CIA and top US officials prevented Bin Laden’s capture in 2001 - says Delta Force officer

October 6th, 2008 | 911, Afghanistan, War

By: D. H. Williams @ 3:15 PM - EST

Photo: Delta operators in native garb

Near the end of 2001 a Delta Force team from Ft. Bragg would be just meters away from where Osama Bin laden was holed up with a group of Afghan fighters.

Lead by a 37 year old, named Major Fury (not his real name) a team of fifty Delta Force operators in the mountains of Tora Bora near the Pakistan border, elevation 14,000 feet.

Major Fury and his team had come up with two seperate mission plans to capture Bin laden both would be denied by someone unknown in the chain of command. “Whether that was Central Command all the way up to the president of the United States, I’m not sure,” The Major says.

When asked by CBS 60 minutes how often mission planning would be denied by the chain of command Fury said, “In my experience, in my five years at Delta, never before,”

Denied the opportunity to use stealth and surprise and concerned there could be up to 1000 fighters in the area defending Osama’s position. And at the behest of a CIA handler called George Delta would take on the help of a rag tag band of Afghan militia ran by a self styled general, Ali.

George of the CIA would convince Ali to assist the Delta group by giving him millions of dollars in US currency but Major Fury and his men would soon find out this would not buy the loyalty of the Afghan guerrillas.

While making a frontal assault on Osama’s position with the Afghans, Delta would soon discover that the CIA bribed Ali and his men where not keen on fighting their fellow Afghans.

General Ali and his militia would abandon the Delta Force team in the evenings to return to their villages and would only half heatedly engage those protecting the mountainous region hiding Bin Laden. “It was almost like there was an agreement between the two to put on a good show and then leave.” Says Fury.

When Delta did get close to Osama’s position the CIA paid Afghans turned their weapons on Fury and his 50 man Delta team and claimed they had negotiated a cease fire with Al Qaeda. After a 12 hour debate on the mountain side just minutes away from Bin Laden’s suspected position the local militia agreed the cease fire was now over.

The delay would allow Osama to move from his position in a mountain cave into a small town near a cometary and poppy field close to the Pakistan border.

Once when Osama was transmitting via radio, Ali’s men held up a small transistor radio in the air and the Afghan militia with Fury would gather around to listen. Fury adds, “Osama Bin laden is many a Muslims hero. When they heard him talking on the radio they would stand wide eyed and in awe of his [Osama's] presence.”

Video: 60 Minutes interview with Delta Commander Major “Fury”

Related Articles: CNN, Elite Officer Recalls Bin Laden Hunt

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