Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) claimed on MSNBC this afternoon that the Bush administration purposely let Osama bin Laden get away in 2001 so they could use al-Qaeda as an excuse to invade Iraq.
“Look what happened with regard to our invasion into Afghanistan, how we apparently intentionally let bin Laden get away. How we intentionally did not follow the Taliban and al-Qaeda as they were escaping,” Hinchey said. “That was done by the previous administration because they knew very well that if they would capture al-Qaeda, there would be no justification for an invasion in Iraq.”
When host David Shuster pushed back, Hinchey stood by his claim.
“There’s no question that the leader of the military operations of the U.S. called back our military. Called them back from going after the head of al-Qaeda,” he said.
“I don’t think [the theory] will strike a lot of people as crazy. I think it’ll strike a lot of people as accurate,” Hinchey said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
The congressman was apparently referring to a Senate report released this weekend that says bin Laden was “within our grasp” in December 2001. According to the report, the failure to kill or capture him has had long-lasting effects, laying the foundation for the current Afghan insurgency and fanning the flames of conflict in Pakistan.
