Since the emergence of Osama bin Laden as the terrorist leader-in-chief of the 9/11 attacks, a significant chunk of the US military effort in the subsequent war on terror has been devoted to his capture. Over the past decade, every leader in the US, from presidents to army chiefs to heads of intelligence have vowed to capture him.
The fixation on Bin Laden’s capture has in fact become the cornerstone of US counter-terrorism strategy. Whether it is Predator drone attacks or targeted killings, the underlying assumption is that eliminating the leadership of Al Qaeda and the Taliban is the recipe to ridding the region of terrorist activity and achieving a victory for the United States.
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