The US is currently lamenting that if only it had sent a sufficient enough force to Afghanistan back in 2001, it would have already captured Osama bin Laden in December of hat year. ‘The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s report says that a robust American force could have barred bin Laden’s escape in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora; instead, a modest number battled about 1,000 al-Qaeda fighters led by bin Laden.’

The new report asserts that bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri were confirmed to have been located ‘at a cave complex he had previously occupied during the fight against Soviet forces.’ The report adds that ‘Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar could have also been apprehended had it not been for Gen. Tommy Franks’ and Donald Rumsfeld’s much-criticized decision to not send a large number of troops to that area.’

The report also blames the pivotal choice and crucial decision for “laying the foundation for today’s protracted Afghan insurgency and inflaming the internal strife now endangering Pakistan.” At the very least, the report serves as wake-up call to erstwhile authorities and decision-makers that Osama bin Laden was actually within US grasp eight years ago.

However, the report concludes, “Removing the Al Qaeda leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat. But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide.”

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Via The New York Times