CIA Interview: We Had bin Laden CORNERED-Washington REFUSED TO HELP

[kpete]

Cornered. CIA speaks
By joan reports
09/27/2006 09:23:58 AM EST

2 CIA officials tell us Washington –twice– declined to send the reinforcements they asked for when bin Laden was cornered in Afghanistan in 2001. By the time of the 2nd request by the CIA for troops, the special ops force could hear Osama on radio asking his followers for forgiveness for leading them to their imminent capture. It was that close.

From Gary Bernsten, who led the CIA's paramilitary unit chasing bin Laden after he fled from Kabul (Christiane Amanpour interviewed him on CNN) – http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/27/cp.01.html

AMANPOUR: ... the CIA was sure it knew where he was, thanks in large part to a radio taken off a dead al Qaeda fighter.

BERNTSEN: We listened to bin Laden for several days using that radio, listened to his communications among him and his men. We listened to him apologize to them for having led them –

– "into this trap and having led them into a location where they would be having airstrikes called on them just relentlessly."
. . . .


BERNTSEN: In the first two or three days of December, I would write a message back to Washington, recommending the insertion of U.S. forces on the ground. I was looking for 600 to 800 Rangers, roughly a battalion. They never came.

Bernsten's urgent message followed a direct briefing on troop needs and a request, in-person to President Bush in November by Henry "Hank" Crumpton, who was then CIA officer in D.C. heading the Afghanistan effort. (Now Crompton is in charge of counterterrorism at the State Department.) Crompton had learned of a CIA troop request that was never forwarded by the Pentagon to the White House.

more at:
http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2006/9/27/84111/0004

[MadMaddie]

1. I hope more keeps coming out...

[whistle]

2. So this was under Bush's watch? When in 2001?

[ck4829]

5. December

And I myself remember hearing a story back in 2001 that Osama's voice could actually be heard on the radios at one point.

[central scrutinizer]

57. then in July, 2002

$700 million was illegally diverted from Afghanistan to help prepare for the invasion of Iraq

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/103005Y.shtml

[warrens]

71. That means it was Clinton's fault

It was less than a year after he left office. The Repukes get six years to blame everything that goes wrong on their watch on Clinton. Everybody knows that.

[berni_mccoy]

3. Bush Helped Osama Escaped

It's that simple.

[KansDem]

15. Bush has no intention on capturing Osama, let alone killing him...

The Bush Family and the bin-Laden Family have been business partners for decades. They even helped finance George the Torturer's early business ventures. When are Americans going to wake up and see this?

[Booster]

18. And if Bush had gotten bin-Laden, Americans everywhere would

have been satisfied with that and Bush's illegal war for money would have been over. Bush and Cheney have used this entire country for their own monetarial gain, and that's the truth.

[civildisoBDence]

68. The Bushes and bin Ladens have been in bed for a long time

and now we find out Osama's been hiding under the bed.

Newsprism

[AllegroRondo]

70. Osama is their Emmanual Goldstein

They have to have some enemy for Americans to focus their hate on.

[lonestarnot]

61. His freedom was part of the deal!

[LiberalFighter]

90. Bush wanted all those people at the towers to die!!!!

He didn't care if they died.

no sarcasm intended

[WCGreen]

4. Tipping point....

[Karenca]

6. K AND R---Can we get this out---

Keith?

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Why would Bush wanna capture the close relative of all his

buddy-buddy Saudi friends?

[bigbrother05]

8. If they killed him

they couldn't make him the bad guy, for years to come.
they had to have a hook

[tblue]

13. If they had gotten Osama and/or rolled up Al Qaeda

they would've never been able to sell their war to the American people.

It wasn't a mistake. It was a strategic choice. :mad:

May God have mercy on their — oh hell never mind.

[petgoat]

43. That strange look in their eyes--W's, Condi's, Rummy's, Cheney's--

comes from the knowledge that they've sold their immortal souls.

