm (talk) 08:24, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

I couldn't have said it better, Cmholm. The main structure of the article, "alleged sightings," is moot. (I suppose one could create an article along the lines of "False Reports on Location of OBL", but that doesn't seem worthy.) There's still no confirmed data on the period from 2001-2003, and some questions about 2003-2005 (in Chak Shah Mohammad Khan village? or nearby Haripur? which house? etc.). Dehma1 (talk) 17:49, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

What should be the name of this article?

I don't know what should be the name of this article, but his current location is sleeping with the fishies, and that's probably not what readers are looking to find. I don't like clumsy article titles, but how about "Location of Osama bin Laden between 2001 and 2011" or something similar? Chutznik (talk) 00:11, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

• I think the location of Osama bin Laden is directly related to the search for Osama bin Laden. I think the best option would be to expand the scope of the article somewhat by renaming it the "Search for Osama bin Laden". Alternatively it could be the "Manhunt of Osama bin Laden" or the "Osama bin Laden Manhunt". This isn't a topic that really has a "name" of sorts, but all of the titles I have proposed are used to describe the event. "Search for Osama bin Laden" is might preferred option because I believe it is more neutral. Ryan Vesey 00:32, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

That's a good idea. I like search for Osama bin Laden. Chutznik (talk) 00:50, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm going to be bold and move it as suggested; if someone wants to tweak that then feel free. This is noncontroversial enough I doubt we need an ongoing RfC. Shadowjams (talk) 02:56, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

• The word location is ambiguous. It could be a verb, how bin Laden was found, or it could be a noun, the place where binLaden is. The meaning here is evidently the verb, but some other term is necessary. DGG ( talk ) 05:27, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
• Search for Osama bin Laden. I agree with Ryan, this should be named Search for Osama bin Laden. Andrew³²⁷ 19:50, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
• Perhaps I am being a little picky, but would it sound better to add the word "the" in the front?Coffeepusher (talk) 22:32, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Actually that sounds better, I agree. Andrew³²⁷ 03:16, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

WP:DEFINITE says that we shouldn't use definite articles unless they are part of a proper name. We made the title up, so we shouldn't have "the". Ryan Vesey 03:25, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not trying to belabor the point, and I think that in most cases WP:DEFINITE makes a lot of sense. But right now the article sounds like it is a game played by kids, or that wikipedia is giving a command. I'm suggesting that this may be one of those points where we consider WP:IAR. This article isn't about "search for Osama bin Laden" it is about "The search for Osama bin Laden" Past tense and all. Now, this is a minor point...but isn't that what wikipedia is all about? Discussing minor points to death? Cheers.Coffeepusher (talk) 03:34, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

search or the search, both good. Osama bin Laden in hiding, maybe something like that? Soosim (talk) 12:20, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

• Support already-accomplished move. Came here while looking at the mess that RFCbot had made of User talk:Banana04131 — it gave him 45 invitations to come here! The idea of "location of Osama" sounds as if people dispute the location of the fishes with which he sleeps or as if they debate whether he's in heaven or hell. Meanwhile, the idea of "search for Osama" sounds as if some people spent a long time looking for him, and that's precisely what the article covers. Nyttend (talk) 02:47, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
• Search for Osama bin Laden. For the reasons already expanded on above, this seems clearly the best way forward. The current set-up is ugly and cheap. I hope it's also temporary. -The Gnome (talk) 20:46, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
• Support already-accomplished move, previous title was crazy. Martin Hogbin (talk) 18:38, 17 May 2013 (UTC)