WT (UPI): CIA tries to block bin Laden escape book

[StrafingMoose]

Washington, Jul. 28 (UPI) — The CIA is squelching publication of a new book detailing events on Osama bin Laden's 2001 escape from Tora Bora.

Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer who directed much of the fighting during the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and its aftermath told Fox News he resigned from the agency to tell his story. In his book, Berntsen recounts the attacks he coordinated at the peak of the fighting, including the al-Qaida leader's much-discussed getaway, Fox News said Thursday.

Berntsen claims in a federal court lawsuit that the CIA is over-classifying his manuscript and has repeatedly missed deadlines written into its own regulations to review his book, Fox News reported. His attorney, Roy Krieger, said he delivered papers to the U.S. District Court in Washington after hours Thursday.

The CIA declined to comment because the suit had not yet been filed officially, Fox News said.

During the 2004 election, President Bush and other senior administration officials repeatedly said that commanders did not know whether bin Laden was at Tora Bora when U.S. and allied Afghan forces attacked there in 2001. They rejected allegations by Sen. John Kerry, then the Democratic presidential nominee, that the United States had missed an opportunity to capture or kill bin Laden because they had "outsourced" the fighting to Afghan warlords.

"When I watched the presidential debates, it was clear to me ... the debate and discussions on Tora Bora were -- from both sides -- completely incorrect," said Berntsen, who won't provide details until the agency finishes declassifying his book. "It did not represent the reality of what happened on the ground."

Berntsen spent most of his 23-year CIA career as a case officer in the Middle East, serving as the top U.S. intelligence official in three countries.

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More at:
http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/view_upi.php?StoryID=20050728-063648-8689r

I'd like to hear about his book. These kind of people going public usually gives great insight and interesting details, on the other hand they can't really document their claims since they can't take out documents to prove them.