[libodem]

77. No kiddin'...spot on!!!!!!

[MannyGoldstein]

9. This is Old Info - But Totally Ignored

The gall of the Right in claiming that Clinton is the only person responsible for not "getting" bin Laden is matched only by the Dem's timidity in not bringing this to the front.

[tblue]

14. The Dems probably do bring it up, but the MSM doesn't cover it

[sandnsea]

26. Kerry harped on this regularly, was the FIRST

to bring it up, way back in 2002 when Howard Dean was saying we ought not criticize the President in a time of war. He's harped on it regularly since then and is the reason it even makes it into the press periodically. Anybody else who is jumping on the Tora Bora bandwagon is way late to the party.

[MannyGoldstein]

32. Yes. You're Correct

Thanks

[fujiyama]

42. Kerry's comments on TB First thing that came to mind

I wish this fact was better known at the time to more people.

[Divine Discontent]

78. EXACTLY!

this was one of the big points he scored imo about this when he spoke to me and my friend. He repeatedly mentioned Tora Bora and Bush's failure. Why do people let Bush off the hook, it's like they're BRAINWASHED.

:(


www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. This same thing was broadcast on the program "Frontline" a few months ago.

For some reason, nobody pays attention to "Frontline", their work on these stories is years ahead of anybody else.

[TahitiNut]

11. The Bushoilinis wanted the pipeline, not Osama!

The Taliban offered to turn Osama over to the Saudis in February 2001 and they were ignored.
The Taliban again offered to turn over Osama to a third party, upon presentation of any evidence indicating 'probable cause' (standard for extradiction), after 9/11 and before the invasion of Afghanistan, and the Bush Regime refused!

Down the memory hole - history revised - Fascism is in control.

[pberq]

44. And don't forget that OBL was and is a CIA asset

[me b zola]

12. Oh my

Where are the emperor's clothes?

[speedoo]

16. Kerry has been talking about this for years... Tora Bora.

This is just more detail to support whjat Kerry has maintained consistently.

But not enough people listened.

[Jacobin]

17. Its so typical

They accuse Clinton of 'having him in his sights and refusing to give the order to fire" when that is exactly what Smirk did.

:puke:

[glitch]

28. Muddying the waters so their bots can say Clinton did it when you point it

out.

[SnowGoose]

34. Yep! Just like the Ken Lay "sleepovers" they accused Clinton of.

When in reality, they happened while Poppy Bush was living in the People's house.

I'm starting to think that if we want to know what they're gulity of, we should just listen to what they're trying to blame others for (ususally Bill Clinton).

SOP for the POS

[MorningGlow]

47. Projection once again

They sure have a small bag of tricks, don't they? Trick #12: Whatever reprehensible thing a Repub is doing/has done, accuse a Dem of doing it.

[Rageneau]

19. Bush and Osama are willing partners. Read Bartcop to see why.

[bonito]

20. Maybe o b wasn't there at all

and the Pentagon knew it, a ruse. :shrug:

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Special Forces from Fort Bragg

had him cornered in Tora Bora. When they called up the chain of command to let them knew they were going to go in for the kill, the big brass showed up and told them to stand down and took charge. A short while after that the helicopters came and Usama was gone.

(I have this info from someone connected to one of the spec ops guys that was there)

[bonito]

24. I remember hearing that

what did he make of it?

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Totally pissed

from what I heard.

[bonito]

27. Thanks, I wonder why both bushco and blair shrug off

Any time someone ask them where ob is as if they would like everyone to forget about him, it lends to complicity leading to more direct involvement of the US in the middle east.

[Yupster]

22. Book suggestion --

Read the book "Jawbreaker."

It's by the CIA guy in charge on the ground.

In my opinion he actually blundered and helped Osma escape from Tora Bora.

As the Northern Alliance entered Kabul (which they promised they wouldn't do by the way) these few CIA teams were trying to oprganize a "Southern Alliance" to go to Kandahar. None of the Northern Alliance groups had any interest in this. Instead they wanted to stay in Kabul and carve out a power base for themselves.

