Bush administration missed opportunity to capture Laden: Report

The report prepared by the Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff released Sunday claims, “On or around 16 December [2001], two days after writing his will, Bin Laden and an entourage of bodyguards walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area.”

The report has come at a time when Barack Obama is anticipating sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Bush administration fails to use all available means
The report has condemned Donald Rumsfeld, the then U.S. defense secretary, and General Tommy Franks, the U.S. general who led the U.S. military’s invasion in Afghanistan.

It further claims that keeping vast majority of military power, “from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the army”, on the sidelines, the military focused on “air strikes and untrained Afghan militias" to hunt for Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan.

Less than 100 military personnel were present on the scene with the Afghan allies and their calls for US reinforcements were rejected, allowing Bin Laden to escape.

Enormous consequences of lost opportunity
Failing to nab the Al Qaeda leader has strengthened the foundation for the protracted insurgency in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military action in Afghanistan was conceived to have a single objective--to completely obliterate the presence of Taliban and Al Qaeda by capturing or killing its head Osama bin Laden.

The failure on part of the military has resulted in losing the opportunity to put an end to international terrorism.

"The decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide," the report says.

This has altered the course of conflict in Afghanistan, leaving Americans more vulnerable to terrorism.