Bin Laden is located, says 9/11 panelist

Pakistani allies keeping him safe
By Jim Mohr
© SAN BERNARDINO SUN

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Pentagon knows exactly where
Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, it just can't
get to him, John Lehman, a member of the 9/11
Commission, said Thursday.

Lehman's remarks echoed those made Tuesday by
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said the al-Qaida
leader was alive and operating in the western part of
Pakistan.

Bin Laden is living in South Waziristan in the
Baluchistan Mountains of the Baluchistan region,
Lehman told the San Bernardino Sun after delivering a
keynote speech on terrorism at Pitzer College in
Claremont.

In the interview, Lehman noted, "There is an American
presence in the area, but we can't just send in
troops. If we did, we could have another Vietnam, and
the United States cannot afford that right now."

When pressed on why the United States couldn't send
troops into the region to capture the world's No. 1
terrorist, Lehman said the Baluchistan region of the
country is filled with militant fundamentalists who do
not recognize the legitimacy of Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf, a close ally of the United States.

"That is a region filled with Taliban and al-Qaida
members," he said, acknowledging that Pakistan's
security services also are filled with many who agree
with bin Laden's beliefs and would aid him if U.S.
Special Forces entered the region.

"Look," he said, "Musharraf already has had three
assassination attempts on his life. He is trying to
comply, but he is surrounded by people who do not
agree with him. This is not like Afghanistan, where
there was no compliance, and we had to go in.

"We'll get (bin Laden) eventually, just not now."

Asked how bin Laden was surviving, Lehman said he was
getting money from outside countries, such as the
United Arab Emirates, and high-ranking ministers
inside Saudi Arabia.

"He is not a wealthy man," Lehman said. "We ran that
information into the ground, and discovered he only
receives about $1 million a year from his family's
fortune. The rest of what he gets comes from radical
sympathizers."

Department of Defense spokeswoman Capt. Ronnie Merritt
confirmed the U.S. military believes bin Laden is in
Pakistan. However, she would not comment on Lehman's
remarks, except to say that he normally didn't speak
about these issues, and she was surprised he had.

Lehman, secretary of the Navy under President Ronald
Reagan, was one of the 10 members of the bipartisan
commission that examined the terrorists attacks on the
United States.

He also is the author of three books about military
tactics.