they could have sniped Osama TWICE US government ordered not to take action

I can understand The US government ordering not to shoot in order to avoid some sort of retaliation from osama's supporters but at the same time if Osama was on cross hair they had a exact location for him so they could have apprehend him.

at the end of article it says the story is pure fabrication but there has to be some sort of half truth or whole lie. any more info on this would be great. article is at the bottom.

PARIS (AFP) - French soldiers in Afghanistan had Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in their crosshairs -- twice -- but did not receive the order from their US commander to open fire, a French documentary reported.

The filmed report, by journalists Eric de Lavarene and Emmanuel Razavi, asserts that the French troops had bin Laden in their rifle scopes in 2003 and then again six months later in 2004.

Four French soldiers assigned to a 200-strong special forces unit in Afghanistan under US military control all confirmed -- "at different times and in different places" -- that they could have killed bin Laden but that the order to shoot was not forthcoming, the report claims.

The documentary, entitled "Bin Laden: Failings of a Manhunt" and set to be shown on French cable television channel Planete at an unspecified date, relies on the accounts given by the four soldiers.

"We have the original voice recordings of the soldiers," Razavi told AFP. "But their anonymity has to be guaranteed."

However the French defence ministry said the story was "pure fabrication".

"There is absolutely no basis of truth in what is being said," said spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.

news.yahoo.com...

Originally posted by dvd500
I can understand The US government ordering not to shoot in order to avoid some sort of retaliation from osama's supporters but at the same time if Osama was on cross hair they had a exact location for him so they could have apprehend him.

at the end of article it says the story is pure fabrication but there has to be some sort of half truth or whole lie. any more info on this would be great. article is at the bottom.

PARIS (AFP) - French soldiers in Afghanistan had Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in their crosshairs -- twice -- but did not receive the order from their US commander to open fire, a French documentary reported.

The filmed report, by journalists Eric de Lavarene and Emmanuel Razavi, asserts that the French troops had bin Laden in their rifle scopes in 2003 and then again six months later in 2004.

Four French soldiers assigned to a 200-strong special forces unit in Afghanistan under US military control all confirmed -- "at different times and in different places" -- that they could have killed bin Laden but that the order to shoot was not forthcoming, the report claims.

The documentary, entitled "Bin Laden: Failings of a Manhunt" and set to be shown on French cable television channel Planete at an unspecified date, relies on the accounts given by the four soldiers.

"We have the original voice recordings of the soldiers," Razavi told AFP. "But their anonymity has to be guaranteed."

However the French defence ministry said the story was "pure fabrication".

"There is absolutely no basis of truth in what is being said," said spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.

news.yahoo.com...

First and foremost, this topic is already being discussed in another thread. Second, read the quote from this same article.

"However the French defence ministry said the story was "pure fabrication"."

"There is absolutely no basis of truth in what is being said," said spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.

The French would love to jump on the US if this had actually taken place. I don't buy one piece of this story.