Mar 11 2007

Native American Indian Trackers On Bin Laden Trail

Published by at 11:34 am under All General Discussions,Bin Laden/GWOT

In an echo of the Windtalkers (yes, more accurately the Codetalkerts) of the Second World War, which were able to encode military communications using Native American languages, the US is recruiting Native American trackers to aid in the hunt for Bin Laden and other terrorists in the wilds of Afghanistan and Pakistan:

An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan’s borders.

The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from several tribes, including the Navajo, Sioux, Lakota and Apache. It is being sent to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to pass on ancestral sign-reading skills to local border units.

In recent years, members of the Shadow Wolves have mainly tracked smugglers along the US border with Mexico.

But the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan and the US military’s failure to hunt down Osama bin Laden – still at large on his 50th birthday on Saturday – has prompted the Pentagon to requisition them.

US Defence Secretary Robert M.Gates said last month: “If I were Osama bin Laden, I’d keep looking over my shoulder.”

LJStrata has a significant heritage link with American Indians (one look at her and it is clearly evident) and I have a more tenuous linkage, but we both relate to them as I think many Americans do. I find it surprising the US waited this long to bring them in, but new management brings in new thinking and this is a good sign that people are working to find ways to win this (as opposed to the Dems efforts to find ways to lose this).

5 responses so far

5 Responses to “Native American Indian Trackers On Bin Laden Trail”

  1. Snapple says:

    I am not getting the link to show the article.

    Very neat story!

  2. Shadow Wolves To Hunt Bin Laden…

    I found this interesting story on the Digg wire: Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden
    WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan’s borders.
    The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was…

  3. Native American Trackers to Hunt Osama…

    There’s an interesting piece in the news about an elite group of Native American trackers, the Shadow Wolves, who are being sent to Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden. BushCo has been unsuccessful — these guys will probably get the j…

  4. Bill's Bites says:

    Dances with Osama?…

    Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden Hat tips: Jules Crittenden, Dan Riehl WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan’s borders. The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from …

  5. Old War Dogs says:

    Dances with Osama?…

    Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden Hat tips: Jules Crittenden, Dan Riehl WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan’s borders. The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from …