“It was in Kandahar [Afghanistan] that perhaps the last, and most likely the best, opportunity arose for targeting Bin Ladin with cruise missiles before 9.11. In May [14-20] 1999, CIA assets in Afghanistan reported on Bin Ladin’s location in and around Kandahar over the course of five days and nights. The reporting was detailed and came from several sources. If this intelligence was not ‘actionable,’ working-level officials said…it was hard for them to imagine how any intelligence on Bin Ladin in Afghanistan would meet the standard. …’This was in our strike zone,’ a senior military official said. ‘It was a fat pitch, a home run.’ …When the decision came back that they should stand down, not shoot, the officer said, ‘we all just slumped.’ ”
– 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, Pages 140-141