Posted on 08/22/2006 2:01:55 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Amanpour: Bin Laden still deadly relevant Ex-CIA official says cleric sets cap of 10 million U.S. deaths
By Christiane Amanpour CNN
Editor's note: CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour has reported on crises from many of the world's hotspots. Here, Amanpour shares her analysis with CNN.com on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Nearly five years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks, yet Osama bin Laden -- the world's most-wanted terrorist -- remains a dangerous fugitive, his words and actions inspiring jihadists across the globe.
It's hard to fathom that bin Laden would remain so relevant today, when in the days after the attacks, the Bush administration and much of the world was determined to get him.
"I want justice," President Bush said, referring to bin Laden after September 11, 2001. "And there's an old poster out West. ... I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"
The United States unleashed an onslaught on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban, but bin Laden slipped away. By most accounts, it's because the United States did not have enough boots on the ground, not enough U.S. soldiers to pin him down and block off escape routes in December 2001.
"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," Gary Berntsen, the leader of a secret CIA unit pursuing bin Laden at the time, told CNN. "I was looking for 600 to 800 Rangers, roughly a battalion. They never came." (Watch more about bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora -- 2:04)
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding across the border in the rugged regions of Pakistan, but his global campaign of terror continues.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Every time she opened her mouth reporting on the Balkans, she made sure her teeth weren't showing!
That goes back to the story of the young kid whose mother said, "I can always tell when you are lying by your teeth," so the kid answered by pursing his lips so that his mother wouldn't see his teeth.
CNN's Little Miss Amanpour was the one who reported every hour on the hour showing the video of the two Muslim babies on a bus that had been killed by a Serb sniper - except for the fact that these were not Muslim babies killed by a Serbian sniper, they were Serbian babies killed by a Muslim sniper. A Serbian Orthodox priest officiated at the funeral of the Serbian babies but for American consumption, the Serbian Orthodox priest had been cropped from the video.
This just wasn't yellow journalism. It was beyond the pale!
And Clintoon couldn't get him when he had the goon dropped into his proverbial lap.......
Apparently, Bin Ladin finally wants to outdo Merck & Co.
You are correct about her colors. She is certainly no friend to America. Quite the opposite in fact; I would call her an outright enemy to this country.
I think that it is arguable that the 6 - 8 hundred rangers the "Covert CIA Guy," (another red flag) wanted would have been a waste of manpower.
I still believe the bastard was dead meat in that bombing of the Afghanistan cave back in December 2001. It's been "Weekend at Bernie's" ever since.
They trot out his corpse everyonce in awhile to please liberals and other enemies of America.
Al-Queda Rose would be devestated if she found out Bernie was actually dead...
It may sound odd, but Afghanistan requires large elements to stop people fleeing through the hills. Besides where better to use that manpower, than pursuing al-Qa'ida senior leadership?
As to the "covert CIA guy", we absolutely did have a CIA paramilitary team and a large number of Afghan militants on our side in that encounter, but, as the saying goes, you can't buy an Afghan, but you can rent him. If we had a battalion of Rangers there instead of that brigade of Afgan militia, bin Laden and Zawahiri would be dead by now.
One can look at any war and point at missed opportunities and blown chances, though. That said, we've had a pattern of overcautious behavior from the top brass that's minimized casualties short term, but made very poor strategic sense. I think that is a fair criticism that will be considered a hallmark of both Afghanistan and Iraq.
For all we know, we could have had 2,000 Rangers in blocking positions, needing another 5,000 to completely seal off the escape route. The extra 6 - 8 hundred would have been meaningless.
The terrain of Afghanistan makes it very easy to swallow large formations, so you have a point about the numbers. However, we never needed those numbers because we already had them. We just needed reliable numbers, not Afghans who could be bought off by al-Qa'ida money men.
A battalion of Rangers dispersed into platoon or squad sized elements and co-located with the large Afghan militia forces would have put U.S. eyes all over the valley. Maybe not enough to prevent a breakout, but enough to say which way they went and to conduct pursuit.
As it was, our Afghan allies pretty much shrugged and said, "They got away". And they did.
At least give me the point about the possibly imaginary covert CIA guy.
As far as that, his name is Gary Berntsen, and he wrote a book called "Jawbreaker", which goes into great detail about the events at Tora Bora. (Or at least tried to, as the CIA Publication Police heavily edited it for him.)
lol! Sorry, wasn't trying to deny your last point, I just happen to be very familiar with this subject.
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