Washington, Nov. 29 (AP): Osama bin Laden was within reach of US troops in the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report said.

The report asserts that the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond the fate of one man. Bin Laden’s escape laid the foundation for today’s reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now endangering Pakistan, it said.

The report seeks to affix a measure of blame for the state of the war today on military leaders under George W. Bush, specifically Donald H. Rumsfeld as defence secretary.

Staff members for the Senate foreign relations committee’s Democratic majority prepared the report at the request of chairman John Kerry.

“The decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to inspire fanatics worldwide. The failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future of international terrorism,” the report said