more on Tora Bora

[ginnyinWI]

I watched a program on the National Geographic channel called, "The Final Report: Osama's Escape". (It was on Monday I think but I just watched today.)

Anyway--everything in this program backs up what JK has said. Two of the main people telling the story are Michael Scheuer and Gary Bernsten, CIA.

Interesting stuff I learned: back in Sept. 2001, the CIA went into Afghanistan first with a team of about ten guys. They wanted a lot of troops to come in--but the administration didn't want U.S. casualties. This was a key mistake. Remember, this was back in the "sweets and flowers" idea of warfare--everything was gonna be quick and easy with minimal casualties.
So they hired Northern Alliance troops to do the fighting--and they did do a good job fighting their natural enemies, the Taliban. But not so much for bin Laden--he wasn't their priority--he was just a side thing: if they should happen to run into him, they would get him, but oh, well... The U.S. eventually used missile strikes on the Tora Bora bunker where bin Laden had once stayed, but evidently he wasn't there at the time.

So how did he get away? There was a warlord who the CIA had paid to block the passage into Pakistan. They even got him a satellite phone. Bin Laden simply bribed the guy to let him get through safely, and then walked into Pakistan.

The CIA guys conclude that more U.S. troops definitely would have made a difference. Now he's probably safely in Pakistan and their gov't. won't touch him. Not surprisingly, the bin Laden unit that Bill Clinton set up in 1996 got shut down in 2005 by you-know-who.

So what party, again, is tough on the terrorists?? Not this GOP.

[beachmom]

1. Rumsfeld was responsible for that failure, too

He had his ego crushed after 9/11, because the CIA was ready to go into Afghanistan immediately, while the DoD had no plan put together to go in. At the end of planning, he was able to get a plan to have special forces inserted, but the whole thing was a moment of glory for the CIA. It was Bush who made the decision NOT to send more troops into Tora Bora, but it was Rumsfeld's bad attitude and soreness with the CIA which prevented this from being handled better.

(I taped the CNN program about OBL, but haven't watched it yet)

[ginnyinWI]

2. what program on CNN?

The one I watched was on National Geographic Channel. I suppose it's too late to see the CNN one by now. I looked for a repeat of the NGC one but didn't find it.

edit: I found two repeats on NGC: Sunday Oct. 29, 8pm E, and Saturday Nov. 4, 11pm E.