July 12, 2009
Elite Officer Recalls Bin Laden Hunt
Delta Force Commander Says The Best Plan To Kill The Al Qaeda Leader In 2001 Was Nixed
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Play CBS Video Video Kill Bin Laden The officer who led the Delta Force mission to kill Osama bin Laden after 9/11 reveals what really happened in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, when the al-Qaeda leader narrowly escaped. Scott Pelley reports.
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"Dalton Fury" is the pseudonym of this former Army major who led the secret Delta Force mission to try to kill Osama bin Laden nine weeks after 9/11. (CBS)
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Fury says that when he heard that, he thought it was almost over.
Soon after that intercept, a Delta team called "Jackal" radioed that they had bin Laden's entourage in sight.
"The operation Jackal team observed 50 men moving into a cave that they hadn't seen before. The Mujahideen said they saw an individual, a taller fellow, wearing a camouflage jacket. Everybody put two and two together, 'Okay, that's got to be Osama Bin Laden egressing from the battlefield.' They called up every available bomb in the air, took control of the airspace. And they dropped several hours of bombs on the cave he went into. We believe, it was our opinion at the time, that he died inside that cave," Fury says.
Bin Laden's radio went silent. And Dalton Fury believed the bombs had killed him. Six months later, American and Canadian forces came back for proof. They checked al Qaeda fighting holes and used explosives to try open up collapsed caves. They hoped to find bin Laden’s body in an al Qaeda graveyard rising from the opium poppies.
The troops dug up bodies, removed fingers for forensic analysis, but, there was no luck. In October 2004, bin Laden released a video and Fury knew his team had failed.
Today, based on intelligence, Fury believes he knows what happened. He says that bin Laden was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel from an American bomb, and was then hidden a town next to the al Qaeda cemetery. "We believe a gentleman brought him in - a gentleman, him and his family were supporting al Qaeda during the battle. They were providing food, ammo, water. We think he went to that house, received medical attention for a few days then, and then we believe they put him in a vehicle moved him back across the pass," Fury says.
"It’s my understanding they believe he got into a vehicle. He moved as far as he could and then got out and walked across or was carried across into Pakistan. Free and clear," Fury says. "When this is all over and this all dies down, and once we finally do grab Osama Bin Laden, I think the fact that we lost him in Tora Bora will move out of my memory so to speak. I'm looking forward to those days."
Produced by Shawn Efran
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 234 CommentsJack A. Milavic PhD
Edmond Oklahoma
I understand capitolism and freedom of speech, I don't think its right that this information was released though.
If my son/daughter was killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in the name of justice to then find this Delta man's story, I would be really miffed! I do apologize to and thank service personnel for their sacrifices, patriotism and muscles.
We could end this war and save our money & service men-women and feed our hungry people living below standards here in the USA.
I pray for the Obama family and for peace every day. Be well all!
I''ll say it here now. Bush Jr. was merely an accessory. The President who was Annointed to lead us was not the Mastermind. Bush Jr. is not an Intelligence Director. (It''s hilarious to have to write that sentence.)
Bush Sr is still tight with CIA. He still gets PDBs. He''s intimate with CIA and other "Former" CIA, and he''s intimate with the Saudis, with Adnan Khashoggi who funded Al-Qaeda in the past.
SEPT 11 WAS A MILTIARY-INTELLIGENCE OPERATION.
SEPT 11 WAS NOT A "CONSPIRACY" per se.
SEPT 11 WAS OFFICIAL POLICY, or nearly-official. The plans were published beforehand too, by top advisors such as Ledeen and Perle, but in discreet terms, a vague "wish" or "hope" that such a bloodbath would occur, since it was VITAL to the future of America''s power in the world.
3000 - 8000 dead Americans? Grief forever? Trauma? Millions of dead Arabs? Who cares? Not them. I care. Ann Coulter said the survivors who demanded answers were enjoying the tragedy, the limelight. Ha ha ha. They hate you. They hate you. They hate you. They hate me. They hate all of us. They don''t care about your suffering. They hate what America REALLY stands for, a liberal democratic republic with an "uppity" population of serfs who think they deserve a say in how things are run.
