Should we be surprised? He used to have a realistic appreciation of the difficulties of operating in those mountains and of how hard it is to hunt down one man. Here is what he said on CNN’s “Late Edition” on January 20, 2002:
“The bottom line is that the closest we came was in Tora Bora. I do think some people have asked some questions about how that particular component of the mission sort of played out. But the fact is that it is a difficult place. He is elusive.
I think they are doing the maximum amount right now possible to try to track him down. And it is an extraordinarily hard thing for him to hide somewhere. I mean, over a period of time, I think, he is in trouble.”