Editing Osama bin Laden (section)

=== Bush administration ===
{{Main|Manhunt for Osama bin Laden}}
[[File:A bounty leaflect prepared by the USA for use in Afghanistan (front) -a.jpg|thumb|A leaflet made by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] which was distributed in Afghanistan, showing a bounty for Bin Laden|left]]
In response to the attacks, the United States launched the [[war on terror]] to depose the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and capture al-Qaeda operatives, and several countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation to preclude future attacks. The CIA's [[Special Activities Division]] was given the lead in tracking down and killing or capturing Bin Laden.<ref>{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Greg |date=14 July 2009 |title=CIA's secret program: paramilitary teams to strike Al Qaeda |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-14-na-cia-cheney14-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205200538/http://articles.latimes.com/print/2009/jul/14/nation/na-cia-cheney14 |archive-date=5 February 2016 |access-date=19 June 2020 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=A1}}</ref> U.S. officials named Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda organization as the prime suspects and offered a reward of $25&nbsp;million for information leading to his capture or death.<ref name="fbiwantednotice">{{cite web |title=Most Wanted Terrorist – Usama Bin Laden |url=https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060310055924/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm |archive-date=10 March 2006 |access-date=26 May 2010 |publisher=FBI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov03/laden110503.htm |title=Five Years Ago Today – Usama Bin Laden: Wanted for Murder |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=5 November 2003 |access-date=27 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109080055/http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov03/laden110503.htm |archive-date=9 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 13 July 2007, the Senate voted to double the reward to $50&nbsp;million, although the amount was never changed.<ref name="BBCJuly07">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6898075.stm |title=Senate doubles Bin Laden reward |work=BBC News |date=13 July 2007 |access-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808104324/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6898075.stm |archive-date=8 August 2010 }}</ref> The [[Airline Pilots Association]] and the [[Air Transport Association]] offered an additional $2&nbsp;million reward.<ref>{{Cite news |author1=Katie Turner |author2=Pam Benson |author3=Peter Bergen |author4=Elise Labott |author5=Nic Robertson |publisher=CNN |date=24 September 2006 |access-date=25 May 2010 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/23/france.binladen/index.html |title=Officials, friends can't confirm Bin Laden death report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326042339/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/23/france.binladen/index.html |archive-date=26 March 2010 }}</ref>

While referring to Bin Laden in a [[CNN]] film clip on 17 September 2001, then-President George W. Bush stated, "I want justice. There is an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or alive'".<ref>{{cite news |date=2 May 2011 |title=2001, President George W. Bush 'Bin Laden, Wanted dead or alive' |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFgn4EaCGQA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722005532/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFgn4EaCGQA |archive-date=22 July 2013 |access-date=7 January 2012 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> Subsequently, Bin Laden retreated further from public contact to avoid capture. Numerous speculative press reports were issued about his whereabouts or even death; some placed Bin Laden in different locations during overlapping time periods.

