Posted on 03/23/2005 4:32:10 PM PST by Perdogg
WASHINGTON: A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a commander for Osama Bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and helped the Al Qaeda leader escape his mountain hideout at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a US government document.
The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a ‘freedom of information’ request, says the unidentified detainee “assisted in the escape of Osama from Tora Bora.” It is the first definitive statement from the Pentagon that Osama was at Tora Bora and evaded US pursuers.
The detainee is not identified by name or nationality. He is described as being “associated with” Al Qaeda and having called for a jihad against the United States. In an indication that he might be a higher-level operative, the document says he “had bodyguards” and collaborated with regional Al Qaeda leadership. “The detainee was one of Osama’s commanders during the Soviet jihad,” it says, referring to the holy war against Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan.
The events at Tora Bora were a point of contention during last year’s presidential race, and President George W Bush as well as Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that commanders did not know whether Osama was there when US and allied Afghan forces attacked the area in December 2001.
Cheney said last October 26 that General Tommy Franks, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, had “stated repeatedly it was not at all certain that Osama was in Tora Bora. He might have been there or in Pakistan or even Kashmir,” the Indian-held Himalayan region.
Franks, now retired, wrote in an opinion column in The New York Times last October 19, “We don’t know to this day whether Osama was at Tora Bora in December 2001.” He added that intelligence assessments of his location varied, but Osama was “never within our grasp.”
On several occasions in the days following publication of that column, Bush cited it on the campaign trail as evidence that Osama could have been in any of several countries in December 2001. The newly revealed statement is contained in a document the Pentagon calls a “summary of evidence” against one of 558 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. It was provided to the AP this week. ap
A terrorist says OBL was in Tora Bora? Well that settles it! [/sarcasm]
NOW THAT IS BREAKING NEWS IF I'VE EVER HEARD IT! LOL
Why do I have a feeling the DUmmies will give this more play than the Iraq vote and the protests in Lebanon?
Maybe he's just telling us what he thinks we want to hear.
Or he could have other motives, like deliberately misinforming us about Osama's whereabouts.
I don't take the word of terrorists, but it looks like you and I are the minority on FR.
Osama was killed in Tora Bora. I know because I believe everything Fellow FReepers tell me. *rolls eyes*
I thought Osama was on ice and we were waiting for the October Surprise.
Question: How does the transcript of an interrogation of a terrorist under US custody which undoubtedly has national security implications come under the Freedom of Information Act?
How could he elude US forces if the operation was "outsourced"? (sarcasm)
Very good point and sadly true -
Secondly, the idea that the MSM is acting like this one source is 100% accurate is simply silly -
The only fact we know is UBL has escaped capture thus far (we know nothing of certain about him being in Tora Bora).
They decided to hold him till 2008.
Wow.. I would have never guessed it.
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