JAWBREAKER is the first-person account of former CIA Field Commander Gary Berntsen on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the incredible circumstances that allowed his escape. Berntsen was there and he knows what really happened--and it wasn't in the news.

It came out last month. If you've read it, your thoughts? Should I go buy it?

I heard him on a news show speaking of his book

Was rather interesting and he implies that we let him go

Do I believe that?

Not really, but I admit it inrigues me to know more.

btt, anyone?

it is tough to get any traction in the General Forum. In 5 minutes these worthy topics are 3 pages back, while bathroom humor stays on pg 1.


I saw him again, on Lou Dobbs, and paid different attention to him this time.

He was very impressive (author)

As a CIA guy, I  am a lot more impressed with the agency after hearing/seeing this dude.  


IIRC, He talks of 8 guys - 4 CIA, and 4 SF with a contingency of Afghans finding and confronting 1,000 Al Queda hard cores in Tora Bora. (basically treeing them)

They called in reinforcements, and Delta/ others showed up - and supposedly held off a huge assault that preventing the group from being over-run. (author recalls unbelievable heroics/fighting by our guys)

They ultimately got reinforced, called and got literally hundreds of air assets to pummel the place for 56 hours before attacking on foot. Estimated 75% of al queda killed in that battle. (the ones that were there)

the Pakistani's had the back door - allegedly - with 5-7,000 troops to prevent them form getting across the border.

bottom line (of the interview) was that there was a tribe that accepted a bribe to let bin Ladin pass safely

we know who, we know how. and I believe we know exactly where that rat-bastard is but cannot do the deed without costing the only ally in a nuclear Muslim country his life (and ours int he region - Musharraf of course)


so thats the (short) interview. The book is a must read. Seriously....The dude is nails. A real hard-charger.

Quoted:we know who, we know how. and I believe we know exactly where that rat-bastard is but cannot do the deed without costing the only ally in a nuclear Muslim country his life (and ours int he region - Musharraf of course).

I have a small theory about this.  I believe OBL is alive and we are tracking as best we can those within his network including those within legit governments in the middle east.  AQ is a multiheaded snake.  Kill OBL & the snake will continue to strike.  When it is believed by the good guys that most of the network can be nutralized, OBL will be DRT via a Hellfire launched from a UAV.

Quoted: Quoted:we know who, we know how. and I believe we know exactly where that rat-bastard is but cannot do the deed without costing the only ally in a nuclear Muslim country his life (and ours int he region - Musharraf of course). I have a small theory about this.  I believe OBL is alive and we are tracking as best we can those within his network including those within legit governments in the middle east.

There's news now that Bin Laden died this last December from kidney failure, he was hiding in Iran.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted:we know who, we know how. and I believe we know exactly where that rat-bastard is but cannot do the deed without costing the only ally in a nuclear Muslim country his life (and ours int he region - Musharraf of course). I have a small theory about this.  I believe OBL is alive and we are tracking as best we can those within his network including those within legit governments in the middle east.   There's news now that Bin Laden died this last December from kidney failure, he was hiding in Iran.

That is the latest... he sure as hell has been pretty quite for some reason.

Peter Bergen, a self professed Bin Ladin expert who has interviewed him before, as well as more than 50 of his a queda cohorts - says he is not dead

His argument?

He claims the jihadists websites world-wide will lite up when he dies, and proclaim the greatest martyr since Moh himself has left the building and taken his virgins with him.

I tend to believe him. I suspect OBL is looking so haggard it would scare off his followers to see the damage the kidney failure is doing to him (ugly disease)


On the Jawbreaker point, I am anxious to read it, because I think that that battle- right then and there- could have been the annihilation of al queda.

we could have paraded bin Ladin's head around on a stick and made an example of that animal.

Remember, that was just a couple months after 9.11