If Bush knew bin Laden planned to attack, why was the bin Laden task force shut down in 2005?

[ProSense]

(h/t zbdent)

CIA shuts down secret unit that hunted for bin Laden

Spy agency feels al Qaeda is now less hierarchical
Mark Mazzetti, New York Times

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

(07-04) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The CIA has closed down a secret unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials said Monday.

The terrorist tracking unit, known inside the spy agency as "Alec station," was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned to other offices within the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The decision is a milestone of sorts for the agency, which created the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring bin Laden to justice "dead or alive."

The realignment reflects a view that al Qaeda is no longer as hierarchical as it once was, intelligence officials said, as well as growing concern about al Qaeda-inspired groups that have begun carrying out attacks independent of bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

CIA officials said that tracking bin Laden and his deputies remains a high priority and that the decision to disband the unit is not a sign that the effort has slackened. Instead, the officials said, the realignment reflects a belief that the agency can better deal with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organizations or individuals.

more

Kerry Calls for CIA’s bin Laden Unit to Reopen Immediately

Kerry Accuses Bush Of Abandoning Bin Laden Hunt

[Louis Cipher]

1. It seems like they have a pretty good bead on this guy, Bin Laden.

Why don't they just go pick him up?

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. That woud take all the wind out of this "War on terror" thing

wouldn't it?

That isn't to the advantage of anybody would has a stake in it.

[tabasco]

3. Why did Bush allow the Pakistanis to "guard the border" during the Tora Bora operation,

allowing Bin Laden to escape? Of course, we know no US forces were available because they were on standby to secure the Iraqi oilfields. Bin Laden and Bush have been helping each other accomplish their respective goals. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

[blm]

15. ToraBora was the first opportunity Dems had to strip the teflon off Bush after 9-11

and most of them just plain old REFUSED to do it. Instead of siding with Kerry who was constantly attacking Bush over ToraBora since Jan2002 and throughout the campaign, most of them PUBLICALLY sided with Bush on it.

Thankyou for keeping it in the debate - ToraBora has always been a key issue, and one that should never get dropped.

[tabasco]

17. Wes Clark hammered Bush on Tora Bora harder than anyone else.

I kept waiting for more US divisions to deploy to Afghanistan. It never happened. The criminal neocons put money above country. Every American should be outraged.

[blm]

25. Kerry was the only lawmaker doing it since Jan2002. Clark as a CNN analyst then really

it was exactly right that he give his analysis and hammer Bush on ToraBora.

I am quite sure that Clark and Kerry supporters agree that Clark was one of the only analysts bringing up ToraBora and its importance and Kerry was one of very few lawmakers doing so.

[CottonBear]

4. Because, if we captured him we couldn't wage an endless war for corporate profit.

I spoke with a (reserve or National Guard, I'm not sure which...) soldier in my town recently and asked him his opinion of the war and why he thought we were fighting it and why we couldn't catch Bin Laden using all of our sophisticated military and intelligence technolgy.

He said "Of course we could catch him but then we would have to start another war in order for the military-industrial complex to keep making huge profits."

:scared:

[earthboundmisfit]

5. I hope this is brought up often

in response to Chimpy's big announcement

[Sapere aude]

6. Ben Laden is their ace in the hole boogie man.

If they captured Ben Laden their whole scare tactic plan would go away. They need this war on terror to go on so they continue to supply their profiteers with customers.

[Zenlitened]

7. Damn, that's a good point. K & R.

[seemslikeadream]

8. same reason he gave the Taliban money in 2001?

??

[merh]

14. Have you got a link? I so want to share that with bushbots!!!

thanks in advance. :thumbsup:

[depakid]

20. Here ya go:

Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban.

http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/052201.htm

See also:

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/07/ret.us.taliban/index.html

[merh]

23. thanks so much

:yourock:

Add that funding to their rejection or ignoring of the Taliban's offer to hand over Bin Laden in February 2001 (see the link in my sig line) and you just want to bitch slap them and their followers.

[Atman]

9. Because he's lying through his teeth again.

OOGA BOOGA BOOGA!

.

[emilyg]

10. Always has always will it's his nature.

[Lobster Martini]

11. Pardon my tinfoil hat

Not suggesting collaboration, just noting the correlation.

Of all the bin Laden audio and video tapes, one was released right before the 2004 election and five were released in the months before the 2006 election. Now a two-year old bin Laden report has been declassified in the midst of a showdown between Congress and the president over war funding.

Considering that fear is all W. has to work with at this point, one might question whether tracking bin Laden is really a high priority.

OK, removing the tinfoil hat now.

[spanone]

12. I'm sure the MSM will bring this up over and over.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm:

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. HA!

:evilgrin:

[RestoreGore]

13. Bin Laden Is Their Goldstein

[merh]

16. The terra tango

New al Qaeda Tapes Feature U.S. Capitol Under 'Attack'
May 22, 2007 2:01 PM
Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

Al Qaeda has a new opening graphic for its propaganda tapes: the U.S. Capitol under "attack."

"The Islamic State of Iraq...March Toward Washington" reads the headline in English superimposed over a digitally created scene of the U.S. Capitol under attack in the introductory sequence of one tape released on the Internet this week.

Another from al Qaeda's "as Sahab" production arm announces "Holocaust of the Americans in the Land of Khorasan" and shows an image of the U.S. Capitol to introduce a short clip of al Qaeda fighters.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/new_al_qaeda_ta.html

Be very afraid, the 17,000 troops on the 9 warships in the Gulf outside of Iran, the executives power National Directive in times of emergency signed on May 9, 2007, OBL being dusted off and the citizens in favor of impeachment and the end of the war, who knows what they are up t.

[Zenlitened]

18. Please give this thread a few more recs. Important stuff,IMO.

As if using a purported 2005 threat arising directly from Bush's own incompetence to somehow make a case for his... well, competence... wasn't bad enough...

:crazy: X infinity

[moodforaday]

29. Quite right. k&r (nt)

[krispos42]

21. K& 5th Rec

[babylonsister]

22. Such a fine point, ProSense! If we're supposed to be so terrifed, why

DID they shut 'er down? Rec'D!

[chimpymustgo]

24. K & R. More terra lies. nt

nt

[ComerPerro]

26. if we actually had journalists in this country, this might be embarassing for Bush

[blm]

27. In that case, Bush is still safe. If only DU was a news organization, eh?

.

[ComerPerro]

28. heh

[ProSense]

30. Kick to expose lies:

Bush: Iraq at center of terror fight

[farmboxer]

31. 9/11 Appears to have been an inside job

Great presentation on Free Speech TV (FSTV) and LINKTV! Where is the outrage?!