It was at this point that the news started to come that Osama was heading for Tora Bora and this CIA guy sent one of his teams (2-3 people) to chase after them.

They met with a tribe which walked them into the mountains by donkey and they found a camp in a valley below them. There were thousands of Al Quaidas running around. It's assumed Osama was there.

The team radioed the author who ordered every plane in the air to strike the camp. Hundreds were killed and a running battle was started toward the Pakistani border over two days. Surrounding tribes were paid off to block the escape routes, but in one poignant scene, the author got to the scene and met with the chieftain who told him that they had probably fought against each other a few weeks earlier in the north of the country when the tribe was fighting for the Taliban. These were the guys keeping Osama from escaping.

They found a radio on a dead guy still tuned to the Al Quaida frequency and for a day was able to listen to their orders. They think they heard Osama himself 2-3 times.

The author screamed for US troops to block the exits, but was turned down. For some reason the book said helicopters wouldn't work at that altitude (???) and therefore the only available troops were Rangers on Diego Garcia who could have been parachuted into the passes. The idea was turned down as too dangerous because the Rangers would end up strewn all over the mountains in small groups and could become easy targets for the retreating Al Quaida and the local tribes could easily turn against them.

The author fumed "Too Dangerous For the Rangers -- WTF???"

Personaly, I think the author blundered when he ordered the airstrikes. He sould have just had his team watch the camp until the US had time to get some precence on the ground, or at least get somewhat loyal locals around. I think he jumped the gun.

I also think they should have parachuted the Rangers in. Sure it would have been risky, but the payoff was so big it should have been risked.

Interesting book if anyone's interested.

[alfredo]

23. I second the Recommendation for "Jawbreaker."

[jamesinca]

89. I am currently reading it

I just got to the fall of Kabul.

[alfredo]

91. Politics aside, it is a good war story.

[BuyingThyme]

29. kcik

[ryanus]

30. Remember Osama is an asset, not a liability

He's an asset to Bush in two ways: he is Emanual Goldstein for Bush, and he also is an actual intelligence asset. Most people won't believe this so I'll just stop there. Hint: CIA trained him and others to fight against the Soviets.

[leesa]

31. BushCo made a deal with him...I don't imagine they were visiting OBL

in the hospital at Dubai in July 2001 for a get-well-soon visit. "You lend us your name for this 9-11 bit we want to pull off and we'll pull our troops out of Saudi Arabia."

[SammyWinstonJack]

46. Probably closer to the truth than anything else.

[proud patriot]

33. "those who point your finger beware

for you have three fingers pointing back" my husband

great saying that came to mind realising that this is
exactly what the RW blowhards were accusing Clinton of
in "the path to 9/11" fake-umentary .

:think:

[INdemo]

53. Ok,so why didn't this report come out the day of the ABC propaganda

movie,or right after the Clinton interview..then of course why didn't this report surface during the 2004 election campaign..The CIA is just as much responsible for helping Bush steal the election as Diebold. Of everyone is asking the same questions.

[kurtyboy]

58. Precisely--that is a ROVE M.O.

Identify your own biggest weakness, then accuse the other guy of the same thing. If he acquits himself, nobody is ready to re-examine the same fault one more time.

And an admonishment about "one pointed out means three pointing back" only adds to the mystique of the Rove crap machine. More importantly, even if "our guy" is guilty of the accusation (he is not), what does that have to do with the truth about Tora Bora in 2001?

[tocqueville]

35. analog story (later) confirmed in France 2004

Bin Laden Was 'Within Reach' of U.S.-Led Forces

NewsMax Wires
Thursday, June 3, 2004

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan had Osama bin Laden "within reach" on at least two occasions, but were unable to prevent him from slipping away, France's top general said Wednesday.

French chief of staff Gen. Henri Bentegeat, said the al-Qaida leader has evaded capture several times since 2002, but not recently. He didn't say where bin Laden had been tracked down, and refused to comment on whether French special forces operating in southern Afghanistan were involved.

