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Lack of interest in capturing Bin Laden
Summary
Despite all the "dead or alive" talk from a certain bullshit cowboy president, if you look at what happened, the evidence seems to suggest we went way out of our way to make sure Osama bin Laden was able to go where he wanted to go without capture.
- An enormous convoy of al Qaeda forces, including top leaders, was allowed to escape in an orderly fashion from Kabul in November 2001, with US pilots flying overhead.
- Bin Laden himself along with a group of other leaders and fighter were observed by US intelligence agencies to move into the area of Jalalabad, and analysts concluded they were preparing an exodus into Pakistan. US Central Command declines to act. As they left, US forces bombed the airport, but not the enormous obvious convoy.
- Two days later (November 16), US forces bomb one of only two routes from the Tora Bora region to Pakistan, leaving the other one unmolested. That day and for the next few weeks, hundreds of Al Qaeda forces used this route to get into Pakistan, not bothered by US forces or Pakistani border guards. In fact eyewitnesses were shocked to see that US forces took pains to mass against the exodus on three sides only, leaving the route to Pakistan open, as if on purpose.
- A Special Forces soldier from Fayetteville, NC, states that on November 28, US forces had bin Laden pinned down in a Tora Bora cave. While they were awaiting orders to act, they watched two helicopters come in, load up passengers, and fly off in the direction of Pakistan.
Source: Griffin, p. 105-108, relying on London Times, Knight-Ridder, and Paul Thompson's Timeline (Google it)
Analysis
I find this sort of thing hard to judge. One can imagine all sorts of conflicting accounts and rebuttals and confusion and mistakes and strategic decisions and whatnot that make the whole thing difficult to evaluate with any sense of certainty. Still, it does sound credible that we had these guys in our sights and let them go. I have to believe if the NSA and the CIA and the US military wanted to get this guy, they could damned well get him, I don't care what cave he's hiding in. I'm calling it rather suspicious.
Bottom line, me, I give it:
Discussion
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People's Court
Quotes
"We don't understand how they weren't all killed the night before because they came in a convoy of at least 1,000 cars and trucks. It was a very dark night, but it must have been easy for the American pilots to see the headlights. The main road was jammed from eight in the evening until three in the morning."-- a Kabul businessman quoted in London Times
"It was obvious from at least early November that this area was to be the base for an exodus into Pakistan. All of this was known, and frankly we were amazed that nothing was done to prepare for it."
-- US intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity
"In retrospect, and with the benefit of dozens of accounts from the participants, the battle for Tora Bora looks more like a grand charade."
-- The Telegraph
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