Ghost Wars : The CIA and Osama bin Laden, 1997-1999 (Sunday WP)

[huckleberry]

A Secret Hunt Unravels in Afghanistan
Mission to Capture or Kill al Qaeda Leader Frustrated by Near Misses, Political Disputes

By Steve Coll
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 22, 2004; Page A01

First of two articles.

The seeds of the CIA's first formal plan to capture or kill Osama bin Laden were contained in another urgent manhunt -- for Mir Aimal Kasi, the Pakistani migrant who murdered two CIA employees while spraying rounds from an assault rifle at cars idling before the entrance to the CIA's Langley headquarters in 1993.

snip

In the years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the CIA carried out a secret but ultimately unsuccessful manhunt for bin Laden. It was based at first on the band of Afghan tribal agents, and later expanded to include other agents and allies, especially the legendary guerrilla leader Ahmed Shah Massoud. But the search became mired in mutual frustrations, near misses and increasingly bitter policy disputes in Washington between the Clinton White House and the CIA.


much more at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59775-2004Feb21.html

[Newsjock]

1. The nuances won't matter

By this time tomorrow, you-know-who will be trumpeting this article as yet another example of Clenis Is To Blame.

Interesting info, but sad.