And by this, I don’t mean understand him.
But shouldn’t we at least examine the hell out of the guy? Find out what his habits are? His weaknesses, his strengths, boxers or briefs, etc etc?
Here’s where I’m going: if we study him, we can find a hole in him. Like, say, he has a sweet tooth, and we can stick some poison on some Godivas and send them to him express?
(Not QUITE so simple, but you see where I’m going with this, obviously).
Hi Guin,
Well yeah, it would be nice if we could bag him on his morning run to DunkinDonuts
‘We’ do know an awful lot about him – if only because there’s not a whole lot to know. His inclination is to live clean (Islam) and to do the things he does in traditional ways. For example, ever since 170 Cruise Missiles headed his way after the two Embassy bombings in Africa, he’s given up on the Satcom – kinda figured folks were listening in and locating his and his camp’s whereabouts.
So, he tends to use intermediaries and the pony express. Plus, he moves around between the old Mujihadin bases and camps from the 79-89 war. Quite often after a couple of days. We have to assume there are other hideaways, also.
Damn difficult, then, to pin the guy down if, as the US has done increasingly, you rely on Electronic Intelligence rather than Human (something the boys at Langley are urgently re-assessing). Unfortunately, even human intelligence (spy’s, informers, blackmailed people, etc) aren’t too helpful with this guy because of the tribal and religious bonds.
No. We shouldn’t. Every time he sees his allies see his face on CNN his legend grows. Every word we write about him, everything we say, the more infamy and notoriety we give makes him larger in the eyes of his supporters. He becomes more of a hero. He becomes stronger and gains more followers. More people want to be like him.
So, if “we” is the general public, or the media at large the answer is a firm “No!”
We’re making him a hero and proving the tactics of terror work.
Our governments, our military, and intelligence agencies on the other hand should look at a six month old turd and be able to tell you whether Bin Laden crapped it or not.
I think it depends on what you’re trying to find out:
How does he access his money? We need to know this.
How does he contact the outside world? We need to know this.
Who handles these two functions for him? We need to know this.
Does he have an oral fixation? Who cares?
Does he like his lamb curry spicy or mild? Who cares?
Does he brush his teeth twice a day? Who cares?
It seems to me that in gathering intelligence on the guy, it only makes sense to worry first about how he pays for the acts of terror he underwrites, and worry later about whether he takes milk or sugar in his tea. Way later. If ever.
I think this has already been done and more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_155000/155236.stm
He was supposed to have been trained by the U.S., too, so I imagine they know quite a bit about him.
In general I agree with the OP. Of course you should know your enemy, and I think in an unconventional war like this one it is even more important. I also agree with Scylla’s qualifications, though.
A saying from a management book comes to mind:
Relevant information is always, inevitably, power.
Well, Scylla, that goes without saying. I don’t mean us Dopers, but our government, or whoever is going after him.
By this time I would hope he was either taken capture to stand trial (ugh) or someone put a bullet in his head.
I don’t care whether he wears boxers or briefs, or about any of his nuances. Leaving this man alive and semi-free, in order to “study” him is a risk that I think the world should find unacceptable.
Sure Guin, knowledge is power.
But let’s not restrict it to bil Laden. One likely element of his ability to remain hidden is probably that he’s fairly unpredictable, always on the move (like we saw with Saddam). He apparently goes to great pains to sneak from one shelter to another and never give us a clear target.
What about those around him? Are they as careful? Does his bagman make a financial withdrawl and then always hook up with him 3 days later? Does his frontman scout out a new camp 2 days before he arrives? Are there supplies or persons within his entourage that always travel with him that can be targeted and therefore make bin Laden accessable as collateral damage?
I’d like to see us play his game a bit… have an Afghani from the Northern Alliance infiltrate his camp wearing something that pinpoints their location. Have someone he trusts and provides shelter to be in fact ready to betray him. He’s learned from us. Let’s learn from him.
I’m with Abe & lieu on this.
Knowledge is power.
But bin Laden is just one middle aged (how old?) man in a country with a short life expectancy (50 years?). We can take him out, but that would do little to stop terrorism (it may actually inspire more terrorism).
We need to destroy (or marginalize) the terrorist network. Take away their finances, resources, weapons, communications, training grounds, etc.