The cave myth is John Kiriakou’s name, in substance if not in words, for the widespread American belief that al-Qaeda’s leadership spent the years after September 11 hiding in caves. He rejects it flatly.
Why he never believed it
Asked directly about the stories, Kiriakou answered that they were not true, and said he does not know how the rumour ever got started.[1][2] The cave story never made sense to him, because these men are just like everybody else and a person can only rough it for so long.[2]
When people asked him where he thought Osama bin Laden was, his standing answer was that bin Laden was comfortable, in a house, in a major city somewhere.[2]
The reverse psychology
Kiriakou’s explanation for the discrepancy is deliberate American misdirection. Al-Qaeda’s leaders always believed the Americans thought they were hiding in the tribal areas — territory unreachable except by drone. In fact, he says, the CIA knew they were all in major cities, and let the belief stand.[2][3]
The operational payoff was carelessness. Men in cities who think the search is concentrated in the countryside tend to be a little more sloppy, especially with their electronic communications — cellphones, email and the like — and that makes them easier to catch.[3]
The record
Kiriakou lists the captures as confirmation. Abu Zubaydah was caught in a major city. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whom he identifies as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was caught in a major city. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, was caught in a major city. So was Ramzi bin al-Shibh.[3] And bin Laden, he notes, was found in what he calls the Pakistani version of West Point — in a major city.[3][4]