# How far should we go to get Usama? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572 "2005-12-07T22:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/1 "2005-12-07T22:22:57Z")
What if we obtain reliable info on Usama whereabouts? Suppose he’s not in Afghanistan… What if he’s hiding in Kashmere? Should we demand Indians to get him, and if they fail, demand permission to put our own troops in that inferno? What if he’s in Iran for sure? Should we give ultimatum to the Mullahs and, upon the expiration date, invade? What would _you_ do? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/2 "2005-12-07T22:58:23Z")
It would be good if bin Laden were brought to justice sometime, but he seems to be more or less out of action as a major threat to US interests (other than being a rallying point for Jihadists), so, IMO, his capture is not particularly urgent from a security standpoint. I don’t believe the US should violate the sovereignity of any other nation by mounting a major incursion aimed at capturing or killing bin Laden unless there is some sort of reasonable evidence that said nation has used government assets to harbor him and is facilitating terrorist actions by his organization. I do not agree with even a smaller operation, using special forces, aimed solely at extracting him, unless it is under the same condition (harbored by a certain nation with the backing of that nation’s government). Your second question is moot for the time being, as the US does not (IMO) have the ability to mount a successful full-scale invasion of Iran while such a large numbere of its combat troops are tied up in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/3 "2005-12-07T23:09:01Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > What would _you_ do? Well, it’s been four years,and we still don’t have him. At this point wiseest course for us to take would be to wait until we get some _competent_ leadership in Washington, and _then_ go after the bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/4 "2005-12-07T23:24:38Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > What if he’s hiding in Kashmere? Well then at least he’ll be fashionable when caught, daaahling. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/5 "2005-12-08T00:58:29Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Well, it’s been four years,and we still don’t have him. At this point wiseest course for us to take would be to wait until we get some _competent_ leadership in Washington, and _then_ go after the bastard. This thread is predicated upon emergence of reliable information on Usama whereabouts. You know quite well that as soon as we get any reliable information, there will be enormous demand for Adm. to do something. So sitting around and waiting for Hillary will not be an option. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/6 "2005-12-08T01:39:14Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > You know quite well that as soon as we get any reliable information, there will be enormous demand for Adm. to do something… When have we ever gotten reliable information from this administration? That’s their hallmark, the single feature for which they will be known in a hundred years. They are incapable of getting reliable information. The president doesn’t _want_ reliable information. The only way to capture Osama is to obtain reliable information on his whereabouts, and use that to formulate a plan to capture him. That cannot happen until we get a new set of people, competent people, in charge. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/7 "2005-12-08T01:47:01Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > Suppose he’s not in Afghanistan… Rumours to date suggest - if he’s not dead - that he’s been in the wild country of the Pakistani administered (but not controlled) Hindu Kush for quite a while. > [@](#): > > What if he’s hiding in Kashmere? Well at least he’ll be warm and comfy. > [@](#): > > Should we demand Indians to get him, and if they fail, demand permission to put our own troops in that inferno? Depends on what part of Kashmir he’s in - whether in Indian or Pakistani control. The Indian government, I am sure, would love to catch the fucker, whether for international kudos, or for the fiscal benefits they would gain from doing so from the US. Don’t forget that they’ve blamed terrorist attacks in India on Al Qaeda. Similarly, Musharraf’s regime, given the high number of Pakistani madrassa-educated Islamists in his country’s population, has more of a dangerous game to play, but is so closely allied with current US foreign policy, that I’d suspect they’d love the brownie points, and play the extradition game for all it was worth. > [@](#): > > What if he’s in Iran for sure? How would you ever know? > [@](#): > > Should we give ultimatum to the Mullahs and, upon the expiration date, invade? If the current US government made such an ultimatum, very few in the world would actually believe that he was really there, unless Ahmadinezhad appeared on a balcony with his arms wrapped around him or something. Given the current global antipathy towards your government, I would seriously suggest that the US avoid starting yet another war with an Islamic state, unless the cocksnots attack first. Honestly, by now he’s an irrelevance. Today’s effective demons are in Iraq (“[bring them on](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030702-3.html)”, remember that - the only time in history that a US president has actually _invited_ terrorists to attack US troops). Furthermore, a US-captive Bin Laden is an even more dangerous one. If he’s given a fair trial, then he has even more of a mouthpiece than he has already, and if he’s tried in secret or summarily executed, he’s a martyr. The US can’t win with this guy, and that is why (I predict) he will never be captured alive. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/8 "2005-12-08T01:50:32Z")
The administration keeps flip flopping on Osama. Personally, I’d like to see him hunted down and hounded to death (literally). ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/9 "2005-12-08T02:02:48Z")
I think we should go all the way to Pakistan to find ObL. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/10 "2005-12-08T12:45:09Z")
For those of you wondering if UBL were in Kashmir, what if he were in _Chinese_-controlled Kashmir? Personally, I think that once we’ve located him, we should go after him with any and all means at our disposal. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/11 "2005-12-08T12:48:53Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > The administration keeps flip flopping on Osama. Personally, I’d like to see him hunted down and hounded to death (literally). We should let pigs eat his descrated corpse. No dignity allowed even in death. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-should-we-go-to-get-usama/334572/12 "2005-12-08T14:11:05Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > We should let pigs eat his descrated corpse. No dignity allowed even in death. Really. Every time bin Laden’s name comes up in a thread, someone feels compelled toi blurt out an absurdity of this sort. I don’t get it; what constructive purpose would be served by such an act?