Posted on 10/19/2004 1:47:14 PM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Tuesday disputed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s charge that the Bush administration let Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) escape Afghanistan in 2001.
"I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality," retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks wrote in a commentary published by The New York Times.
The Kerry campaign took issue with the retired general's comments. "Franks is a patriot. But in his attempt to campaign for President (George W.) Bush, he's letting political spin get in the way of the facts," said campaign spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.
Franks, who has endorsed the Republican president's re-election bid, challenged Kerry's contention that U.S. forces had the fugitive al Qaeda leader surrounded but "outsourced" the job of capturing him to Afghan forces in the rugged Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan.
The Massachusetts senator has repeatedly charged that Bush was so preoccupied with Iraq -- long before the U.S.-led invasion of that country in March 2003 -- that he took emphasis away from capturing bin Laden, blamed for the September 2001 attacks on America.
U.S.-led forces, which ousted Afghanistan's fundamentalist Taliban rulers, waged a fierce battle in December 2001 in mountainous Tora Bora, known for its extensive cave complex. It is believed bin Laden slipped out of the region around this time, possibly fleeing into Pakistan.
'NEVER WITHIN OUR GASP'
"We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the time; still others suggested he was in Kashmir (news - web sites)," wrote Franks, who led the invasions of Afghanistan and later Iraq as chief of the U.S. military's Central Command.
"Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives, many of whom were killed or captured, but Mr. bin Laden was never within our gasp."
Franks contended that the American military did not outsource military action, although "we did rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora."
The Kerry campaign noted Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) and other administration officials said publicly at the time of the Tora Bora operation that bin Laden was believed to be there.
The Washington Post, quoting unidentified U.S. officials, reported in April 2002 the Bush administration had concluded bin Laden was present during the Tora Bora battle but managed to escape, and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to find him was its biggest mistake in the fight with al Qaeda.
Franks relied on local Afghan militias on the ground instead of using American troops, while U.S. aircraft pounded targets from the sky. U.S. officials have said these militia fighters failed to fulfill promises to seal off the area.
The Kerry campaign also noted that Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Democrat, wrote in a book that Franks told him in February 2002 -- 13 months before the Iraq war -- the Pentagon (news - web sites) had begun shifting manpower and resources from Afghanistan in preparation for military operations in Iraq. Graham is a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
bob graham..hes nuttier than a sack of squirrel sh*t,
thats why he didnt get #2 on the ticket.
Franks is an very honorable vet and human being. Love the fact that he is known for "salty" language. Shades of Patton, McArthur, and Schwartkopf, without the ego. Kerry is a traitor, pure and simple.
Amen
Did Reuters purposely print an obvious spelling mistake to make Franks look foolish, then use it as a paragraph header?? ("He was never within our gasp (sic)"
It's "grasp" in the actual NY Times column...
Interesting how the Kerry campaign goes after every soldier that does not wear the Kerry Brownshirt.
Good For Franks. Had he not written the Times.....the fact that many intelligence agencies did not even think Bin Laden there...would never get reported.
I first had to learn it from reading the Scottsman.
Attacks = Tells the Truth Alert
It's time for Bush to release OBL's DNA --- or should he wait another week?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1249918/posts
Ongoing discussion of this. Thank God for General Franks!
They connected the dots in 1998 but Senator Kerry and MSM can't seem to connect the dots in 2004.
Here is an easy to read chart of what the media was saying pre-911 (and after): Connect the Dots...Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
Lots of facts and quotes about the president-wannabe at the John F. Kerry Timeline.
.
I am glad these people are in the Kerry camp. They can sure come up with some lame comebacks.
"bob graham..hes nuttier than a sack of squirrel sh*t,"
Damn, now that's funny! Anyway, yeah Rush made a good point today how it's just remarkable that the MSM goes to Wesley Clark for his HAHAHA!, excuse me..."expertise" on this subject and not someone who actually has some pertinent views...
Haven't heard any audio tapes of Bin Laden in a while. I'm beginning to think he's pushing up daisies or daisy cutters!
That's just what I want for a dispassionate assessment of a military operation on the other side of the world - a political spokeswoman.
Yeah, I'll take her summary of the "facts" over the commanding general's assessment just about every time.
Off the subject but I have to ask...have you ever noticed how the dimorats say "THIS president" ILO " The president"?
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Or how about Franks corrects Kerry. Now that would be sweet.
OK by me, notice how red-blooded americans refer to Kerry as THIS piece of S**t. very accurate.
Because Kerry, of course, knows better than Tommy Franks what was going on there. I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Kerry sucks so bad he's affecting the tides...
As well as dumber than a sack of hammers. There has to be an explanation how the idiot got in the Senate - I think it was because of a close family connection - one of the Senator's brothers was none other than Phil Graham, publisher of the W*shP*st/Newsweak heavy left tabloids until he popped himself many years [40?] back - at which point his widow Katherine Graham took over as publisher of the rag.
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