i know one that did, and he's STILL in an Afghan jail... and will be for a few more years.
Posted on 12/19/2006 5:23:46 PM PST by advance_copy
A documentary says French special forces had Osama bin Laden in their sights twice about three years ago but their U.S. superiors never ordered them to fire.
The French military, however, said that the incidents never happened and the report was "erroneous information."
The documentary, due to air next year and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, says the troops could have killed the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan but the order to shoot never came, possibly because it took too long to request it.
"In 2003 and 2004 we had bin Laden in our sights. The sniper said 'I have bin Laden'," an anonymous French soldier is quoted as saying.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
in what location were these french special forces?
I thought that was the standing order?
I wonder what is so "special" about French Special Forces?
Who in the Western World needs permission to shoot Bin Laden? Isn't there a $25 million dollar reward on him, dead or alive?
hey, don't mock that part of this story. remember when we had Mullah Omar ready to be hit - and some JAG in the chain of command thwarted it.
BTW, the French Special Forces are being withdrawn from Afghanistan.
Seems to me that some "Soldier of Fortune" types would have gone after him by now. I think he is dead.
I hear they're pretty good, as a matter of fact. Don't confuse the French government with the French military, which for the most part is very professional.
LOCATION...BANK OF FRANCE
Depends on what part of the world they had him sighted....think about it a second....would you want to be the commander who OK's this hit and it turns out it was the wrong guy....and the shooting takes place on the Pakistani side of the border....can you say INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT.
no "soldier of fortune" types are going to be able to operate in that part of the world.
This smells like someone's attempt to establish an urban myth that we (non-terrorist collective) literally had Bin Laden in the crosshairs and could have killed him but President Bush managed to screw it up.
Was Richard Clarke involved in this one too?
Yea,and we could end up with a defeat if we don't clarify the rules of engagement in the field.Keep the lawyers out of it.
I'm just a civilian and a "recreational" shooter at best. Never been to the Middle East and have no training in fieldcraft but so help me -- if I ever could have Bin Ladin "in my sights" nobody would have to tell me to take a shot at him.
Yes, we are superior.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/03/content_336158.htm
i know one that did, and he's STILL in an Afghan jail... and will be for a few more years.
French troops gave Laden an altumatum- 'Either surrender or we will' guess which one Laden chose? http://sacredscoop.com
Poor guy-that's too bad. How much longer will he be there? At least he gave it a try. I wouldn't have the guts or ability to try something like that.
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