However - if Bush made the call to NOT get bin Laden, then HE needs to leave the US as well!
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FINALLY! A Bush-loving patriot breaks out of the mind-mold slightly to consider that Bush helped Binladen go free.
9-11 Press for Truth collects a lot of Corporate Media reports on Afghanistan, including Seymour Hersh explaining how they were allowed to escape. THEY WERE FRIGGIN AIRLIFTED ON C-130s to PAKISTAN!!!!
I''m still astonished at the mind control that caused Republicans (and Democrats) to ignore that Bush Senior, former CIA Dir Carlucci, and others were meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel with Binladen''s brother on Sept 11, all with the Carlyle group. There was even a scandal! Bush was embarrassed into supposedly divesting. Binladens sold their stock. Binladens are estranged from Osama, but OBL just made them all billions, while getting millions of Arabs killed.
No more questions about that??
Bin Laden''s group got money and weapons in the CIA''s war, but he never worked for the CIA.
WHAT????!!!!!!!
And that a Pakistani General from ISI Intell who sent $100k to the "hijackers" in Venice was in Washington the entire week, having breakfast with future CIA Director Porter Goss on Sept 11.
HOW COULD WE ALL BE THIS COLLECTIVELY STUPIDIZED?
Just like when Zawahiri''s brother Mohamed was training guerillas in Macedonia at a US camp, in 2001 and beyond.
Just like on Sept 11.
Just like when James Baker nixed the 9-11 Families inquiry into the Saudis'' Al-Qaeda connections (Baker-Botts law firm).
Just like the 12 agents who testified, three on TV and under oath, one dead agent on a PBS special, about being THWARTED probably over 200 times (70 for Harry Samit alone) in trying to prevent Sept 11.
Same as CIA Director Krongard said we should LET OSAMA STAY FREE, which Bush echoed.
I''m sure that was on a need-to-know basis. You didn''t need to know. But you knew.
(Frankly, considering how top advisors stated that a BLOODBATH was VITAL to starting their wars, I doubt they relied on lapdanced, coked-up, hungover, Arab party boys ... er Islamic Extremists .. willing to die for Allah. Remote control is much more reliable. The Arabs running around the US on the CIA''s black budget can be disappeared.)
"it really would have been bad for ''bidness'' ". Have we ever been played????????
Was Bin Laden in the sights before the Iraq invasion got into full swing.? If so, it all makes sense. Someone wanted a war in Iraq and needed a reason to justify going into a full scale invasion. Bin Laden and his lieutenants had to be allowed to escape in order to justify what was to happen next. If that''s not the case,it still makes a good plot for a "24" episode!
Here is a quote: "The nation%u2019s most prestigious group for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans released a congressional scorecard on Tuesday that ranks Republican presidential candidate John McCain as having one of the worst voting records when it comes to supporting troops and veterans."
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_vets_congress_reportcard_100708/
John McCain and Sarah Palin say in negative campaign attacks that that Senator Barack Obama has voted "against veterans". But that is not how the group "Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America" sees it. Does Sarah Palin want to challenge their patriotism too?
"Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads you don''t have much of a vision for the future or you''re not ready to articulate it." [John McCain - 2/21/2000]
Most information is now classified to hide the truth look it up
Conservatives believe in personal responsibility until it''s applied to them.
Where were you born, beehive? Hang the family for the sins of the son. That''s warped...I don''t care who you are. I want justice. That doesn''t include killing the innocent. Isn''t that what Osama did?
There won''t be a WWIII. The WORD WAR (War On Terror)will last forever.imo
If after Pearl Harbor being bombed we attacked Japan enough to weaken them. Then took the majority of our troops around to Germany it would have just as much sense as what has happened in Afghanistan.
It''s the same as a boxer getting out of the ring during a fight and going after his next opponent prior to the fight being over.
It''s the word on the street.
This is why the Laden Family were never picked up and hung.
It''s going to be very difficult to rid the nation of the Bush influence ,they been in charge for 3- 4 decades.
Do not be surprised, if they start WW3,then it shall be King George,no elections in time of War.
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