"Several times the coalition has had Osama bin Laden directly within reach," Bentegeat told reporters during a visit to the Afghan capital. "But between locating a person and arresting them there is a gap tied to all the uncertainties of all operations of this kind."
.............

Bentegeat made similar comments in an interview in March to France's Europe-1 radio station, saying bin Laden narrowly escaped capture by French troops in Afghanistan, perhaps several times. He did not say when or where the escapes took place.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/6/2/213846.shtml

this is no BS, it made news in France at that time. The French general excuses are very diplomatic. In a TV interview a former DGSE agent, normally the official "leaker", the version was less diplomatic : "We had him at 20 m (20 yards) but got orders not to intervene". I'll always remember those words. No link, it was a TV interview on TV5.

[w4rma]

36. Bush/Republican infamous Tora Bora bungling. (nt)

[calimary]

37. Oh my...

Kicked, Recommended, and Bookmarked.

Holy God...

Glad it was on CNN. Might be seen by a few more people...

[autorank]

38. Truly amazing news, not surprising but amazing that it was RELEASED

The corporate media has become the battlefield of a civil war between two factions of "management," you know "them." It's those in power, "the misbred, grey executives," versus the sane faction of management. Why the flurry of stories like this; and this is truly devastating, a real slam at * leading up to the period where he portrays himself as our "bad ass," tobacco chewing, vile savior. A little follow up on this one and * no longer seems so tough. Torture pulls him back from large segments of the religious vote. Next thing to go, the "Mr. Nice Guy" image...maybe some audio of him pitching a four letter fit to interns. It's just getting interesting.

[EVDebs]

64. Pssst. Military is beginning to revolt against * in Iraq

When the military understands that the effort is unsustainable, despite neocons promise of "permanent bases" in the oilfields, then the Murtha redeployment (mainly to Afganistan and Kuwait etc.) becomes possible. Also, the hitches in funding for the ongoing fiasco mount and with an impending Democratic landslide coming on the horizon, best to get to know the new committee chairmen !

[autorank]

88. Kick. The *shadow government* is now out of the closet...

[Rex]

39. The question HAS to be asked for these CIA agents;

"Now why is that?" "Why not help catch OBL?"

[pa28]

40. I'm sure ABC will be dramatizing Bush's failure shortly.

:sarcasm:

Seriously though, it's time to just come out and say it. Bush is Osama Bin-Laden's number one enabler and he'll never be caught until we have a President who considers it a "priority".

[truedelphi]

41. I reported this in January 2002

From "The Coastal Post" - January 2002
My Time Line of the events preceeding The Sept 11th attacks - I Wrote it December 17 2001
Published two weeks later THE COASTAL POST GENERALLY TELLS ITS READERS THINGS SIX MONTHS TO FOUR YEARS BEFORE OTHER NEWS SOURCES COME OUT OF THE CLOSET


Little has been said to the American people about all the reasons that the Bush family so eagerly sought the war against Afghanistan. We were told that Osama Bin Laden was the brain behind the 911 attacks. It was mentioned, ad nauseum, that he was in Afghanistan. No mention was made that this ruthless terrorist was allowed to stay in an American hospital in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, in July, just two months before the attacks. "Le Figaro" of Paris reports that while in the hospital, he was visited by at least one CIA official. After his discharge from the hospital, he was allowed to leave Saudi Arabia by private jet. Over the summer, the government's official word on Bin Laden was that he was to be brought up on charges leading to his execution, yet these actions were never taken. (In October, the CIA denied all involvement with Bin Laden including involvement with him as a freedom fighter against the Russians.)

