Clarke was worried that bin Laden might flee to Baghdad. Hmmm. Curious. Page 134:

“In February 1999,Allen proposed flying a U-2 mission over Afghanistan to

build a baseline of intelligence outside the areas where the tribals had coverage.

Clarke was nervous about such a mission because he continued to fear that

Bin Ladin might leave for someplace less accessible. He wrote Deputy National

Security Advisor Donald Kerrick that one reliable source reported Bin Ladin’s

having met with Iraqi officials, who ‘may have offered him asylum.’ Other

intelligence sources said that some Taliban leaders, though not Mullah Omar,

had urged Bin Ladin to go to Iraq. If Bin Ladin actually moved to Iraq, wrote

Clarke, his network would be at Saddam Hussein’s service, and it would be ‘virtually

impossible” to find him. Better to get Bin Ladin in Afghanistan, Clarke

declared.’ Berger suggested sending one U-2 flight,but Clarke opposed even

this. It would require Pakistani approval, he wrote; and ‘Pak[istan’s]

intel[ligence service] is in bed with’ Bin Ladin and would warn him that the

United States was getting ready for a bombing campaign: ‘Armed with that

knowledge, old wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad.’ Though told also

by Bruce Riedel of the NSC staff that Saddam Hussein wanted Bin Ladin in

Baghdad,Berger conditionally authorized a single U-2 flight.Allen meanwhile

had found other ways of getting the information he wanted. So the U-2 flight

never occurred.