U.S. Refusal of 2001 Taliban Offer Gave bin Laden a Free Pass By Gareth Porter*

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55476

U.S. Refusal of 2001 Taliban Offer Gave bin Laden a Free Pass
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2011 (IPS) - When George W. Bush rejected a Taliban offer to have Osama bin Laden tried by a moderate group of Islamic states in mid- October 2001, he gave up the only opportunity the United States would have to end bin Laden's terrorist career for the next nine years.