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That single fact alone would have had Leahey executed for treason in other countries...
Assume the whole thing is true, so what? Our Afghani allies were leaky, and their services could be purchased. They did not close the door, and with money and time, din Laden and other key people got away.
The article does not bother to describe the alternative. If we had used nothing but American and British troops for the operations in Afghanistan, bin Laden would have stayed trapped when he was trapped. But how many of our troops would have been required? 100,000? More than that?
And with nothing but our troops doing the fighting, how high would the casualties have been? 1,000? 2,000? Compare that to 2 casualties in fighting, and another 10 in plane crashes and other accidents.
Plus there are long-term political advantages of the Afghanis doing most of the ground fighting to get their own country back. Plus, as long as bin Laden is alive he either communicates, or he is irrelevant (except to Li'l Tommy Daschle). And if he communicates, he can be found.
The choice to let others do most of the ground fighting was a good one at the beginning. Looking back, it was still a good choice, even assuming this account of what happened at Tora Bora is entirely true.
Did I miss anything?
Congressman Billybob
New column up: "The Un-Music Man." You'll like this one a bunch.
Hmmm... Let's go to the archives...
Alliance Believes Bin Laden with Mullah OmarUnfortunately not.There was speculation on another thread that we seemed
to be putting a lot of Men and Material into Kandahar
and that there must be some big game there.
Perhaps this confirms it!7 posted on 11/26/01 12:29 AM Pacific by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Score one for the NYT.There seem to be two schools of thought here, ST. The NY Times is claiming that UBL is in the Tora Bora range close to the Pakistan border, while some in the British press are hinting he's with Omar in Khandahar
posted on 11/26/01 1:43 AM Pacific by be-baw
Good call!Bin Laden May Be Hiding in 13,000-Foot Mountain
Jalalabad, Afghanistan (AP) - There's a lot of speculation about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts. But an Afghan militia leader says the terror suspect may be hiding inside a 13,000-foot-high mountain.
Hazrat Ali says bin Laden, along with Taliban members and al-Qaida fighters, may all be hiding in what's known as Tora Bora. It's a man-made complex built in a mountain not far from the Pakistan border.
Ali, who used the complex when fighting the Soviets two decades ago, says he's "70-percent" sure bin Laden is there.
I am sticking with my theory: all of the Tora Bora Super Cave stuff is pure deception.
Sure Osama would love to draw the US into a bloody land battle....if he could.
But he won't be there.
Hundreds of his toughest, most fanatical fighters, with millions of rounds of ammo and food for months, but not Osama. After we have blown up or incinerated all of his best cave fighters, we will be pressed to declare that Osama is among the dead inside.
This will make his glorious appearance in the Pakistan slums all the more inspiring to his flock.
If OBL is not already in a safe house in Pakistan, he is hidden in a ninth-tier unknown cave in an unexpected area with no more than ten personal bodyguards.
He's a very smart man, and he has thought all of this out on many levels.
Only a fool underestimates a man who destroyed the mightiest skyscrapers with boxcutter knives.
74 posted on 11/26/01 10:14 PM Pacific by Travis McGee