I remember an interview with Sandy Burgler just after 9/11. Burgler was asked when he thought the planning had started for 9/11 and Burgler said "Sometime in March or April of 2001"! He said this to deflect blame for the ineptness of the Clintoons in fighting the threat from Al Quaeda. He knew darn well that the planning for 9/11 had taken years and not months to evolve and that most of the planning was done while Clinton was chasing interns in the White House.
If you read Dereliction of Duty you will see that the story about permission to go after OBL was thwarted by slick willie at other times as well.