[George M. Middius[_4_]]

The truth about the invasion of Afghanistan came out today.

A report released by the Democratic staff of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee blamed the Bush administration
for failing to capture or kill Osama bin Laden when the al Qaeda
leader was cornered in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountain region
in December 2001. The report, released Sunday, said the situation
in Afghanistan presented greater problems today because of the
failure to nab bin Laden eight years ago.

Bin Laden had written his will, apparently sensing he was trapped,
but the lack of sufficient forces to close in for the kill allowed him
to escape to tribal areas in Pakistan, according to the report.

It said former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top
U.S. commander Gen. Tommy Franks held back the necessary
forces for a "classic sweep-and-block maneuver" that could
have prevented bin Laden's escape.

"It would have been a dangerous fight across treacherous terrain,
and the injection of more U.S. troops and the resulting casualties
would have contradicted the risk-averse, 'light footprint' model
formulated by Rumsfeld and Franks," the report said.

When criticized later for not zeroing in on bin Laden, administration
officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, responded
that the al Qaeda leader's location was uncertain.

"But the review of existing literature, unclassified government records
and interviews with central participants underlying this report removes
any lingering doubts and makes it clear that Osama bin Laden was
within our grasp at Tora Bora," the report said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/29/bin.laden.2001/index.html


How do you like them apples, Scottie?