The Command Post - 2004 US Presidential Election - "Tora Bora: What Really Happened?"

October 31, 2004

Bush | "Tora Bora: What Really Happened?"

CNN’s terrorism analyst Peter Bergen:

The question of whether the United Sates missed an opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden during the battle of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan in December 2001 has become a contentious issue in the razor-close campaign. During the October 8th presidential debate, Sen. John Kerry said of capturing bin Laden, “The right time was Tora Bora, when we had him cornered in the mountains.” Writing in the New York Times last week, General Tommy Franks, a Bush supporter, and the overall commander of the Tora Bora operation, said that this charge: “doesn’t square with reality”. Franks also stated, “We don’t know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora,” and that the US did not “outsource” the battle to Afghan warlords of questionable competence and loyalty, as Sen. Kerry has repeatedly charged. At a town hall meeting in Ohio on the day that General Franks’ Times story appeared, vice president Cheney said Kerry’s criticisms of the Tora Bora campaign were “absolute garbage.” In Colorado on Monday, President Bush said; “My opponent is throwing out the wild claim that he knows where bin Laden was in the fall of 2001 and that our military had a chance to get him in Tora Bora.”
So: Was al Qeada’s leader at Tora Bora? According to a widely-reported background briefing by Pentagon officials in mid-December 2001 there was “reasonable certainty” that bin Laden was indeed at Tora Bora, a judgment based on intercepted radio transmissions. In his autobiography, American Soldier, General Franks himself recounts a scene in Waco, Texas in December 2001 where he briefed President Bush saying, “Unconfirmed reports that Osama has been seen in the White Mountains, Sir. The Tora Bora area” Moreover, Luftullah Mashal, a senior official in Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry, told me that based on conversations he had with a Saudi al Qaeda financier and bin Laden’s chef, both of whom were at the battle, bin Laden was at Tora Bora. In June, 2003 I met with several US counterterrorism officials who told me, “We are confident that he [bin Laden] was at Tora Bora and disappeared with a small group…”

Posted by Lonewacko at October 31, 2004 05:03 PM | TrackBack

Comments

And all of this would have been moot if Clinton had said “Yes” to any of the 3 offers he had to capture Ussama.

In one notable exchange, Bill was located out on the links and his response to request to green light a capture “Don’t f*&%ing call me when I’m golfing.”

That’s how the democrats handled it. But, oh, we’re not going to discuss that here. It’s all about Bush and what an idiot he’s been. Focus focus focus.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at October 31, 2004 06:19 PM

Of course the question begged is: so fucking what?

All of this carping about Tora Bora implies that running a war in a foreign land halfway around the world is as difficult as organizing a rock concert or something. Toraborapalooza.

This is the actual world, it’s not TIVO. Even the President of the United States doesn’t just press a button and have desirable outcomes just happen. Anyone with the slightest clue, and God knows John Kerry SHOULD be among that group, that in war, unintended outcomes are the rule, not the exception.

Moreover, Kerry thought our operations in Alfghanistan were going just great back when they were actually going on and said so on national television. How impressed does he expect us to be with his astounding powers of 20/20 hindsight?

What an assclown.

:jackson

Posted by: jackson zed at October 31, 2004 07:08 PM

..patience my friend..wacko..is exactly that..percervance is the key ..they have a problem of petering out..viagra cant help..just pat them on the head and hand them a coloring book..

Posted by: Rob_NC at October 31, 2004 07:32 PM

That was CNN’s terrorism analyst’s take on Tora Bora, not the poster’s. Sounds like yet another of Kerry’s criticisms is on the mark.

Posted by: rdelephant at October 31, 2004 07:46 PM

.. hey ..E ..thats from the Clinton News Network..seems Hillary is getting nervous..go figure..

Posted by: Rob_NC at October 31, 2004 08:02 PM

Sounds like yet another of Kerry’s criticisms is on the mark.

Well if the “mark” is the terrifying fact that Kerry—who may wind up Commander in Chief—- doesn’t even understand enough about the most basic concepts of war or management to meaningfully criticize Bush, then you’re right: he nailed it.

:jackson

Posted by: jackson zed at October 31, 2004 08:42 PM

The worrying thing that is becoming increasing clear based on Kerry’s belief that Bush should have been calling the shots on military operations in Afghanistan, ie: Tora Bora, and military operations in Iraq, ie: Al Qa Qaa, are we to expect that a President Kerry will insert himself into the day to day, battle and operation plans in Iraq much like President Johnson did in Vietnam?

Personally, I prefer a President that allows the military to implement their operation plans based on mission goals. The commanders on the ground and in theatre in high command should be in charge of the war once the Commander in Chief has set out the goals to be achieved. The military should be empowered to set the means to achieve the goals. This is what really scares me about Kerry. I’m afraid he is so stuck in Vietnam that he will take on the running of the war out of the Oval Office.

Posted by: RL at October 31, 2004 08:51 PM

..RL..you are sooo right..what bothers me..since Abu-Grab..we have pus… out..the left are weak on war but intense on bs…come Tues.. my hope they get a bambo-chute were the sun doesnt shine..

Posted by: Rob_NC at October 31, 2004 09:25 PM

CNN? Bergen wouldn’t be reinforcing his masters voice by any chance?
This is a ridiculous statement.
“Why did the United States military—the most powerful armed force in history— not seal off the Tora Bora region, instead relying only on a handful of US Special Forces on the ground?”

Like saying seal Geronimo off in the Mexican Territory of New Mexico.

Bergen does not give the vast area involved,how many troop would be required and how the would be inserted.
For analyst read journalist.

Posted by: PeterUK at October 31, 2004 09:36 PM

..bravo..Pete..let me be the first to say thanks..you brits are second to none…..

Posted by: Rob_NC at October 31, 2004 09:54 PM

How’s Kerry going to win a war when all the troops hate his fuk’n guts? They’re not going to work for that P O S.

How’s Kerry gonna pay for ANYTHING when all us movers and shakers, put our investments in tax free bonds, etc. We’re not working for that P O S either.

Posted by: No Party at October 31, 2004 10:54 PM

rdelephant, I’m curious. Are you going to be the first one on your block to vote for Kerry, and spit in the faces of all our Veterans, past, present, and future?

You’re not that big a pig, are you?

Posted by: No Party at October 31, 2004 10:57 PM

Bergen does not give the vast area involved,how many troop would be required and how the would be inserted.

While I haven’t tramped the Tora Bora hills, if they’re like other mountainous regions there are easy ways out on well-known paths, there are less well-known paths, and there are parts that require a belay.

Please provide evidence that we were blocking either the first or the second or both.

And, as pointed out in the article, “there were probably more American journalists at the battle of Tora Bora than there were US troops”.

How’s Kerry going to win a war when all the troops hate his fuk’n guts?

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. In the much-posted poll, I believe that their superiors could see how people were voting. That might tend to restrain people’s choices.

And, where do you think all these leaks are coming from? I’d say many members of the military are pushing for Kerry.

Posted by: Lonewacko at October 31, 2004 11:36 PM

Since you asked, I can’t wait to vote for Kerry and by extension vote against that arrogant moron in the Oval Office. If veterans, sheepherders, candy-stripers or any other group don’t like that, then too damned bad.

Posted by: rdelephant at November 1, 2004 06:00 PM