Barack Obama's "Hasta la Vista, Baby!" to bin Laden

The last I heard of Osama bin Laden was while our small group of special envoys was chasing him irresponsibly around the Tora Bora mountains. The chance of winning the exclusive rights of his capture, combined with a considerable degree of collective unconsciousness, pushed us along during the several days we went after the al-Qaida leader’s trail, along the precipitous slopes of a mountain which, in the end, would be his last refuge and escape route.

The thought that we could be witnesses to his capture drove some to set up constant watch. Take the AFP envoy, for example, who planted himself in a tent in the country, bearing the rigors of the harsh winter, the night bombings and the shuffling around of the mujahedeen doing the dirty work of the CIA.

In those days of fierce competition for the exclusive rights to his capture, I still remember the landing of the FOX News helicopter, with the necessary equipment and special envoys who arrived early everywhere, in a clearing of the grasslands that predominated the grandiose silhouette of Tora Bora.

The creation of the FOX special air command, capable of moving in record time, would mark the turning point in the competition with CNN, which held the monopoly in news coverage until that moment.

Against the backdrop of fierce competition, the race against the clock, the sudden changes in temperature and the outrageous rumors, I still remember the long days, which got going at dawn for those of us who preferred to rest in the crowded rooms of the Hotel Spinghar in Jalalabad, about three hours from Tora Bora, at the end of each day.

After the showers of bombs the United States scattered during the night, the hunt for Osama bin Laden resumed in the morning. Amidst the tunnels, uprooted trees, pieces of clothing and flesh and blood left behind the infamous daisy cutters — bombs that fire pieces of hot metal that cut and penetrate everything in their paths when they explode — we unscrupulous special envoys ran behind some muhjahedeen who were as disoriented and disorganized as we were.

It was during one of those nights of return and withdrawal, in the small room I shared in Jalalabad with Henry Serbeto, ABC Spain’s envoy, that we found out some news that marked a before and after in the coverage.

According to the version that we obtained and confirmed with several locals, Osama bin Laden had been seen by a doctor shortly before escaping from Jalalabad. A serious kidney problem had kept him back there for several days before he set out for Tora Bora. A few days later, America’s most wanted terrorist, responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had escaped by a hair from the mujahedeen and CIA agents who were hot on his heels.

However, even then, there were several things that intrigued those of us who climbed the slopes of Tora Bora every day. Each time we went deep into bin Laden’s terrain, we would come across leftovers of fresh foodstuffs such as honey, fruit or canned food along with remains of the daily destruction.

In a nutshell, bin Laden’s combatants went down to the nearest village to the mountains at night in order to supply themselves with provisions, mistaken for the mujahedeen who were supposed to be chasing them.

Another thing that puzzled us was the apparent incompetence of the mujahedeen who were pursuing bin Laden, but without much dedication or conviction. In addition, when the first CIA commanders arrived to the area equipped with powerful four-wheelers and light weapons, bin Laden’s trail had been lost.

In this way, the belief that bin Laden had escaped from the U.S. military to seek refuge in neighboring Pakistan marked the end of an attack and the coverage of it from which many of us left Afghanistan sick, injured, several kilos lighter, with beards several centimeters long and the feeling of having spent the entire time hunting a ghost.

Perhaps that is why, when President Barack Obama confirmed the death of bin Laden at almost midnight on Sunday, the conclusion to what had been incomplete coverage that winter of 2001 brought closure to some of us, almost 10 years later.

The decision to shoot the leader of al-Qaida in the head and toss him into the sea has not only demonstrated the United States’ resolution and urgency in beheading the leadership of an organization that has spread to countries like Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan.

It has also demonstrated the Obama administration’s urgent necessity to let out a historic “Hasta la vista, baby” to Osama bin Laden in order to get rid of a ghost, a black legend that has fueled the United States’ worst nightmares for the past decade.