Seriously, where is Bin Laden?

Rumours abound as to the whereabouts of the Al-Qaeda leader. In March, the BBC suggested the Afghan-Pakistani border, in North Waziristan. One author, talking to Der Spiegel in April, , suggested Miram Shah, in Waziristan. The Pakistan Daily Times last May, suggested the Karakoram mountain range.

It's not surprising that we know very little. Conquerors have failed time and again in that part of the world. The determined murder of any media person who goes near the place has also scared the press away. Perhaps this is the strongest signal of what the Taliban are hiding there. Or perhaps it is just a testament to the virulence of violence; after all, just as Arabists noted that the CIA disbanded its Bin laden team two years ago, American journalists and lobbyists are now asking if Bin Laden still matters.

Throughout the war on terror, the west, and especially the forces of the United States, has missed opportunity after opportunity to press advantage or to demonstrate strategic sense in the notoriously difficult and Empire-crushing conditions of Afghanistan. Resources and leadership have been focussed on the war of choice in Iraq, and now on Iran. Now, the Afghan war is gearing up again and fighting is especially intense in South Waziristan.

The ultimate statement of the decadent solipsism of our civilisation--a silly documentary by a man who made his name talking about the effect of hamburgers on stupid people--is about to be released. It's subject is the Bin Laden hunt. My question, looking back, at these past eight blood soaked years, is why didn't we take the hunt for the Terror King seriously?

The picture at the top of this post is Peter Breughel's Hunters in the Snow. There is a moving juxtaposition of the picture with a poem by Joseph Langland here, which talk of quests on mountaintops may make you think of going to.