In a New York Times op-ed on October 19, 2004, retired Central Command leader General Tommy Franks “vehemently denied Democrat [presidential] contender John Kerry’s claim that he had let bin Laden escape [from the Tora Bora cave complex in Afghanistan]. He accused Kerry of ‘distortions of history,’ saying that ‘bin Laden was never within our grasp.’ ”
– Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 99