Posted on 07/06/2005 10:03:36 AM PDT by robowombat
'Bring me the head of Bin Laden'
The CIA sent a team to Afghanistan days after 9/11 with orders to kill Osama Bin Laden and bring back his head, a former agent has revealed. Gary Schroen flew out soon after the attacks on New York and Washington, helping to set up the 2001 invasion, he told US National Public Radio.
He recalled his orders from the CIA's counter-terrorism chief.
"Capture Bin Laden, kill him and bring his head back in a box on dry ice," he quoted Cofer Black as saying.
As for other leaders of Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan, Mr Black reportedly said: "I want their heads up on pikes."
Contacted by the radio network, Mr Black would not confirm that these were his exact words but he did not dispute Mr Schroen's account.
I don't know what I'll do about dry ice to bring the head back - but we'll manage something Gary Schroen to his commander
The agent told NPR he had been stunned that, for the first time in 30 years of service, he had received orders to kill targets rather than capture them.
But he says he replied: "Sir, those are the clearest orders I have ever received.
"I can certainly make pikes out in the field but I don't know what I'll do about dry ice to bring the head back - but we'll manage something."
One more mission
Mr Schroen, 59 when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, had just begun the CIA's retirement transition programme but he was asked to put it on hold two days after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
MISSION EQUIPMENT Laptops and hand-held radios $3m in $100-bills Instant coffee
As a former station chief in both Kabul and Islamabad, he was considered to be ideally placed for the Afghan mission.
According to NPR, there was no doubt at CIA headquarters that the 9/11 attacks were the work of Bin Laden.
Mr Schroen was given a double brief, it reported: to liaise with anti-Taleban warlords on the ground as preparation for the overthrow of the regime, and to then assassinate Bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda figures.
The agency allowed Mr Schroen to pick his own six-man team and, exactly one week after 9/11, they were on a plane flying to the region, equipped with laptops, hand-held radios, instant coffee and $3m in $100 bills.
Mr Schroen has released memoirs called First In, a reference to the fact that he and his team were the first US government personnel on the ground.
He says he is surprised that the CIA has still not managed to track down Bin Laden after nearly four years.
Published: 2005/05/04 10:27:32 GMT
© BBC MMV
My new favorite quote in this regard is something Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Our enemy has the will to destroy us, but lacks the means. We have the means to destroy our enemy, but lack the will. It is a race to see who gets what first."
In both cases we were told where to find them or they would probably still be running around loose like Zarqawi and Bin Laden.
Yes, that is absolutely, unquestionably the truth -- in Iraq and Afghanistan. What about in Syria and Iran (and elsewhere), where every form of support for these terrorists will never dry up until we deal with them firsthand?
I understand this sentiment and it is a very good and honest question to have - There is no easy answer. But I believe that freedom and self-worth are our biggest allies in this battle. They are the only true answers.
And as the values of freedom and self-worth spread from Iraq and Afghanistan this will help to deal with the Syria's and Iran's of the World.
Very true. But with Sadaam we were told where to find him because of someone we picked up via another Op - (which is how we will probably get Zarqawi and UBL as well - A snatch and grab Op will bring in someone that knows their whereabouts)
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