Additionally, we must examine our government's interactions with the Central Asian area of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the months prior to the Sept. 11th attacks. Our focus there is this Administration's desire on the part of Corporate America to secure an oil pipeline through the heart of Afghanistan. Let's review the timeline:

February 3rd, 2000. George Tenet, Director of the CIA, addresses the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He discusses openly the importance of the following: "Western companies are trying to construct a gas pipeline under the Caspian Sea from Turkmenistan through Azerbijan and Georgia en route to Turkey." Scenarios elaborated upon over the next few months recognize the importance of a Central Asian pipeline requiring permission to extend such pipeline into Afghanistan. The goal: to have one continuous pipeline running from the waters of the Caspian Sea to the Arabian Sea.

February to April 2001. Government officials from both the United States and Afghanistan meet to discuss the possibility of building this pipeline. Corporations most interested in this development are Unocal * and Amoco. Participating officials include Laila Helms, a relative of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA, and Sayed Ramatulla, aide to Taliban Mullah Mohammed Omar. Also around this point in time, over 40 million dollars were released to Taliban government of Afghanistan in the name of the American War on Drugs. In accepting these monies, the Taliban agreed to see that the opium in local drug lords' warehouses would stay there. This policy of course, did very little to influence the local drug lords, who simply raised the price of their product to cover for the curtailment of supply.

May 2001. During this time period, at least one significant meeting between CIA Director George Tenet and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraff takes place. Mushareff possibly repeats his earlier-in-the-year statement that Pakistan would be willing to hand Bin Laden over to a Muslim tribunal for his part in the Embassy bombings that took four lives.

July 2001, Thomas Simons, former US Ambassador to Pakistan; Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs; and Lee Coldren, former State Department expert on South Asia, meet in Berlin with negotiators from the Taliban, Russia and six oil-rich nations that neighbor Afghanistan (BBC news, Sept. 18; the Guardian, Sept. 22, 2001).**

According to Jean-Charles Brisard, co-author of "Bin Laden: The Hidden Truth": "At one point during the negotiations, the US reps told the Taliban, 'Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs." Naif Naik, former Pakistani minister for foreign affairs, was also present. He recalled that the discussions turned on "the formation of a government of national unity. If the Taliban had accepted this coalition, they would have immediately received international economic aid ... And the pipe lines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would have come.''

Naik also recalled that Tom Simons, the US representative at these meetings, openly threatened the Taliban and Pakistan. "Simons said, 'Either the Taliban behave as they ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or we will use another option.' The words Simons used were 'a military operation','' Naik claimed (Inter Press Service, Nov. 15, 2001).

July 2001: Pakistan's ISI (Pakistan Intelligence Agency) Chief Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad has an aide wire-transfer $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, the pilot who later achieved infamy as the presumed leader of the Sept. 11 hijackings and atrocities. In October 2001, Mahmud Ahmad resigned from the ISI after the FBI confirmed this crucial wire-transfer (The Times of India, Oct. 11, 2001.)**

September 11th, 2001. Hijacked planes, supposedly seized and totally under the control of Muslim extremists, plow into the Two Towers of the World Trade Center, while another crashes into the Pentagon. Additionally, a fourth hijacked plane slams into a field in the country- side of Pennsylvania. (Approximately thirty-five hundred Americans are killed in these actions.) Although the plane hitting the Pentagon does not reach its target until a full hour after the initial crash in NY, not one Air Force fighter jet stationed at Andrews Air Force base outside Washington DC is scrambled to thwart this part of the attack.

Later, officials will state that since this type of event was previously unknown in American history, they simply were caught unprepared. Critics scoff. After all, every other day of the week, some Bozo with the keys to a Cessna is found attempting to photograph family members while the small aircraft invades airspace over the White House, the Capital Building etc. Those Bozos are never allowed to get close, but are escorted out and away from sacrosanct building fly space. So just what was going on during the terrorist raids of September 11th?

Mid-September 2001: Attorney General John Ashcroft proposes the Anti Terrorism Act, to greatly enhance the powers of law enforcement-for electronic media, beyond what the Constitution allows for conventional media-and reduce law enforcement's accountability to the public. Opposition rises from both liberals and conservatives. Republican representative Bob Barr notes that many of the powers in the bill had been requested before and denied by Congress. He accuses Ashcroft of taking advantage of the terrorist attack to acquire these powers during a time of great nationalism.

