Thread by @gumby4christ

In Oct. 2001, the US "made its case" for invading Afghanistan to NATO. Per one NATO official, the presentation "did not report any direct order from Mr. bin Laden, nor did [it] indicate that the Taliban knew about the attacks before they happened."
nytimes.com/2001/10/03/int…

Another diplomat of a close US ally said there was "nothing particularly new or surprising" and that the briefing "was descriptive and narrative rather than forensic. There was no attempt to build a legal case." nytimes.com/2001/10/03/int…

Colin Powell said the case linking Bin Laden with 9/11 was based on "pretty good information" (pretty good!), admitting it was "not evidence in the form of a court case." He also suggested it didn't really matter anyway since al-Qaeda had already been indicted for other attacks.

Meanwhile, "[s]ome European officials suggested that Washington was still withholding some information about aspects of the case."

I realize none of this is remotely surprising in 2021, but it is remarkable how little effort was put in to even making making the case against OBL, much less showing why the Taliban was supposedly responsible.

Worth noting that when the "case was being made," the covert war on Afghanistan had already begun. CIA choppered into Afghanistan to whip up the Northern Alliance on September 26, 2001—an operation memorialized in this awful painting displayed at CIA HQ. militarytimes.com/off-duty/gears…