CNN omitted Bush's failure to send more troops to Tora Bora - OBL special

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Summary: The documentary CNN Presents: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden reported that the insufficient deployment of U.S. troops to Tora Bora in 2001 allowed the Al Qaeda leader to escape, but it failed to note investigative reporter Ron Suskind's recent disclosure that President Bush ignored specific warnings from the CIA that more troops were needed.

A two-hour CNN documentary on the life of Osama bin Laden reported that the insufficient deployment of U.S. troops to the mountains of Afghanistan in 2001 allowed the Al Qaeda leader to escape, but it failed to note investigative reporter Ron Suskind's recent disclosure that President Bush ignored specific warnings from the CIA that more troops were needed. Further, CNN reported on Bush's receipt of the now-famous August 6, 2001, memo titled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." But the program omitted any mention of Suskind's report that, after Bush was briefed by a CIA officer on the memo, Bush replied, "All right. You've covered your ass, now." Both revelations are included in Suskind's new book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (Simon & Schuster, June 2006). Yet despite the relevance of his disclosures, it appears CNN did not interview Suskind for the documentary.

But the documentary made no mention of Bush's response after being briefed on the memo, which Suskind reported in The One Percent Doctrine:

The alarming August 6, 2001, memo from the CIA to the President -- "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" -- has been widely noted in the past few years.

But, also in August, CIA analysts flew to Crawford to personally brief the President -- to intrude on his vacation with face-to-face alerts.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240013