# Why is Osama no longer a target? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 21, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837 "2005-01-21T01:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/21 "2005-01-21T20:21:33Z")
> [@Demorian](#): > > Does that mean Dear Leader lied? Or are we tapdancing again? > > Or do you have a cite other tham “I’m quite certain” and “not [moveon.org](http://moveon.org)”? > > And advocating the art of torture, all in one paragraph. Nice. I don’t quite understand what you are getting at with the first sentence. Please be clearer about the lying and tapdancing you speak of. As to the second point, it’s kind of silly to ask for a cite isn’t it? Have I been crawling through Afghanistan with SEAL’s and therefore able to present first hand authentication? No. Does that mean that I can’t use my own knowledge and common sense to extrapolate how the search for OBL would be conducted? Again, no. And please don’t pretend that you don’t understand that the [moveon.org](http://moveon.org) comment was based on the idea that the left is not going to be alerted to everything that happens on the ground during a search for OBL. And advocating torturing OBL? You bet. Pacifism is an intellectual luxury. It’s very easy to look down your nose at the idea of torture while surrounded by an idealogical haze. But if the information saves lives, it’s worth it. OBL and his goons are not debating philosophy, they are trying to figure out how to kill as many of your friends and family members as possible. So the idea of pumping him full of chemicals or keeping him awake for days to loosen his tongue does not bother me in the least. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/22 "2005-01-21T20:25:13Z")
> [@Demorian](#): > > Very witty replies from all, but I’m still looking for an actual answer… What makes you think those replies weren’t serious? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/23 "2005-01-21T20:43:10Z")
> [@Rashak Mani](#): > > Also if they do kill Osama… he will just become a martyr. If they portray him as a prisoner too. Its a lose - lose proposition for the US This is the real answer. As much as it pains me to say it, we’re probably in the best possible strategic position re: bin Laden right now. He’s under enough pressure and being forced to move around enough that he’s functionally crippled. Anything we do to him at this point besides keeping him on the run would be a rallying cry for more extremists and thus be bad for us. If we kill him, he becomes a martyr. If we imprison him, we’ll see hostage crises and more terror attacks trying to get us to let him go. Keeping ObL on the run and effectively worthless is probably one of the smartest things our government has done since losing world favor after 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/24 "2005-01-21T20:53:46Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > He’s under enough pressure and being forced to move around enough that he’s functionally crippled. Do we actually know _anything_ about ObL, at this point, except that circa the last video tape, he was still alive? Do we, in fact, have him on the run? Is he, in fact, functionally impotent and reduced to the status of symbolic figurehead? For all any of us know, he’s vacationing in Malaysia. And what of Mullah Omar? We got any intel on him? Probably not. Let’s face it, they’re long gone. Probably they’re in Pakistan somewhere, but we really don’t know. And, at this point, I don’t think we have any evidence indicating ObL is under any more threat today than he was when he lived under the protection of the Taliban. He was always prone to moving around, so if anything, it’s could be for him that it’s just same shit, different location. ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/25 "2005-01-22T07:13:37Z")
> [@Demorian](#): > > Virtually unknown? He has been a primary target of the US government for a decade. Anyone who knew squat about terrorism knew the name “Osama bin Laden”. Hell, if you even bothered to watch the news after the embassy bombings, you knew the name “Osama bin Laden.” The average American knew who Saddam Hussein is, and what country he was dictator of. The average American had probably never even heard Osama’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/26 "2005-01-22T08:45:07Z")
> [@Othersider](#): > > The average American knew who Saddam Hussein is, and what country he was dictator of. The average American had probably never even heard Osama’s name. The average American thinks that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, so that’s not much of a guide, to be fair… ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/27 "2005-01-22T13:46:12Z")
Still the point I think some were making is that “Osama bin Laden” vs “other Arab wacko” makes for more impact in headlines since he has “market recognition”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/28 "2005-01-22T16:09:30Z")
They couldn’t catch him during the last election season. It’s not in their interest to catch him until midterms. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/29 "2005-01-22T16:36:27Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > And advocating torturing OBL? You bet. Pacifism is an intellectual luxury. Failing to advocatre torture is hardly pacifism. Nice strawman though. > [@](#): > > It’s very easy to look down your nose at the idea of torture while surrounded by an idealogical haze. The ideological haze of, “Hurt a man enough, and he’ll tell you anything, including that his own mother is the devil”? Or some other ideological haze? > [@](#): > > OBL and his goons are not debating philosophy, they are trying to figure out how to kill as many of your friends and family members as possible. No he isn’t, he isn’t a concern anymore, remember? ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/30 "2005-01-22T16:56:04Z")
