"How Osama bin Laden Escaped" Topic

"On Oct. 7, 2001, U.S. aircraft began bombing the training bases and strongholds of al Qaeda and the ruling Taliban across Afghanistan. The leaders who sent murderers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon less than a month earlier and the rogue government that provided them sanctuary were running for their lives. President George W. Bush's expression of America's desire to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" seemed about to come true.

Three months later, American civilian and military leaders celebrated what they viewed as a lasting victory with the selection of Hamid Karzai as the country's new leader. The war had been conceived as a swift campaign with a single objective: defeat the Taliban and destroy al Qaeda by capturing or killing bin Laden and other key leaders. A unique combination of airpower, Central Intelligence Agency and special operations forces teams, and indigenous allies had swept the Taliban from power and ousted al Qaeda from its safe haven, keeping American deaths to a minimum. But even in the initial glow, there were concerns: The mission had failed to capture or kill bin Laden.

Removing the al Qaeda leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat. But the failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future of international terrorism, leaving the American people more vulnerable to terrorism, laying the foundation for today's protracted Afghan insurgency, and inflaming the internal strife now endangering Pakistan…"
Full article here.
link

In the end…

Amicalement
Armand

Oh great, another stick to beat old Uncle Sam with. And this one is dated 2009 – surely you can dig up something of older vintage to post?

I'm not an American but it does seem to me that the USA is damned if it does and it's damned if it doesn't. I still think it's the most benevolent Superpower since the British Empire. Does any other nation in the world, or in the region, really give a flying **** enough to do something themselves?

United Nations? Ah, forget it.

Rant over. Out.

You got that right venezia ! Being a US vet, I thank you … In the long run … USN SEAL and US ARMY Choppers got the ! The US goes out of it's way to prevent a lot of collateral damage and stepping on toes from a Geo-political POV. If the US was not concerned about that, other human rights concerns, etc. UBL would have been gone long before 10 years. And now ISIS, AQ et al … would be not be the problem that they still are today. And yet the locals in the regions prove to be generally less than effective in stopping their islamist bros. Other Western forces generally don't have the numbers to do anything on their own without US assistance. That being said, I would and did gladly serve with those other nations in any fight …

One of my favorite quotes from The Wind and the Lion.

Theodore Roosevelt: Certainly. The world will never love us. They respect us – they might even grow to fear us. But they will never love us, for we have too much audacity! And, we're a bit blind and reckless at times too.

Thank you (and your brothers-in-arms) for your service Legion 4.

Thank you !