October 5, 2001: The Tampa Tribune reports that a secret flight evacuated Saudi royal family members from the United States with Bush's personal approval days after the terrorist attack, while the FAA denies that such a flight took place.

October 6, 2001: Debka File, a news source of low repute but which has scooped stories in the past, reports that China has recently deployed between 5,000 and 15,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight the United States.

October 7, 2001: The United States launches airstrikes against Afghanistan, unleashing 2000 lb. bombs upon targets such as airfields and known terrorist training camps. The Media immediately baptizes this event: The New War.

November 11, 2001: Two of Pakistan's top nuclear scientists report having met Bin Laden twice this year while working for a relief organization in Afghanistan.

Relentless media coverage of the War against Afghanistan gives the impression that our military objectives of destroying the Taliban are in the process of being achieved. Nothing is further from the truth. Although many training camps filled with twelve to sixteen year old boys have been blown off the face of the earth, many of the more influential of the Taliban have simply exited the Afghan border into Pakistan. US military generals privately speak of the "quagmire" that our country faces with our continued presence there. Meanwhile, up to seven million refugees face starvation, as we leave the distribution of life-giving foodstuffs to the Russians. The idea that Russia has been Afghanistan's traditional enemy seems to inadvertently have escaped our policy makers' decision process. Or did it?
Rumors exist that there are now over forty camps in which Afghanis are quarantined for becoming ill with a virulent virus closely related to Ebola. Rumor also has it that this virus possesses airborne-contagion properties.
Meanwhile, if you are paying attention to the stock market, it was announced in a recent SF Chronicle article that CalPers (the investment holder for state employees retirement funds) has benefited from their involvement with a little known business entity called the Carlyle group. This firm buys up distressed or mismanaged companies that have lucrative defense contracts. Sometime over the past several years, the Carlyle Group has acquired the Michigan firm holding the patent to the anthrax vaccine. Those deeply involved with Carlyle include members of the Bush family, and James Baker, former Secretary of State. The Carlyle Group's stock profits are presently escalating.
Furthermore, it appears that the anthrax that has infected various postal workers, post offices and the Senate and House of Representative chambers was originally developed by an Army facility in Florida.
Ah, Florida. Right before the September 11th attacks there were serious threats to this Administration from two sources. One was an impeachment process underway to terminate the "Gang of Five" positions as members of The Supreme Court. Also there was to be an investigation into the forty million dollar pay-out used to entice various Democrats inside the state of Florida to not take seriously their task of counting votes for Al Gore. The $40 million were assets created through the laundering of drug monies. Both activities ceased operation with the "new nationalism" that occurred after Sept. 11.
Time and space do not permit me to re-hash the CIA paper, the "Northwoods Report." This CIA thesis (circa early 1960's) proposed that the best way to allow American citizens to accept another invasion of Cuba would be to set up terrorist happenings here on American soil. After all, what good is a Central Intelligence Agency if you can't terrorize people on their own soil?
Do I think or know that is what happened on September 11th? No, but I do know there are more questions than answers, some concerning our inability to physically curtail Bin Laden, eventhough he was offered up at least twice on a silver platter. Given the usual runaround (the description of Andrews Air Force Base activity, or lack thereof, on Sept. 11th is now classified as State Secret), I can only quote good Ol' Janet Reno, "we will never ever know."
While I put finishing touches on this story, today's headlines (Dec. 17th '01) blare their stark truth: "Afghan Siege Over. Bin Laden Escapes." This might have me more worried, except I think I know where Bin Laden is. He's down in the basement at 1600 Pennsylvania, playing pool with Jenna and Saddam.



