Posted on 07/23/2004 1:11:17 AM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials scrapped a 1999 plan to offer the Taliban a $250 million bribe to turn over Osama Bin Laden, fearing then-First Lady Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would object to paying off the infamous women's rights abusers.Clinton had long criticized the Islamic regime in Afghanistan for covering women with burkas and denying them educations and jobs.
According to the final 9/11 commission report, Bill Clinton's administration had already made fruitless overtures to the Taliban, paying $10 million to $20 million annually in bribes.
"Two senior State Department officials suggested asking the Saudis to offer the Taliban $250 million for Bin Laden," the report said, citing a May 1999 memo. But White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke "opposed ... a 'huge grant to a regime as heinous as the Taliban' and suggested that the idea might not seem attractive to either Secretary Albright or First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton - both critics of the Taliban's record on women's rights."
"Sen. Clinton was a vocal critic of the heinous Taliban regime well before 9/11," said her spokesman, Philippe Reines.
James Gordon Meek
Originally published on July 23, 2004
According to Richard Miniter, Toon's admin had at least 9 opportunities to kill UBL. Is Bubba going to blame Hilliary and Halfbright for his unwillingness to do so all those times, too?
Equally culpable. Remember the "We are the President" speech?
She was????
Good question
Hummmmmmmmmm
JAMMIR GORLICK to be guest on WLS soon...........Don Wade is going to rip her apart!!!
Don will be asking her to apologize to America for creating "the wall"...
I haven't see the movie .. but that sounds like the part that Michael Moore blames and makes it look like it happened under the Bush Administration
It's about time that we start shouting that "It was Hillary's fault!"
Yeah, that will stop terrorism.
I hear ya ... but bare on the side of caution .. this smells funny coming from a liberal paper
This makes it sound like we were offering a bounty for his head
Holy crap! We were giving them $10-$20M per year in bribes????
Got it on .. thanks
It does sound awfully noble for Hillary . . . perhaps a little Gorelick-influenced embellishment . . . these people understand spin in ways most of us don't even dream of . . .
It does sound awfully noble for Hillary . . . perhaps a little Gorelick-influenced embellishment . . . these people understand spin in ways most of us don't even dream of . . .
I guess that's a "NO"............
It's becoming clearer to me how it went down. At a planning meeting regarding the expected 9/11 commission, Clinton (pick one, or both) told McAuliffe to summon Richard Clarke.
"Dick," Bill said, his eyes twinkling a friendly blue in the manner of the 'good cop',"you know they're convening that 9/11 commission and let's not pretend. You've been a vocal critic of the way my administration handled terrorism."
Clarke nodded affirmative nervously. He'd considered the formation of the commission to be his chance to tell his story about his endless warnings about terrorism and how he was short-shrifted by not one, but two, administrations.
"If it makes you feel any better, Dick, we agree right now that you have vindicated," McAuliffe jumped in, his face also aglow and friendly.
"And we have a way to pay you back," Bill said, his eyes now a more determined, steely blue. Dick remained quiet and quelled his almost physical joy at finally being acknowledged for his foresight.
"You know, Dick, it was Sandy who hired you on and we kept you in a right nice job for plenty of years. In fact, you had so much experience because of us that they kept you on in the Bush administration. I say you owe us a little something for being loyal to you."
Dick nodded yes, a whole lot of questions and protests on his lips but he knew Bill Clinton had something up so he quietly listened.
"Help us prevaricate on this, Dick," McAuliffe took over. "Help us prevent Bill, Sandy and YOU, from taking the bulk of the blame on this thing, Dick. You know we worked hard as hell when we were in the White House. You know that we not only had to constantly deal with the normal affairs of state but every day it was something new from the Republican attack camp. And...," Terry said, drawing out that one syllable that Clarke be patient and hear their proposal.
"It's not that we ignored you, Dick, but like I told you over and over, the public wouldn't accept our up and invading Afghanistan, not to mention Iraq. Remember we didn't have the smoke of 9/11 backing up our decisions."
Clarke bit his tongue and waited to hear what Terry had to say. It wasn't easy. He was tempted to remind Bill that he had, indeed, managed to convince the public that the US should invade Kosovo; that with good communication and leadership the public will generally give their leader at least a chance. Clarke could taste his vindication to come at the hands of the new 9/11 commission and any proposals McAuliffe had for him had better be worth it."
McAuliffe leaned in close to Clarke to begin his pitch. "For all of your sleepness nights, Dick, you deserve some compensation," McAuliffe said softly.
This was the sort of language Clarked wanted to hear.
"You know my book is coming out this year," Bill said, suddenly and evidently out of nowhere. Clarke nodded. He'd been bitter about both of the Clintons' books. They'd fiddled around while he warned them endlessly about problems and now they would both get rich for what Dick was sure would be a tome of lies.
"How'd you like a book of your own, Dick?" McAuliffe asked. Pick up lots of royalties. And," McAuliffe drew out that syllable once again, "you'll get the best book promotion a writer could have."
Clarke couldn't keep his tongue any longer. He said he couldn't write. He asked as to the nature of the promotion. He wondered how they would cover up the plain truth in the documents in the archives.
"First," McAuliffe said, his smile confident. This was his area of expertise. "We've got 60 Minutes in the bag with Bill's book. As a condition of them getting first interview with Bill, we tell them they must give you an hour." Terry didn't mention the other hour they blackmailed 60 Minutes for as Joe Wilson was none of Clarke's business.
"And get this, Dick," Terry continued, his tone conspiratorial, "we manage to time your interview on 60 Minutes with the release of your book with your testimony before the commission. It'll be a blockbuster."
"And don't worry about doing any writing, Dick. They have ghosts for that kind of thing. We'll get it written and just have you look it over. You won't even have to do much work. Of course we're going to do a little spinning with your book, Dick, but we estimate you'll get royalties in the millions."
This was the kind of money Clarke liked to talk about.
"As for the files in the national archives, don't worry about it. If need be I'll pull those memos out of the archives myself," Sandy Berger offered, speaking for the first time during the meeting.
"All you have to do," McAuliffe said, "is play up how the Bushies ignored you. Which they did, Dick, you know they didn't give you the time of day."
Clarke nodded. The Bush administration treated him with even more disdain than the Clintons, if that was possible.
"We're just going to play down all the issues you had with MY administration," Bill said, his blue eyes twinkling again as a the 'good cop'"
Clarke readily agreed to the plan. He could get rich, get even with the Bush people who treated him like so much garbage, and as for the Clintons, well they were repaying him, weren't they? "You don't think the Republicans will get wind of this?" Clarke asked.
McAuliffe let out a guffaw. "Dick, there are no stupider people on earth than Republicans. And the Republicans on this commission are has-beens from the past. They'll never know what hit them."
Clarke agreed to the entire plan. He was assured that when the truth finally came out that his royalties would be in the bag.
On the way home Dick had to smile. The Republicans don't even think like Clinton. They totally lack the imagination. The whole thing would be a real hoot.
Well, it does sound better than, say for example, UBL blackmailing Toon into leaving him, UBL, alone...
MKM
I didn't see any of you posting to the thread, but you should read this. Bribing the Taliban with $10 million to $20 million a year and what did we get?
The Taliban wouldn't have used the "bribes" to send the 9/11 hijackers here to train or expand terrorist camps. </ sarcasm>
Guess X42 gave us 9/11 after all.
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