WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was at Tora Bora when U.S. aircraft began bombing on Nov. 30, but escaped because U.S. ground troops were not sent to pursue the al Qaeda leader. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Intelligence officials have what they consider to be decisive evidence, gleaned from interrogations and intercepted communications, that bin Laden was inside the Tora Bora complex along Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern border when the battle began, but escaped in the first 10 days of December, the Post said.
Captured al Qaeda fighters, interviewed separately, gave consistent accounts describing an address by bin Laden around Dec. 3 to fighters dug into the caves and tunnels of Tora Bora, the Post said, citing intelligence officials.
“I don’t think you can ever say with certainty, but we did conclude he was there, and that conclusion has strengthened with time,” an unidentified official said in an authoritative account of the intelligence consensus, the report said.
“We have high confidence that he was there, and also high confidence, but not as high, that he got out. We have several accounts from people who are in detention, al Qaeda people who were free at the time and are not free now,” the official said.
Citing civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, the report said after-action reviews, conducted privately inside and outside the military chain of command, described bin Laden’s escape as a significant defeat for the United States.
According to the report, a common view among those interviewed outside the U.S. Central Command is that Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the war commander, misjudged the interests of Afghan allies who did not live up to their promises and let pass the best chance to capture or kill bin Laden.
“We [messed] up by not getting into Tora Bora sooner and letting the Afghans do all the work,” a senior official with direct responsibilities in counter-terrorism told the Post. “Clearly a decision point came when we started bombing Tora Bora and we decided just to bomb, because that’s when he escaped. … We didn’t put U.S. forces on the ground, despite all the brave talk, and that is what we have had to change since then.”
Frank’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, acknowledged the dominant view among those interviewed but dissents from the Tora Bora analysis, the paper said.
“We have never seen anything that was convincing to us at all that Osama bin Laden was present at any stage of Tora Bora — before, during or after,” Quigley told the Post. “I know you’ve got voices in the intelligence community that are taking a different view, but I just wanted you to know our view as well.”
“Truth is hard to come by in Afghanistan,” Quigley said, and for confidence on bin Laden’s whereabouts “you need to see some sort of physical concrete proof.”