*Local brand name: Union 76
**Much of the "starred" paragraphs come from Don
Irrerevo of "SF Bayview"

[PATRICK]

83. "News"

There damning additional inside facts here thanks to the individual coming forth, but you are absolutely right. This eternal surprise of the news media is nauseating. ALL the salient facts and scandals were well known very quickly and more quickly dropped down the intentional Alzheimer's hole. Back then no one 'dared" besmirch the Smirk of the War God Rumsfeld. To admit to this deference is to admit this story existed long ago. Hence the infuriating "scoop" offering which stops far short of calling for the WH heads that need to go rolling bloodily on the WH lawn.

Only places like DU keep these stories alive and foundational truth to keep this pretense of back editing
just as glaringly exposed as the scandal itself.

[truedelphi]

93. I'm enjoying your phrasing

Intentional Alzheimer's hole. And heads rolling on the WH lawn.

I tried to get things I researched reported in the "mainstream"
press but they wanted only the See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil
messages.

Am grateful to The COastal Post for my outlets - and for the DU
comraderie too.

[PATRICK]

84. "News"

OOps I managed a dupe. But the next question is concerning all those reporters the 50 soldiers were guarding. Thanks for nothing brave cohorts of truth.

[zonkers]

45. THIS THREAD must be KICKED & RECOMMENDED again and again...

This is the biggest LIHOP blunder of all time. This is the classic example of this F TROOP Administration.

[kelliebrat]

48. Kicked, Recommended and amazed

that this hasnt gotten the media's attention. I wonder how they'll spin their way out of this.

[petepillow]

49. Nuh Uh, are you F-ing kidding me? If this is true, now we can watch the

'pukes all do their funky little dance-- all the way AROUND this story. And we can watch the media completely ignore this little tidbit while they concentrate on Clinton's temper.

This is why I almost can't stand to watch the news, or even get on DU anymore. It's like constantly watching a crime without being able to do anything about it. I'm going back under my rock. Bye!

[Bethany Rockafella]

50. Why isn't this being talk about on all the news stations?

You only hear about the false presumption that the Clinton people had the opportunity to capture Bin Laden and refushed.

[Vogon_Glory]

51. Bush, Osama bin Laden, Back-Room Deal?

I am not surprised that Gee Dubya passed up a chance to nail bin Laden. This mal-administration wasn't paying much attention to bin Laden before September 11th, 2001, and they haven't paid nearly enough attention to the job of nailing his tail since December of that year.

I still have a dreadful suspicion that the reason Dubya didn't do anything about bin Laden before al Qaeda rubbed Dubya's face into his inattention is because Dubya thought he could do a Texas-style crony-capitalist backroom deal with al Qaeda. The deal would have been if al Qaeda left the US alone during Dubya's stay at the White House, Dubya wouldn't have made any moves to strike at al Qaeda, despite the al Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in East Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.

I hope that the next US President opens up the Duck Soup Posse's archives and lets the public see what was REALLY going on.

[Darkhawk32]

54. I think it's more dubious than that. Dubya and OBL need each other.

OBL did the * administration a big favor and now * did him one.

[Auggie]

52. This makes me ill, just like Franzia's White Grenache box wine.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

55. Frontline had an angle on this about Rumsfield not wanting to be

upstaged by the CIA. He wanted to be the one to get OBL & didn't' want any other agency to get credit. This has been mentioned in books & by others for a few years now. Maybe it will start getting legs now. Before trying to blame everything on Clinton maybe the fundies should remember that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Heard a fundie on Cspan this morning parrot off one of the talking points - Bush had only been in office for 8 months before 9/11 therefore it is Clinton's fault- blah, blah , blah

The comeback for that is that then the first Tower attack was Bush I's fault since Clinton was in office for only 2 months.

[redqueen]

56. So not only didn't they do anything before 9/11...

they refused to do much after, unless it involved taking away our rights.

[EFerrari]

62. Every time they talk about detainees or catching terrorists

I think, they're talking about US.

[Drops_not_Dope]

59. From the transcript

BERGEN: Bin Laden believes that he's doing God's will and that if he doesn't do what he's doing, that God will punish him. He generally believes that God is telling him what to do.

