Where Is Osama Bin Laden?
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 8, 2006 — -- On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the resounding question: Where is Osama bin Laden?
Just as urgent is another question: Why has U.S. intelligence failed to find him?
A decade into a manhunt that is surely the most costly and complex in history, senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials can only give you "guesstimates" when you ask about bin Laden's location.
The suppositions are generally similar: Very few people know his location, and he probably has only a couple bodyguards.
He never uses the phone or Internet, and likely lives in a dwelling that has no communications to the outside world.
He moves infrequently, if at all, but he's in a friendly area, where the locals would almost certainly protect him in a pinch.
Pressed harder, U.S. officials will sometimes reveal a discomforting fact: Other than that, they can't tell you much more.
For all the millions of dollars spent on spy satellites and phone tapping, for all the agents scouring the globe, and for all the millions in offered rewards, there has been no real-time information on the whereabouts of bin Laden since he slipped away from Tora Bora in December 2001, reportedly on the back of a donkey.
"Those who are trying to get him have very poor intelligence," said ABC News consultant Rahimullah Yusufzai. "They are not up to the mark."
The story of how a rich Saudi kid abandoned a life of excess to become one of Islam's most identifiable figures offers tantalizing clues to his continued ability to elude capture.
From his father -- the poor Yemeni immigrant turned multibillionaire builder and then Saudi king -- bin Laden drew his entrepreneurial spirit and his ability to network, creating a global terror system that now runs itself.
He learned life on the run during his years with the Afghan mujahedeen. It is now a fine-tuned lifestyle, say those who have met him.
According to some reports, he won't even wear a watch, fearing U.S. authorities could use it to track him.
"He has become very cautious, very careful about who gets access," Yusufzai said. "He does not use phones. He does not give interviews."
