Rumsfeld decision let Bin Laden escape
Remember this from 20021?
President Bush pledged anew Friday that Osama bin Laden will be taken “dead or alive,” no matter how long it takes, amid indications that the suspected terrorist may be bottled up in a rugged Afghan canyon.
I guess that was just more macho grandstanding, not unlike McCain’s claim that “I know how to win wars,” McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “I know how” to capture Osama Bin Laden.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Osama bin Laden was “within the grasp” of US forces in late 2001 but escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls for reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says.
The report, set for release Monday, is intended to help learn the lessons of the past as President Barack Obama prepares to announce a major escalation of the conflict, now in its ninth year, with up to 35,000 more US troops.
It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in December 2001 in caves and tunnels in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora.
[snip]
“Instead, the US command chose to rely on airstrikes and untrained Afghan militias to attack Bin Laden and on Pakistan’s loosely organized Frontier Corps to seal his escape routes.”
Entitled “Tora Bora revisited: how we failed to get Bin Laden and why it matters today,” the report — commissioned by Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — says Bin Laden expected to die and had even written a will.
SOURCE .
November 30th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Apparently Mccain only CARES enough to catch BinLaden if he’s president. I mean, wouldnt’ it be great if he ran out and caught him during the campaign? Like ‘its good for the us ,whether or not i’m president, so i’ll just go track him down and catch him”
Sigh…… lotta folks know how to do good things for the US during campaigning. LOL
November 30th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Right on AliSilver … would it also not be treasoneous of McCain if he knew how to capture this country’s archenemy and he just lets him get away because McCain ain’t president? Oh, the power of chutzpah!
November 30th, 2009 at 9:57 am
This is why the whole politics/election/campaign scene in the US is BS! Do good things for the country if you’re elected to DO good things for the COUNTRY! People will NOTICE and vote for you into higher and higher office. You won’t have to make empty promises or LIE. Let your track record speak for itself……oh right, none of them have a track record they want us to see ! GEEZ !