Senate report: Bin Laden was ‘within our grasp’

[jimmy olsen]

This shit makes me so angry. Bush should have flooded the country with 100,000 men from the get go. Casualties would have been heavier, but the country would have accepted it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34189238/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

Senate report: Bin Laden was 'within our grasp'
Review could be seen as warning against opponents of a troop surge now

updated 2:28 a.m. ET Nov. 29, 2009

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.

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.

The Massachusetts senator and 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.

Aimed at foes of surge?
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.

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. 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."

The report states categorically that 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."

Fewer than 100 U.S. commandos
On or about Dec. 16, 2001, bin Laden and bodyguards "walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area," where he is still believed to be based, the report says.

Instead of a massive attack, fewer than 100 U.S. commandos, working with Afghan militias, tried to capitalize on air strikes and track down their prey.

"The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the Army, was kept on the sidelines," the report said.

At the time, Rumsfeld expressed concern that a large U.S. troop presence might fuel a backlash and he and some others said the evidence was not conclusive about bin Laden's location.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

[DGuller]

Regardless of the politics involved, it is a great shame.  I'm not sure that Afghanistan would be peachy if bid Laden were killed, but failing to nail him for eight years is just such a huge embarrassment for US.

[CountDeMoney]

Stop hating America and questioning Real Americans(tm) like the Dubya Administration.

[garbon]

Who cares? Catching Bin Laden was always an unnecessary errand. I only wish we wouldn't have made such a big fuss over him.

[Sheilbh]

Who cares? Catching Bin Laden was always an unnecessary errand. I only wish we wouldn't have made such a big fuss over him.

Agreed.

Though it would be nice to see him in the dock.

[garbon]

Though it would be nice to see him in the dock.

Fair. But yeah certainly not worth sending 100,000 men for.

[Fate]

I'm sure it's much easier to downplay Osama's importance after eight years of failing to produce a capture or kill. I'd be more interested in seeing statements from 2001 to that effect.

[Martinus]

Though it would be nice to see him in the dock.

Fair. But yeah certainly not worth sending 100,000 men for.

Who are you to disagree with Tim's analysis of the problem.

[garbon]

Who are you to disagree with Tim's analysis of the problem.

Someone better educated.

[Admiral Yi]

John Kerry has something bad to say about Bush?  I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

[CountDeMoney]

At the time, Rumsfeld expressed concern that a large U.S. troop presence might fuel a backlash

Sorta like when they were sent into Iraq?

[Jaron]

If this had been Obama, Hans would be posting about how the "Obamateur" was obviously holding back to protect his cousin Usama.

[Viking]

At least in hindsight this seems to have been a fuckup. Had the marines brought bin Laden in alive for trial and/or waterboarding at Guantanamo would at least maintain a 1-1 ration between people attacking US civilian targets and people being caught/killed/tortured for attacking US civilian targets. That won't deter the suicide bomber, but it might deter the man sending him.

[Strix]

At least in hindsight this seems to have been a fuckup. Had the marines brought bin Laden in alive for trial and/or waterboarding at Guantanamo would at least maintain a 1-1 ration between people attacking US civilian targets and people being caught/killed/tortured for attacking US civilian targets. That won't deter the suicide bomber, but it might deter the man sending him.

Doubtful, we have killed other numerous highly placed leaders and it hasn't been a deterrence. Though the death toll has reduced resistance.

[sbr]

Not surprising.  With Osama gone Dubya wouldn't have had a pretense to go after the people who tried to assassinate his dad.