US Nabs bin-Laden Aide

I'm of the belief that George W. Bush has made a conscious effort to step up action in the War on Terror because he knows that if Obama were to win, the gains we made would be in serious jeopardy, as would our collective national security.

We've seen the extermination (probably) of Adam Gadahn and others in Pakistan and the coming spring offensive will be bolstered by the presence of more French troops (damn, never thought I'd write that).

Today comes word that we captured us a good one:

The Pentagon said on Friday it has taken custody from the CIA of an Afghan national who helped arrange Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora in 2001, a spokesman said Friday.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not say when or where Muhammad Rahim was captured or how long he was held by the CIA, but said he was transferred to US military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba earlier this week.

"He is one of UBL's (Osama bin Laden's) most trusted facilitators and procurement specialists. He helped prepare Tora Bora as a hideout for Osama bin Laden. He assisted Al-Qaeda's exodus from the area in late 2001," Whitman said.

I sure hope they don't play Christina Aguilera too loud or keep him up past his bedtime.

Anyway, this is a good get and we seem to be picking them off at steady clip of late. Perhaps we'll get some information from him as he wiles away the days in the Caribbean paradise of Gitmo.

Exit thought: With all the UBL lieutenants we've captured, do you think that we've gotten the info that bin-Laden is dead and haven't released it? Think about it, we've been on the hunt for 6+ years and haven't had a reported sighting of him in nearly that long. Note how the Pentagon's Whitman phrased that last sentence, the terrorist detainee prepared UBL's hideout but he also helped al-Qaeda get out when it got hot. It's odd that he didn't say that he assisted in getting bin-Laden out.

I may reading too much into that but I've generally thought we took him out in 01 or early 02.

Update: It turns out that the Pakistani's may have had him for up to six months.