A fake hunt for Bin Laden...? (A test for Obama)

Many of you, I hope, have seen the important documentary 9/11: Press For Truth. No, that film does not contain crackpot theories about bombs in buildings. But it does present evidence -- good evidence -- that Al Qaida could have been stopped in its tracks in December of 2001, and that, after the battle of Tora Bora, the United States assisted in an airlift of Al Qaida personnel to the wilds of Pakistan.

CIA offiers Gary Berntsen and Gary Schroen have both asserted that Bin Laden could have been captured at Tora Bora.

A French documentary called The Search for Osama Bin Laden makes a cognate claim. A secular independent newspaper in Afghanistan called Hasht-e Sobh recently published a precis of that film. Juan Cole considers the matter worthy of our (cautious) attention:

So, the rumour was right: French soldiers trapped Usamah Bin-Ladin, but were not allowed by the Americans to arrest the apparent fugitive leader of Al-Qa`idah. A Bin-Ladin documentary just released by French documentary cinema examines this issue, an issue which has led to heated debate in the French media.

What is seen, and the film also emphases this, is that all these slogans, this fighting and killing are a game, a painful and prolonged game whose end even the players do not know and which is running out of control. Apparently, it is a game of cat and mouse, just like "Tom and Jerry", the famous cartoon. But it is a reality that the stubborn one from Texas does not want to catch the mouse - unlike credulous Tom - and that the long-bearded Wahhabi Arab does not want to hide - unlike the intelligent and roaming Jerry. Their prolonged game has made not only the audiences tired but has also transformed the playground into a big pool of blood.

What does it say about the omnipresence of American culture that an Afghan journalist would use Tom and Jerry as a metaphor?

If Usamah is not the lost one of the Americans, then who is? What are the Americans searching for in Afghanistan and who are they looking for? The main media in the West remained silent before the report of the Usamah Bin-Ladin arrest by French soldiers. And, through a news boycott, they reduced a certain fact to a rumour.

Well, at the moment, I don't know whether the claims made in The Search For Osama Bin Laden (unseen by me at this writing) should be considered "certain fact." But I'm willing to look into the "rumor" -- which means that I want to know more about this documentary.

Initial Googling has not uncovered any further references to the participation of French special forces in the battle of Tora Bora. That fact does not mean that we should dismiss the film's allegations out of hand. The participation of Germany's KSK in that operation was not revealed to the public until just a few months ago.

I do feel certain, or at least persuaded, that the American people were never told the full truth about what happened at Tora Bora.

How does Obama fit into this matter? Simple. If his administration uncovers the mystery of "What happened to Osama Bin Laden?" then we will know that the new president is serious about righting the wrongs of the Bush years. If such matters remain mysterious, then we will know that he was put into position in order to keep certain cats within certain bags.

PS: Trannies, don't try it. You know damned well that I won't allow a single syllable. You have no shortage of other places. Save us both some effort, all right?