posted October 21, 2004 01:19 AM            

Note the leaker of the information Kerry uses is alleged to be an anonymous government source.

One after the other, Kerry's lies and distortions about the President are being punctured.

If Kerry ever showed up for work on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he wouldn't have to rely on anonymous sources or be forced to make things up.

Bob Graham is about as believable as Bill Clinton. Good riddance....Graham is not seeking reelection.

Retired U.S. General Attacks Kerry Over Bin Laden
Tue Oct 19, 2004 09:09 PM EST
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan on Tuesday disputed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's charge that the Bush administration let Osama bin Laden escape Afghanistan in 2001.

"I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality," retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks wrote in a commentary published by The New York Times.

The Kerry campaign took issue with the retired general's comments. "Franks is a patriot. But in his attempt to campaign for President (George W.) Bush, he's letting political spin get in the way of the facts," said campaign spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.

Franks, who has endorsed the Republican president's re-election bid, challenged Kerry's contention that U.S. forces had the fugitive al Qaeda leader surrounded but "outsourced" the job of capturing him to Afghan forces in the rugged Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan.

The Massachusetts senator has repeatedly charged that Bush was so preoccupied with Iraq -- long before the U.S.-led invasion of that country in March 2003 -- that he took emphasis away from capturing bin Laden, blamed for the September 2001 attacks on America.

U.S.-led forces, which ousted Afghanistan's fundamentalist Taliban rulers, waged a fierce battle in December 2001 in mountainous Tora Bora, known for its extensive cave complex. It is believed bin Laden slipped out of the region around this time, possibly fleeing into Pakistan.

'NEVER WITHIN OUR GASP'

]b]"We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the time; still others suggested he was in Kashmir," wrote Franks,[/b] who led the invasions of Afghanistan and later Iraq as chief of the U.S. military's Central Command.

"Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives, many of whom were killed or captured, but Mr. bin Laden was never within our gasp."

Franks contended that the American military did not outsource military action, although "we did rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora."

The Kerry campaign noted Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials said publicly at the time of the Tora Bora operation that bin Laden was believed to be there.

The Washington Post, quoting unidentified U.S. officials, reported in April 2002 the Bush administration had concluded bin Laden was present during the Tora Bora battle but managed to escape, and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to find him was its biggest mistake in the fight with al Qaeda.

Franks relied on local Afghan militias on the ground instead of using American troops, while U.S. aircraft pounded targets from the sky. U.S. officials have said these militia fighters failed to fulfill promises to seal off the area.

posted October 21, 2004 08:51 PM              

The Kerry campaign took issue with the retired general's comments. "Franks is a patriot. But in his attempt to campaign for President (George W.) Bush, he's letting political spin get in the way of the facts," said campaign spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.

******************************************

Well, quite "Frank"ly, if we can't rely on the man directly responsible for the operation for a truthful account of events, then who can we rely on? Certainly not the dubius, "unidentified" officials. Why remain anonymous unless you have something to hide? Say for example, a LIE?

posted October 30, 2004 11:51 PM              

If it were a non-partisan source I would be more apt to believe it. But Franks is one of the "team."

posted October 31, 2004 01:05 AM            

So, certainly, I will take Frank's word over Clark's and Kerry's any day. Besides, Franks was directing operations in Afghanistan. Clark and Kerry were sitting on the sidelines sniping from the cheap seats, as usual