Amanpour: Bin Laden still deadly relevant
By Christiane Amanpour
CNN
Tuesday, August 22, 2006; Posted: 9:30 a.m. EDT (13:30 GMT)
Editor's note: CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour has reported on crises from many of the world's hotspots. Here, Amanpour shares her analysis with CNN.com on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Even in hiding, Osama bin Laden inspires his followers.
Manage Alerts | What Is This? LONDON, England (CNN) -- Nearly five years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks, yet Osama bin Laden -- the world's most-wanted terrorist -- remains a dangerous fugitive, his words and actions inspiring jihadists across the globe.
It's hard to fathom that bin Laden would remain so relevant today, when in the days after the attacks, the Bush administration and much of the world was determined to get him.
"I want justice," President Bush said, referring to bin Laden after September 11, 2001. "And there's an old poster out West. ... I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"
The United States unleashed an onslaught on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban, but bin Laden slipped away. By most accounts, it's because the United States did not have enough boots on the ground, not enough U.S. soldiers to pin him down and block off escape routes in December 2001.
"In the first two or three days of December, I would write a message back to Washington recommending the insertion of U.S. forces on the ground," Gary Berntsen, the leader of a secret CIA unit pursuing bin Laden at the time, told CNN. "I was looking for 600 to 800 Rangers, roughly a battalion. They never came." (Watch more about bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora -- 2:04)