'The Hunt for bin Laden' on Smithsonian

This documentary picks up at the beginning, when a fatwa is declared on the United States by a then largely unknown Saudi named Osama bin Laden. A string of attacks around the world follows, and the U.S. response is faltering or inconsistent -- hamstrung by interagency turf wars, or obscure bureaucratic dictums preventing sharing of information.

Most people interviewed here say bin Laden absolutely was trapped at Tora Bora, although he escaped because of an insufficient U.S. force on the ground. The last 20 or so minutes wrap with the compound assault. Many are interviewed, including former CIA and FBI officials, as well as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former national security adviser and terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Maybe that's why there are so few major outtakes on this anniversary -- TV has assumed there really isn't all that much new to be said, or at least said until classified material has been released. "The Hunt" doesn't just cover old ground, but it is downright incurious on the most sensational chapter of the story, notably the assault.

But anniversaries can be a time to reflect, and that's the best approach for viewers here. Clarke, who has effectively framed the post-9/11 narrative period in books, congressional testimony and interviews, haunts this broadcast with a what-might-have-been tone: On learning of bin Laden's death, "My reaction was, if I ordered a pizza and it came 10 years later, I wouldn't be too delighted." On the eve of this particular anniversary, few might agree.