The bin Laden hunter: ex-CIA man had bin Laden in his sights 10 times (Daily Telegraph)

[JohnyCanuck]

Terrorist hunter Michael Scheuer tells Duncan Gardham and Iain Hollingshead how he was repeatedly ordered not to stop the al-Qaeda chief.

During his 22 years in the CIA – three and a half as head of a 18-man Osama bin Laden unit – he told his bosses at Langley on 10 occasions that he had a clear opportunity to kill or capture the terrorist chief. On all 10 he was told to hold his fire.

snip

That we know anything at all about Scheuer’s past as a terrorist hunter is down to him. Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terrorism, which was published anonymously in 2004, the same year as he left the CIA, had the dubious honour of being praised for its insight in a speech by bin Laden. He was later unmasked as the author and has written three further books under his own name, the latest a biography of the man he spent much of his life trying to capture.

snip

In August 1998 al-Qaeda killed 12 Americans and 200 others in bombings at two American embassies in east Africa. President Clinton ordered the CIA to dismantle al-Qaeda and, in Scheuer’s words, “take care” of bin Laden. The Pentagon launched cruise missile attacks on bin Laden’s training camps, but he had left the compound hours earlier. Scheuer estimates they had at least eight further opportunities to assassinate bin Laden in the following months.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8527515/The-bin-Laden-hunter-ex-CIA-man-had-bin-Laden-in-his-sights-10-times.html

[blm]

1. GHWBush had control over that entire region and the CIA since the 70s. He wasn't going to allow his

BFEE pals to be hunted for REAL. He was fine with the SHOW of hunting Bin Laden, though.

[EFerrari]

2. I'd be careful about buying into Sheuer.

He's a right wing wackjob.