Rapid reaction forces at their best: Bin Laden saved by slow communications
A documentary, due to air next March, says French special forces could have killed Osama bin Laden twice three years ago but their U.S. superiors never ordered them to fire.
“In 2003 and 2004 we had bin Laden in our sights. The sniper said ‘I have bin Laden’,” an anonymous French soldier is quoted as saying. The soldier told the makers of the documentary that it took two hours for the request to reach the U.S. officers who could authorise it.
Predictably, the French government denies the event:
French armed forces spokesman Christophe Prazuck said “that never happened” when asked about the bin Laden sightings.
Anyway, Bin Laden can sleep quietly again in his cave. France has just announced the withdrawal of its 200 elite troops operating under U.S. command near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
[tags]France,French,Osama Bin Laden[/tags]
