July 31, 2005
The Anti-Hunt for Osama Bin Laden
For example, according to many residents of Kabul, a convoy of al-Qaeda forces, thought to include its top leaders, made a remarkable escape [from Kabul] during one night in early November of 2001. A local businessman said:
We don't understand how they weren't all killed the night before because they came in a convoy of at least 1,000 cars and trucks. It was a very dark night, but it must have been easy for the American pilots to see the headlights. The main road was jammed from eight in the evening until three in the morning.
Thompson comments, "With all of the satellite imagery and intense focus on the Kabul area at the time, how could such a force have escaped unobserved by the US?"1 [One might also ask why the al-Qaeda fighters were so confident they could move openly, en masse, without fear of attack from the air.]
Also early in November, US intelligence agencies, having watched al-Qaeda fighters and leaders move into the area of Jalalabad, reported that bin Laden himself had arrived. According to Knight-Ridder newspapers, this is what happened next:
American intelligence analysts concluded that bin Laden and his retreating fighters were preparing to flee across the border. But the US Central Command, which was running the war, made no move to block their escape.
[image via google/ not with above]