Posted on 08/19/2005 8:42:58 AM PDT by bobsunshine
Washington, August 18, 2005 - The U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan told a top Taliban official in September 2000 that the U.S. "was not out to destroy the Taliban," but the "UBL [Osama bin Laden] issue is supremely important," according to declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive. The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, show how years of U.S. diplomacy with the Taliban, combined with pressure on Pakistan, and attempts to employ Saudi cooperation still failed to compel the Taliban to expel bin Laden.
Harboring bin Laden, but hesitant to sever diplomatic ties with the U.S. completely, the Taliban claimed there was insufficient evidence to convict bin Laden of terrorism, going so far as to say that Saddam Hussein was behind the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
The newly declassified documents also show that State Department officials rejected Taliban claims that the U.S. supported bin Laden during the Soviet occupation. U.S. officials clarify that, although Osama bin Laden may have fought with other U.S.-funded anti-Soviet resistance groups in Afghanistan, "we had never heard his name during that period and did not support him at that time."
------------- Document 1 - Islama 07510 U.S. Embassy (Islamabad), Cable, "Pakistan: Ambassador Raises bin Laden with Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed" October 6, 1998, Secret, 2 pp. [Excised]
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan William B. Milam discusses Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed. The Ambassador states that although there are a number of "sticking points in our relationship [with the Taliban] which we are willing to discuss, preeminently the status of women and girls, there was one issue on which we had no flexibility. This was the presence of Osama bin Laden and his organization in Afghanistan."
Ambassador Milam asks for Pakistan's help on the bin Laden issue and stresses "that U.S. patience was growing thin" and bin Laden's extradition was something the U.S. needed to have "settled 'in a matter of days' rather than weeks or months."
Then what happened? So none of this was in the 9-11 report? Having never taken the report seriously, I have never read it nor even read any news stories describing it.
These were unsuccessful attempts and is just being reported by AP news. Captainsquarterblog has some good insight on this and other updates to Able Danger.
Oh well it looks like another one of the wild and wacked out comrades at DU just had another one of their talking points proven tp be a lie.
I'm sure they will correct the record.......
So Bill Clinton knew that Saddam was behind the bombings and did nothing???
No wait. He signed the Iraqi Liberation Act into law and sent a few cruise missiles.
So, the Taliban told us that Saddam was behind the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam?
Bill and Hillary sucking up to the women-hating Taliban? Impossible!!! I wonder what Mavis Leno and her Hollywood feminist pals will have to say about this!
Big effort to extradite bin Laden right before the 2000 election.
Thank you for letting me know about this report.
But Bill Clinton was "obsessed" with OBL.
There must be truth in the Able-Danger story, for the left-net is out desperately hunting for something good to say about Clinton and terrorism.
You can bet this story will be giving a fresh new-news look in hundreds of U.S. venues as soon as possible.
Yes, but compare this to some other memos describing how the Clintons wanted to make sure Osama had a nice chair, so he would be comfortable if we caught him. (Someone suggested Ol' Sparky might be a proper chair....)
Harboring bin Laden, but hesitant to sever diplomatic ties with the U.S. completely, the Taliban claimed there was insufficient evidence to convict bin Laden of terrorism, going so far as to say that Saddam Hussein was behind the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Whoa!!!!!
Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 10:35 a.m. EDT
Clinton Lawyers Fretted Over Bin Laden's Comfort
The CIA's former Bin Laden desk chief revealed Thursday night that Clinton administration lawyers warned counterterrorism agents that Osama bin Laden had to be kept as comfortable as possible if they captured him during planned raids into Afghanistan. "The lawyers were more concerned with bin Laden`s safety and his comfort than they were with the officers charged with capturing him," former Bin Laden desk chief Michael Scheuer told MSNBC's "Hardball. "We had to build an ergonomically designed chair to put him in, [for] special comfort in terms of how he was shackled into the chair," Scheuer explained. "They even worried about what kind of tape to gag him with so it wouldn`t irritate his beard."
"The lawyers are the bane of the intelligence community," the former CIA man lamented.
Concerns like that, as well as foot dragging by the White House, resulted in one missed opportunity after another to get the al Qaida terror mastermind, Scheuer said.
"We had at least eight to 10 chances to capture or kill Osama bin Laden in 1998 and 1999. And the government on all occasions decided that the information was not good enough to act," he claimed.
Although sharply critical of President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq , the CIA counterterrorism specialist put the blame for bin Laden's escape firmly on Mr. Clinton.
"In terms of which administration had more chances, Mr. Clinton`s administration had far more chances to kill Osama bin Laden than Mr. Bush has until this day," Scheuer said.
I'm going to throw up.
TexasCajun...I've posted the clip you found from NewsMax and incorrectly attributed that part of my post to another Freeper. I apologize.
It's a great find. It's a sickening to see how much thought was given to OBL's handling, but a great find.
Have a great weekend. ...ping me anytime.
Have a great weekend too, TexasCajun. If I post that find on other threads, I'll be sure to give you the credit you deserve for finding that.
But only "virtually" in the real world, he didn't pay him much attention, unless he needed to "Wag the Dog", and even then he did it such as way as not to overly offend anyone, including Osama.
check this out - ping
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