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| Terror Networks |
| Buddy sez Binny's long dead... |
| 2002-09-16 |
| Osama Bin Laden's supporters say the al-Qaeda leader is dead. Shahid Ayan, who was hiding in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains with Bin Laden during United States air raids in December, said the terrorist chief died 10 months ago. "Yes, Osama Bin Laden is dead, but the jihad will continue until Judgment Day," he told United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Bayan. Pakistani intelligence sources last placed Bin Laden in a 25-vehicle convoy travelling from Jalalabad in Afghanistan to Tora Bora in November. Shahid said Bin Laden had taken refuge in the caves on November 15 with about 320 fighters. Late on December 10 – "the 24th night of Ramadan" – there were "some scary explosions" in the area where Bin Laden's cave was located. "The cave was completely erased from the ground and became nothing," he said. "Holy crap, Mahmoud! Our Fearless Leader is a thin layer of carbon, and 320 of his closest supporters with him!" "Cheeze! Don't tell anybody!" "This was the only cave of the 15 that was destroyed by an enormous 52ft (16m) missile and there is no doubt that Bin Laden died." A "52-footer"! What the hell was that? And the only cave out of 15... Y'think the Merkins might have had some idea where he was? US forces bombarded the area with laser-guided bombs and AGM-142s – television-guided missiles with earth-shattering warheads. After that, they had to use sniffer dogs for intel collection... Bin Laden then appeared on a video released in December, when he appeared ill and had trouble using his left arm – prompting speculation he had been wounded in the bombing. "Half dead," I think, is the way I described him then... Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, the subject of a recent al-Qaeda assassination attempt, was yesterday quoted as saying he believed Bin Laden was dead. "The more we do not hear or him or see any signal of his whereabouts or survival, (the more) we are likely to believe he is not alive," Mr Karzai said. Amir Taheri said he pegged out on the 5th of December... Binny's only got to prove us wrong once, though... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 Why, it was Allah who enlarged the bomb and guided it, of course. Imshallah... |
| Posted by: G 2002-09-17 06:17:19 |
| #2 A daisycutter (BLU-82 B)with its parachute extended would be about that long; we did drop some of those 15,000 pounders in mid-December around Tora Bora. But they are not penetrators per se, being designed to explode above ground to create overpressure, panic, and a barren landscape suitable for a landing zone. But if you could somehow guide one into a cave entrance, you'd surely eliminate the cave. |
| Posted by: Mike Cakora 2002-09-16 18:58:17 |
| #1 I've no idea how seriously to take the above story. For one thing, how did the observer measure the length of the bomb? The biggest penetrator bomb in our arsenal -- that I know of -- is a 5000 pounder (19 foot long, by the way, it's a converted artillery tube). It's described here: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-28.htm. However, the following is from www.strategypage.com "April 29, 2002; The US Air Force has a plan to produce a 30,000-pound conventional bomb known as Big BLU for use against "hard and deep" targets. The Air Force says it can produce the weapon in four months if needed, but refuses to confirm speculation that work on the weapon has already begun at a somewhat slower pace. The weapon is so big it would only fit into a B-52H or B-2, and it would probably be adapted only for the B-52H as it would cost millions to fit it to each aircraft and there is no point in paying that much for two aircraft that duplicate the capability. --Stephen V Cole" I also recall reading something, somewhere before the Battle of Tora Bora that we built three really big penetrator bombs. Never heard anything about them again. Sorry, but I have no source for that story. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2002-09-16 10:05:57 |