|
Sounds like you're talking about these kinds of entries:
November 28, 2001: Bin Laden Reportedly Escapes Tora Bora by Helicopter
A U.S. Special Forces soldier stationed in Fayetteville, North Carolina, later (anonymously) claims that the U.S. has bin Laden pinned in a certain Tora Bora cave on this day, but fails to act. Special Forces soldiers allegedly sit by waiting for orders and watch two helicopters fly into the area where bin Laden is believed to be, load up passengers, and fly toward Pakistan. No other soldiers have come forward to corroborate the story, but bin Laden is widely believed to have been in the Tora Bora area at the time. (FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER, 8/2/02) However, other reports indicate that bin Laden may have left the Tora Bora region by this time. Newsweek separately reports that many locals “claim that mysterious black helicopters swept in, flying low over the mountains at night, and scooped up al-Qaeda’s top leaders.” (NEWSWEEK, 8/11/02 (B)) Perhaps coincidentally, on the same day this story is reported, months after the fact, the media also will report a recent spate of strange deaths at the same military base in Fayetteville. Five soldiers and their wives died since June 2002 in apparent murder-suicides. At least three were Special Forces soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan. (INDEPENDENT, 8/2/02)
Early December 2001: Battle for Tora Bora Is Called “Charade”
The Daily Telegraph later reports on the battle for Tora Bora around this time: “In retrospect, and with the benefit of dozens of accounts from the participants, the battle for Tora Bora looks more like a grand charade.” Eyewitnesses express shock that the U.S. pinned in Taliban and al-Qaeda forces, thought to contain many high leaders, on three sides only, leaving the route to Pakistan open. An intelligence chief in Afghanistan’s new government says, “The border with Pakistan was the key, but no one paid any attention to it. In addition, there were plenty of landing areas for helicopters had the Americans acted decisively. Al-Qaeda escaped right out from under their feet.” (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2/23/02) It is believed that up to 2,000 were in the area when the battle began. The vast majority successfully flee, and only 21 al-Qaeda fighters are finally captured. (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/4/02 (B)) The U.S. relies on local forces “whose loyalty and enthusiasm were suspect from the start” to do most of the fighting. (KNIGHT RIDDER, 10/20/02) Some of the local commanders drafted to help the U.S. had ties to bin Laden going back to the 1980s. (NEW YORK TIMES, 9/30/02 (B)) These forces actually help al-Qaeda escape. An Afghan intelligence officer says he is astounded that Pentagon planners did not consider the most obvious exit routes and put down light U.S. infantry to block them. It is later widely believed that bin Laden escapes along one of these routes on November 30 or December 1, walking out with about four loyal followers. (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/4/02; CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/4/02 (B)) Al-Qaeda’s number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also escapes the area. (KNIGHT RIDDER, 10/20/02)
---
It's interesting that someone here knows someone would says much the same thing.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
