More Bad News for Bush

by Larry C. Johnson

The CIA field commander for the agency’s Jawbreaker team at Tora Bora, Gary Berntsen, has finally got approval to publish his book, which will hit the streets on December 27, 2005.

The CIA has sat on the book for more than a year and tried to stop its publication. Although the book is not intended as a criticism of President Bush, it will land another body blow to the beleaguered Bush Presidency.

Bernsten’s key point in the book is his testimonty that he and other U.S. commanders did know that bin Laden was among the hundreds of fleeing Qaeda and Taliban members.

According to NEWSWEEK, “Berntsen says he had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora–intelligence operatives had tracked him–and could have been caught. He was there.”

Look for General Tommy Franks image as the great commander to be further tarnished.

This book will have the unintended effect of reminding all Americans that George Bush did not finish the job of tracking down Bin Laden. Instead, he shifted key military and intelligence resources and started a war of choice in Iraq.

At the current fatality rate more than 2100 Americans will have died in Iraq when this book is available in bookstores. Put on your list for belated Christmas and Hanukkah shopping.

Happy Holidays.

……………………………………………………..

Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and aviation security around the world. Further bio details.

Larry C. Johnson
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10 Comments

BrendaStewart on October 22, 2005 at 11:07 pm

am gonna be looking forward to this publication for sure!!!!!!!!!! I think the bottom just fell out of the boat for the bush administration…in more ways than one..

the gnostic on October 22, 2005 at 11:20 pm

Let’s stop beating around the frickin Bush, no pun intended:

Maybe we’ll hear testimony from ex-CIA or FBI or such as to why WTC7 imploded neatly into itself when there was no evident fire… and why WTC leaseholder Silverstein said in the infamous PBS interview that they “pulled it” [WTC7] and “they watched the building COLLAPSE.”

Why won’t Silverstein just clarify what he meant once and for all???

(For those not in the know, “pull” means “demolish” in industry-speak… And “it” is the 10 million dollar word… is “it” the already evacuated people? or is “it” WTC7? Hmmmm….

Apparently Silverstein has broken his silence in an interview, but the writer (for a Rupert Murdock newspaper), Sam Smith, didn’t mention the comments in the article.

Apparently, Silverstein said to Smith that he “meant something else” by “pull it” but hasn’t yet said what that something else is… I won’t speculate as to what happened…

No-one knows anything except seeing a fireless WTC7 collapse with apparent blasting caps going off….

BrendaStewart on October 22, 2005 at 11:40 pm

wow, I didnt know that!
MaximusNYC on October 23, 2005 at 12:21 pm

It contained giant diesel fuel tanks:

As engineers and scientists struggle to explain the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, they have begun considering whether a type of fuel that was inside the building all along created intensely hot fires like those in the towers: diesel fuel, thousands of gallons of it, intended to run electricity generators in a power failure.

One tank holding 6,000 gallons of fuel was in the building to provide power to the command bunker on the 23rd floor. Another set of four tanks holding as much as 36,000 gallons were just below ground on the building’s southwest side for generators that served some of the other tenants. …

With the collapse of both towers by 10:30 a.m., larger pieces of the twin towers had smashed parts of 7 World Trade and set whole clusters of floors ablaze. An hour later, the Fire Department was forced to abandon its last efforts to save the building as it burned like a giant torch. It fell in the late afternoon, hampering rescue efforts and hurling its beams into the ground like red-hot spears.

No conspiracy necessary.
- the gnostic on October 23, 2005 at 2:39 pm
  
  I didn’t see the smoke from those massive fires… Did you?

debraz on October 23, 2005 at 8:14 am

anybody remember that quote? Had UBL been captured, most Americans would have thought the glorious WoT was over. Couldn’t have that, now could we?

rba on October 23, 2005 at 9:52 am

U.S. Concludes Bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Fight
Failure to Send Troops in Pursuit Termed Major Error

By Barton Gellman and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 17, 2002; Page A01

The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge. [WaPo]

Rummy begs to differ [same day]:

Rumsfeld Dismisses Tora Bora Speculation

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2002 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed as speculation assertions that U.S. forces should have captured al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the fighting around the Tora Bora cave complex in December.

Rumsfeld said he has no evidence then and none today that bin Laden was “in Tora Bora at the time or left Tora Bora at the time, nor where he is today.”

Rumsfeld said he has seen “repeated speculation” about bin Laden’s whereabouts, but nothing verifiable. “Had it been verifiable, one would have thought someone would have done something about it,” he said.
[Global Security Org]

Always consider the source.

Dean Pajevic on October 23, 2005 at 10:08 am

And how many soldiers/intel people/contractors did we lose through Tora Bora?

A few months back, Larry told me the same thing happened with Anaconda in 2002 — that Rumsfeld and the top command screwed it up / the soldiers on the ground were badly outmanned and given the wrong instructions … it’s a scandal.

