Asserting that Dems "starting to feel some of the pressure" of catching bin Laden, CNN's Todd ignored Bush's reported failure

On the November 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN correspondent Brian Todd reported that "after years of accusing the White House of taking its eye off the ball in Afghanistan, the Democrats are starting to feel some of the pressure that goes with hunting the world's most wanted man." Todd added that "[d]uring this last [election] cycle, Democrats were all too eager to take political advantage," but "[n]ow that they're about to assume power in Congress, the question turns right around: What's the Democrats' plan to get Osama bin Laden?"

But in mentioning only Democrats' accusations and, without elaboration, the fact that bin Laden has eluded capture, Todd left out the reported facts that give substance to those accusations. As Media Matters for America has noted, in his book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (Simon & Schuster, June 2006), investigative reporter Ron Suskind disclosed that, in November 2001, when U.S., Pakistani, and Afghan forces reportedly had bin Laden cornered in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region, the CIA explicitly warned Bush that the United States risked "los[ing] our prey" if more U.S. troops were not sent to help in the effort. Specifically, Bush was told that additional U.S. forces were needed because the Pakistani soldiers and local Afghan militias were "definitely not" equipped to capture bin Laden themselves. According to Suskind, Bush repeatedly received classified reports from the CIA in early December 2001 that the "back door is open" -- referring to the unmanned Afghanistan-Pakistan border. But the Bush administration never committed more troops to the area, and bin Laden ultimately escaped.

On The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer also noted that "Democrats have long criticized the president's policies and the overall war on terror" but did not mention that Suskind's book supported the validity of the Democrats' accusations regarding bin Laden. Neither Todd nor Blitzer explained how "hunting the world's most wanted man" was now the Democrats' responsibility.

From the 5 p.m. ET hour of the November 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Democrats have long criticized the president's policies and the overall war on terror, and now that they'll be sharing power, they may have to start sharing their ideas for going after Al Qaeda.

Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd. He's looking into this story -- Brian.

TODD: Right, Wolf. For years, after years of accusing the White House of taking its eye off the ball in Afghanistan, the Democrats are starting to feel some of the pressure that goes with hunting the world's most wanted man.

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TODD: He's eluded capture through one U.S. presidential campaign and two midterm elections. During this last cycle, Democrats were all too eager to take political advantage.

ANNOUNCER (political ad): Where's Osama bin Laden?

TODD: Now that they're about to assume power in Congress, the question turns right around: What's the Democrats' plan to get Osama bin Laden?

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI): I would want to talk to our commanders about whether or not additional forces, including special-ops forces, would be helpful.

TODD: The incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee hits on a key Democratic talking point during the campaign -- a call for doubling the size of U.S. Special Forces. Would that pin down bin Laden? Former CIA officer Gary Berntsen was at the battle of Tora Bora in 2001. His book, Jawbreaker [The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander (Crown, 2005)] recounts how bin Laden narrowly escaped the grasp of U.S. and Afghan forces. Berntsen says special-op teams are only one component of a hunt like this.

BERNTSEN: It's about the intelligence collection; it's about identifying him. And once he's identified, the military operation can take place, but we've got to find him first, and that's not the job of Special Forces.

TODD: And if, as many terrorism experts believe, bin Laden is in Pakistan, the Pakistani government would not allow large numbers of U.S. Special Forces inside its borders. Another Democratic talking point: increase America's human intelligence capabilities. When I asked aides to key Democratic leaders for more specifics on that, they said they couldn't provide them yet. So, I asked CNN national security adviser John McLaughlin, a former deputy CIA director.

McLAUGHLIN: We should be doing more of what the intelligence community is now doing -- that is, hiring increasing numbers of case officers, the people who do this work, looking for people who have languages and ethnic backgrounds that allow them to blend in overseas in difficult environments.

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TODD: McLaughlin says it's too simple to say the U.S. needs more Special Forces and better human intelligence. To find someone like bin Laden, he says a lot of things have to come into alignment. The skill of your case officers, the access of your sources, and, frankly, he says, some luck -- that one tip that can lead to a big capture. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian. Thanks. Good report.