Berger rejected four plans to kill or capture bin Laden

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | July 24, 2004 | James G. Lakely

[neverdem]

President Clinton's national security adviser, Samuel R. Berger, rejected four plans to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, worrying once that if the plans failed and al Qaeda launched a counterattack, "we're blamed."

According to the September 11 commission's 567-page report, released Thursday, Mr. Berger was told in June 1999 that U.S. intelligence agents were confident about bin Laden's presence in a terrorist training camp called Tarnak Farms in Afghanistan.

Mr. Berger's "hand-written notes on the meeting paper," the report says, showed that Mr. Berger was worried about injuring or killing civilians located near the camp.

Additionally, "If [bin Laden] responds" to the attack, "we're blamed," Mr. Berger wrote.

The report also says that Richard Clarke, Mr. Berger's expert on counterterrorism, presented that plan to get bin Laden because he was worried about the al Qaeda leader's "ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction."

These revelations come as Mr. Berger is under investigation by the Justice Department for smuggling several copies of classified documents that dealt with the Clinton administration's anti-terror policies out of the National Archives.

Commission Co-chairman Lee Hamilton said Thursday, however, that the missing documents Mr. Berger has acknowledged taking doesn't affect "the integrity" of the final report.

According to the report, the first plan of action against bin Laden presented to Mr. Berger was a briefing by CIA Director George J. Tenet on May 1, 1998. Mr. Berger took no action, the report says, because he was "focused most" on legal questions.

[AuntB]

Oh, yeah, we need more lawyers running the government, which is the only thing the democrats want to ever elect. I guess he got confused about what a "brief" was when he was "filing" papers.

[endthematrix]

Bill "misspoken" Clinton

Richard "pre-emptive strike" Clarke

Sandy "cover my a$$" Berger

[GeronL]

Actually. We had a post last night that showed one plan was rejected because they were afraid of Hillarys' reaction.

[Ethyl]

Well this is Saturday morning papers, and they think nobody reads them, ashame, the Saturday morning papers have more info than usual. because they think you will not read them! Keep on reading America especially on Saturday! And the Washington Times is the best!

[endthematrix]

Picked up this quote from msn back in March regarding the reason for not striking OBL after the Predator sighting:

"Gary Schroen, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, says the White House required the CIA to attempt to capture bin Laden alive, rather than kill him."

"What impact did the wording of the orders have on the CIA’s ability to get bin Laden? “It reduced the odds from, say, a 50 percent chance down to, say, 25 percent chance that we were going to be able to get him,” said Schroen."

[Keith in Iowa]

>>Sandy "cover my a$$" Berger

That's Sandy "gulteous protectus top-secretus documentus" Beger...

[EGPWS]

President Clinton's national security adviser, Samuel R. Berger, rejected four plans to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, worrying once that if the plans failed and al Qaeda launched a counterattack, "we're blamed."

Sandy should have stuffed a sock in it instead of stuffing it in a sock.

[Yaelle]

Since all this information COMES FROM the report, what did Burglar risk his career and freedom for, then? Would this information not have been in the report had he not been caught? Or is there something else that he successfully prevented from getting into the report?

[jwpjr]

You're really got to wonder what was in those papers Berger risked so much to remove! Look at all the damning stuff that was in the papers that were available. I would have to believe that whatever it was he was so intent on covering up was worse than anything that eventually came out, and that's certainly saying a lot. My prediction is that in the end nothing will come of it, just like nothing came of the hundreds of purloined FBI files or any of the dozen or so other scandals that became the trademark of the Clinton administration. Their MO seems to be to simply do what they please and then dare anyone to do anything about it, while at the same time lying and committing additional crimes to further confuse the issue. I think when all is said and done someone is either honest or dishonest and went he chips are down that person will revert to their basic nature. In the case of the Clintons, and those they chose to surround them, the basic nature is dishonest. I would liken it to dealing with teenagers (You said 'don't be late' and I don't consider 1 AM late, Ashley stayed out until 3 AM), but it goes way beyond that when it comes to the number of people who died, were investigated, indicted, went to jail, got rich, etc. during the eight years the Clintons were in power. Vice President Gore summed it all up quite well with his 'there is no controlling legal interest' comment.

[nopardons]

And they NEVER realize that FR posts all of the juicy bits they try to hide in Saturday pages. :-)

[GeronL]

They can slide with an Oops

[Nateman]

I figured Sandy was trying to hide something that made them look like worthless wimps, but was considered unimportant at the time. Otherwise they had plenty of time to destroy it like all the other incriminating stuff they routinely deleted. It only shows how criminally arrogant they are by trying to pull off a stunt like this under W's watch.

[nopardons]

Clinton is no longer the president,Reno isn't running the DoJ,and the wheels of hustice grind awfully slowly,so we MUST make sure that President Bush gets re-elected.That way,Sloppy,sloppy,SLOPPY Sandy WILL get tried and punished.

[Jeff Chandler]

. It only shows how criminally arrogant they are by trying to pull off a stunt like this under W's watch.

I sure wouldn't want to be the guy who prosecutes Burglar. The media will destroy him.

BTW, Where was that particular archive building located? If he is tried in DC, there will be an O.J. jury to acquit him.

[beckett]

A few days after 911 a clearly panicked Berger was all over TV saying plans for the attack were "most likely" only "three months" old. He was desparate to put the blame on the Bush administration.

We're now beginning to learn why he was so panicked and just how much he had to hide.

[jwpjr]

I know we've heard it said every four years for at least as long as I've been around, but I really believe this election is one of the most important of my lifetime. The county is so evenly divided that we are going to have to use every bit of persuasive power we can muster up to get people to vote and to urge them to vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket and for Republicans at every level. A return to the politics that marked the eight years of the Clintons would be awfully hard for me to stomach at my age!

[leadpenny]

Commission Co-chairman Lee Hamilton said Thursday, however, that the missing documents Mr. Berger has acknowledged taking doesn't affect "the integrity" of the final report.

If the documents are missing, how does the Honorable Lee Hamilton know which documents are missing?

[nopardons]

I don't know how old you are,but I've seen many election cycles come and go.This one really is a life or death matter and that's not hyperbole.

We all must work on everyone we know and even those we don't know,to get them to either vote for President Bush,or stay home if they're Dems,who you can't convince to pull a lever with an R after it.The trick with Dems,is to make it personal...personal in the way their own and their children's lives are threatened,YES,THREATENED,by a Kerry win.

Turn their own touchy feely feelings into points for our side!All you need to do is to find their "soft spot";but never use their own "HATE" tactics.

[angkor]

Mr. Berger took no action, the report says, because he was "focused most" on legal questions.

More to the point, the "legal questions" kept coming in the form of DoJ memoranda from Reno/Gorelick.

Gorelick as we all know was improperly impaneled on the Commission, while Reno cut her public testimony waaayyyy short by explaining that she didn't remember what was or was not classified anymore (e.g., "If you keep asking me these questions, I may spill the beans right here on live TV.")

Reno's play was masterful, the remainder of the questions were pathetic softballs.