Sound familiar?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1586978,00.html
George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'

One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

[Clark2008]

60. Well, we should have known.

Honestly, whenever the Bush Administration tries to blame someone else for doing or not doing something (in this case, having their cronies write a scene in a movie alleging without proof that Clinton kept the soldiers from getting bin Laden in 1999), then that automatically means that THEY - the Bush Amdinistration - are actually the ones to blame.

Every single time, they project their own failures, bad policies, incompetence and evilness on someone else.

EVERY.... TIME...

[EFerrari]

63. Every time. n/t

[BreweryYardRat]

65. Oh, God dammit.

I feel sick now. HOW GROSSLY FUCKING INCOMPETENT CAN THIS ADMINISTRATION GET?!!! Jesus, this almost makes me inclined to believe the conspiracy theorists.

[Cobalt Violet]

66. K & R.

:kick:

[Bitwit1234]

67. Problem

Bush buttkissing MSM does not report this stuff.

[sunnystarr]

69. In 911 Press for Truth

they stated that the US had left only 60 troops in Tora Bora to work with the locals to capture bin Laden. Are we surprised that bin Laden escaped? I believe the administration planned to let him escape.

[underpants]

72. Hold it hold it hold it-- 50 or 60?!??!!? WHAT!?!?

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Also hunting bin Laden in Tora Bora, then Afghan militia leader, General Mohamed Zahir (ph).

(on camera) Do you have any idea how many American soldiers were at the battle of Tora Bora?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was not more than 50, 60, I think. There was not more than that at that time.


____________

My head just exploded. I never even thought it was anywhere near that number I assumed it was in the thousands. OH MY GOD!! That is amazing just oh god that I don't even know what to post. I am literally shaking my head I have to get up and go for a walk or something.

[file83]

73. Mabe now ABC/Disney can make a new movie "The Path AFTER 9/11"

...and tell this story to the American public (the ones that don't already know).

[lumpy]

74. Kick for the truth

This stuff is BIG

[jackstraw45]

75. PATHETIC that CNN, of all orgs, is now doing oversight

that Congress won't do...that's how BAD it's gotten in DC.

[Stand and Fight]

76. Several things about this annoy me greatly...

First, John Kerry talked about this while campaigning and even brought it up during the debates with George W. Bush.

Secondly, Bill Clinton became obsessed with stopping terrorism and getting bin Laden. The fucking Republicans in Congress said it was a "wag the dog" tactic when he wanted to bomb OBL into the stone age.

Thirdly, Bush is on record as having stated that he is not concerned with the where-abouts of OBL, but Democrats are accused of being soft on terrorism?

You know what I think would make a difference? If during the debates, John Kerry had been able to show video clips of George W. Bush saying he wasn't concerned with OBL's whereabouts... That would have been very effective because all the Bush-bots were surely watching bunny-pants then. Good grief, this country is in deep shit.

[iam]

79. How much more

must we endure before these incompetent traitorous conservative ideologues are jailed? How long can a civilized people stand this destruction? RISE UP! POST A SIGN! CONFRONT YOUR COMPLIANT CONSERVATIVE NEIGHBORS! MAKE YOUR FEELINGS KNOWN!

[Name removed]

81. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stevietheman]

80. Was Bush a) strumming guitar or b) cutting birthday cake at this moment?

n/t

[Joanne98]

82. LIHOP Let the golden goose go! Iraq may need more than one boogy man!

OBL is good for bidness.

[FogerRox]

85. Gotta take the HILL,.. TAKE THE HILL.. remove these fuckers

[Blackbird_Highway]

86. It's All True!

So, it turns out that everything in the ABC movie is true,
except that it all happened during the Bush administration,
not Clinton.

[BuyingThyme]

87. kcik

[ComerPerro]

92. Maybe this is what the scene in P2911 was based on, eh?

The writer, who although being an unapologetic Bush sycophant and friend of traitor to America Rush Limbaugh, had no bias whatsoever, and probably just changed "Bush" to "Clinton", taking "creative liberties" to make the story more interesting, right?