Bin Laden was within the grasp of US troops in 2001 - Senate
report
WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S.
troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made
the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with
massive force, a Senate report says.
The report asserts that the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at
his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond
the fate of one man. Bin Laden's escape laid the foundation for today's
reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now
endangering Pakistan, it says.
Request
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Senator John Kerry has long argued that the Bush administration
missed a chance to get the al-Qaida leader and top deputies when
they were holed up in the mountainous area of eastern
Afghanistan. - Photo by AP |
Staff members for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic
majority prepared the report at the request of the chairman, Sen. John
Kerry, as President Barack Obama prepares to boost U.S. troops in
Afghanistan.
Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, has long argued
the Bush administration missed a chance to get the al-Qaida leader and
top deputies when they were holed up in the forbidding mountainous area
of eastern Afghanistan only three months after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. Although limited to a review of military operations
eight years old, the report could also be read as a cautionary note for
those resisting an increased troop presence there now.
Battlefield
More pointedly, it seeks to affix a measure of blame for the state of
the war today on military leaders under former president George W. Bush,
specifically Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary and his top
military commander, Tommy Franks.
'Removing the al-Qaida leader from the battlefield eight years ago
would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat,' the report
says. 'But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan
allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to
attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide.
Finish
The failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that
forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future
of international terrorism.'
Bin Laden was hiding in Tora Bora when the U.S. had the means to
mount a rapid assault with several thousand troops at least.
It says that a review of existing literature, unclassified government
records and interviews with central participants 'removes any lingering
doubts and makes it clear that Osama bin Laden was within our grasp at
Tora Bora.'- AP
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