But I’ll bet that the vast majority of Americans don’t know about Anaconda .. and may never learn much new about Tora Bora.

Spike on October 23, 2005 at 12:01 pm

This could be as damaging to Tommy Franks’ image as when he was given the Medal of Freedom with Bremer and Tenet.

bob h on October 23, 2005 at 5:12 pm

You wonder-if we had greased bin Laden four years ago, treated the rest of Al Qaeda as a police/intelligence operation, and pursued a containment policy toward Iraq, wouldn’t we not be talking about Islamofascism now? Wouldn’t we have won?

BrendaStewart on October 22, 2005 at 11:07 pm

am gonna be looking forward to this publication for sure!!!!!!!!!! I think the bottom just fell out of the boat for the bush administration…in more ways than one..
the gnostic on October 22, 2005 at 11:20 pm

Let’s stop beating around the frickin Bush, no pun intended:

Maybe we’ll hear testimony from ex-CIA or FBI or such as to why WTC7 imploded neatly into itself when there was no evident fire… and why WTC leaseholder Silverstein said in the infamous PBS interview that they “pulled it” [WTC7] and “they watched the building COLLAPSE.”

Why won’t Silverstein just clarify what he meant once and for all???

(For those not in the know, “pull” means “demolish” in industry-speak… And “it” is the 10 million dollar word… is “it” the already evacuated people? or is “it” WTC7? Hmmmm….

Apparently Silverstein has broken his silence in an interview, but the writer (for a Rupert Murdock newspaper), Sam Smith, didn’t mention the comments in the article.

Apparently, Silverstein said to Smith that he “meant something else” by “pull it” but hasn’t yet said what that something else is… I won’t speculate as to what happened…

No-one knows anything except seeing a fireless WTC7 collapse with apparent blasting caps going off….
- BrendaStewart on October 22, 2005 at 11:40 pm
  
  wow, I didnt know that!
- MaximusNYC on October 23, 2005 at 12:21 pm
  
  It contained giant diesel fuel tanks:
  
  As engineers and scientists struggle to explain the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, they have begun considering whether a type of fuel that was inside the building all along created intensely hot fires like those in the towers: diesel fuel, thousands of gallons of it, intended to run electricity generators in a power failure.
  
  One tank holding 6,000 gallons of fuel was in the building to provide power to the command bunker on the 23rd floor. Another set of four tanks holding as much as 36,000 gallons were just below ground on the building’s southwest side for generators that served some of the other tenants. …
  
  With the collapse of both towers by 10:30 a.m., larger pieces of the twin towers had smashed parts of 7 World Trade and set whole clusters of floors ablaze. An hour later, the Fire Department was forced to abandon its last efforts to save the building as it burned like a giant torch. It fell in the late afternoon, hampering rescue efforts and hurling its beams into the ground like red-hot spears.
  
  No conspiracy necessary.
  - the gnostic on October 23, 2005 at 2:39 pm
    
    I didn’t see the smoke from those massive fires… Did you?
debraz on October 23, 2005 at 8:14 am

anybody remember that quote? Had UBL been captured, most Americans would have thought the glorious WoT was over. Couldn’t have that, now could we?
rba on October 23, 2005 at 9:52 am

U.S. Concludes Bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Fight
Failure to Send Troops in Pursuit Termed Major Error

By Barton Gellman and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 17, 2002; Page A01

The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge. [WaPo]

Rummy begs to differ [same day]:

Rumsfeld Dismisses Tora Bora Speculation

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2002 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed as speculation assertions that U.S. forces should have captured al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the fighting around the Tora Bora cave complex in December.

Rumsfeld said he has no evidence then and none today that bin Laden was “in Tora Bora at the time or left Tora Bora at the time, nor where he is today.”

Rumsfeld said he has seen “repeated speculation” about bin Laden’s whereabouts, but nothing verifiable. “Had it been verifiable, one would have thought someone would have done something about it,” he said.
[Global Security Org]

Always consider the source.
- Dean Pajevic on October 23, 2005 at 10:08 am
  
  And how many soldiers/intel people/contractors did we lose through Tora Bora?
  
  A few months back, Larry told me the same thing happened with Anaconda in 2002 — that Rumsfeld and the top command screwed it up / the soldiers on the ground were badly outmanned and given the wrong instructions … it’s a scandal.
  
  But I’ll bet that the vast majority of Americans don’t know about Anaconda .. and may never learn much new about Tora Bora.
Spike on October 23, 2005 at 12:01 pm

This could be as damaging to Tommy Franks’ image as when he was given the Medal of Freedom with Bremer and Tenet.
bob h on October 23, 2005 at 5:12 pm

You wonder-if we had greased bin Laden four years ago, treated the rest of Al Qaeda as a police/intelligence operation, and pursued a containment policy toward Iraq, wouldn’t we not be talking about Islamofascism now? Wouldn’t we have won?

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