Can you use this board to wish torture on someone, as long as you don’t wish they die of it? It’s getting hard to keep track… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/31 "2005-01-22T17:45:38Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > What makes you think those replies weren’t serious? Because they weren’t the replies he was looking for. You can go about your business. Move along. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/32 "2005-01-22T19:32:35Z")
What **laigle** said. The spectre of Bin Laden as the ultimate bogeyman will be exhumed once more, of this you can be sure. Just as soon as it’s politically expedient. Bush is smart enough (hah!) to know that you can’t remain freedom’s enemy#1 in the public’s fickle mind for more than six months at a time. Nor is there room for more than one “enemy of freedom” at a time, indeed the list stops at #1, ever heard of #2?. So giving him a rest every so often prolongs his usefulness. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/33 "2005-01-23T04:16:20Z")
Well to be honest I don’t think Bush & Co. are avoiding capturing Osama in order to keep the bogey man alive. Its convenient of course… Still overall the difficulties of capturing Osama are real and complicated… and no one likes to admit they aren’t being sucessful. Even if the US is spending and allocating considerable resources to capture him… they wouldn’t admit so. That would be “losing”. So Osama is a target… less so than in the past… and less so as far as attention is given to the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Puffs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c77e96/32.png) [@Puffs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puffs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/34 "2005-01-24T06:24:55Z")
I would like a cite from the OP stating that Osama is no longer a target. ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/35 "2005-01-24T09:43:19Z")
> [@Avenger](#): > > The average American thinks that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, so that’s not much of a guide, to be fair… I think we probably shouldn’t dwell on how dumb the average American is. It would only make us weep for the future. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/36 "2005-01-24T20:14:38Z")
> [@Avenger](#): > > The average American thinks that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, so that’s not much of a guide, to be fair… In my mind this is just so much misinformation. Prove me wrong and give a cite supporting this claim. For my money **Rashak Mani** has given the most reasonable answers. Could this be because he doesn’t have an agenda? 😕 Why hasn’t anyone mentioned the fact that the reward for OBL has just been raised from $25 million to $50 million? Could it be because it doesn’t fit into most theories being given? ---
**Author:** ![Demorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demorian/32/7273_2.png) [@Demorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demorian)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/37 "2005-01-24T20:33:15Z")
> [@Puffs](#): > > I would like a cite from the OP stating that Osama is no longer a target. … are you joking? ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/38 "2005-01-24T21:19:24Z")
> [@kniz](#): > > In my mind this is just so much misinformation. Prove me wrong and give a cite supporting this claim. You want a cite that a majority of American’s believe Saddam was behind 9/11? I think that it was fairly well established in a number of opinion polls that this was true, but in case you missed that year… [Poll Says Most Believe Saddam 9/11 Link](http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/0703/93130.html) > [@](#): > > Seven in 10 people in a poll say the Bush administration implied that Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States. > > And a majority, 52 percent, say they believe the United States has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam was working closely with the al-Qaida terrorist organization. ---
**Author:** ![Puffs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c77e96/32.png) [@Puffs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puffs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/39 "2005-01-24T22:57:39Z")
> [@Demorian](#): > > … are you joking? I am not. Show me a cite where it says Osama Bin Laden is no longer a target. That he is free to go where he chooses without worrying the US will take him out because he is a target. Actually I am dumbfounded you even made such a claim, and would be shocked to see you pull up a credible cite supporting it. ---
**Author:** ![Puffs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c77e96/32.png) [@Puffs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puffs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837/40 "2005-01-24T23:11:42Z")
> [@Avenger](#): > > You want a cite that a majority of American’s believe Saddam was behind 9/11? I think that it was fairly well established in a number of opinion polls that this was true, but in case you missed that year… > > [Poll Says Most Believe Saddam 9/11 Link](http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/0703/93130.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > Seven in 10 people in a poll say the Bush administration implied that Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States. > > > > And a majority, 52 percent, say they believe the United States has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam was working closely with the al-Qaida terrorist organization How many democrats do you think were part of the 7 out of 10. Bush never stated Saddam was involved in 9/11, and I remeber very vividly people having to prove that point to many lefties here on these boards at the time. And saying you believe Bush implied it and believeing it yourself is two different things. And as for the second part, The Bush Administration was very adamant, and still is to this day, that Saddam’s regime had connections to AlQaida. YOu are also linking a article that is avoer a year and a half old. PLenty of things have come to light since then, and saying that it proves most AMericans believe Saddam was behind 9/11 because of this cite is rediculous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-osama-no-longer-a-target/285837.md?page=3)