On 10 October 2001, Bin Laden appeared as well on the initial list of the top 22 [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]], which was released to the public by the George W. Bush administration and based on the indictment for the 1998 embassy attack. Bin Laden was among a group of 13 fugitive terrorists wanted on that latter list for questioning about the 1998 attack. He remains the only fugitive ever to be listed on both FBI fugitive lists.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} Despite these multiple indictments, the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. However, they did offer to try him before an Islamic court if evidence of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the September 11 attacks was provided. It was not until eight days after the bombing of Afghanistan began in October 2001 that the Taliban finally did offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third-party country for trial, in return for the U.S. ending the bombing. This offer was rejected by George W. Bush, stating that this was no longer negotiable: "there's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty."<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 October 2001 |title=Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825195435/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5 |archive-date=25 August 2013 |access-date=27 May 2010 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
{{Multiple images
| image1            = Delta force GIs disguised as Afghan civilians, November 2001 C.jpg
| caption1          = [[Delta Force]] GIs disguised as Afghan civilians, while they searched for Bin Laden in November 2001
| image2            = Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri 2001.jpg
| caption2          = Bin Laden and [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2001
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
}}
Bin Laden was believed to be hiding in the [[Spin Ghar|White Mountains (Spin Ghar)]] in Afghanistan's east, near the [[Durand Line|Pakistani border]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm|title=Tora Bora Revisited: How We Failed to Get Bin Laden and Why It Matters Today|access-date=24 July 2021|archive-date=20 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120161725/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1006946289469823000|title = As the Search for Bin Laden Intensifies, U.S. Moves Hunt to Spin Ghar Range|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|date = 29 November 2001|access-date = 24 July 2021|archive-date = 24 July 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210724164258/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1006946289469823000|url-status = live}}</ref> According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', the US government concluded that Bin Laden was present during the [[Battle of Tora Bora]], Afghanistan, in late 2001, and according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, failure by the U.S. to commit enough U.S. ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the U.S. in the war against al-Qaeda. Intelligence officials assembled what they believed to be decisive evidence, from contemporary and subsequent interrogations and intercepted communications, that Bin Laden began the Battle of Tora Bora inside the cave complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gellman |first1=Barton |last2=Ricks |first2=Thomas E. |title=U.S. Concludes Bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Fight |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080516112147/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16 |url-status=dead |archive-date= 16 May 2008 |date=17 April 2002 |access-date=25 May 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

On 11 December 2005, a letter from [[Atiyah Abd al-Rahman]] to [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]] indicated that Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership were based in the [[Waziristan]] region of Pakistan at the time. In the letter, translated by the United States military's [[Combating Terrorism Center]] at [[West Point]], Atiyah instructs al-Zarqawi to send messengers to Waziristan so that they meet with the brothers of the leadership. Al-Rahman also indicates that Bin Laden and al-Qaeda are weak and have many of their own problems. The letter has been deemed authentic by military and counterterrorism officials, according to ''The Washington Post''.<ref>{{cite news |last=DeYoung |first=Karen |date=2 October 2006 |title=Letter Gives Glimpse of Al-Qaeda's Leadership |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101083.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425085210/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101083.html |archive-date=25 April 2010 |access-date=20 May 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=25 September 2006 |title=Letter Exposes New Leader in Al-Qa'ida High Command (PDF) |url=http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/CTC-AtiyahLetter.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808182757/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/CTC-AtiyahLetter.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2007 |access-date=20 May 2010 |publisher=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point}}</ref>

''The Washington Post'' also reported that the CIA unit composed of special operations paramilitary forces dedicated to capturing Bin Laden was shut down in late 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/04/AR2006070400375.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=CIA Reportedly Disbands Bin Laden Unit |agency=Associated Press |date=4 July 2006 |access-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112023538/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/04/AR2006070400375.html |archive-date=12 November 2012 }}</ref>

U.S. and Afghanistan forces raided the mountain caves in [[Tora Bora]] between 14 and 16 August 2007. The military was drawn to the area after receiving intelligence of a pre-[[Ramadan]] meeting held by al-Qaeda members. After killing dozens of al-Qaeda and Taliban members, they did not find either Bin Laden or al-Zawahiri.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21000298 |title=Bin Laden may have just escaped U.S. forces |publisher=NBC News |author1=Justin Balding |author2=Adam Ciralsky |author3=Jim Miklaszewski |author4=Robert Windrem |date=26 September 2007 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-date=11 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011041830/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21000298/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Al-Qaeda continued to release time-sensitive and professionally verified videos demonstrating Bin Laden's continued survival, including in August 2007.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 September 2007 |title=Experts warn of attack clues in Bin Laden video |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_EKAnlECgMVCrglrdYA5IqvQ6hQ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408035426/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_EKAnlECgMVCrglrdYA5IqvQ6hQ |archive-date=8 April 2008 |access-date=25 May 2010 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> He claimed sole responsibility for the September 11 attacks and specifically denied any prior knowledge of them by the Taliban or the Afghan people.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 November 2007 |title=Bin Laden urges Europe to quit Afghanistan |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2912911920071129?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112053348/http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2912911920071129?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0 |archive-date=12 January 2009 |work=Reuters}}</ref>