Clinton Audio Exclusive: Pre-11 Bin Laden Strike Wouldn't Have Worked

Newsmax.com ^ | August 7, 2002 | Carl Limbacher

[Paul Atreides]

Flatly contradicting Time magazine's claims this week that his administration turned over workable plans to capture or kill Osama bin Laden to the Bush White House, ex-President Clinton confessed earlier this year that his administration's plans had a "high probability" of failure.

Clinton's made the stunning admission during a February address to a New York business group, which, apparently, Time declined to cover.

But NewsMax.com was there.

As our exclusive audiotape of the Clinton speech makes clear, the ex-president decided not to implement his own administration's plans to attack al-Qaeda before 9-11 - not because of the impending presidential election (as Time claims) - but because he thought such an attack wouldn't work.

Since the audio is less than broadcast quality, NewsMax has transcribed Clinton's pertinent remarks below. Listen to the audio cut while reading along - and discover what the liberal press doesn't want you to know about Time's dubious report:

Remarks of Ex-President Bill Clinton to the Long Island Association
Woodbury, N.Y.
Feb. 15, 2002

Now, if you look back - in the hindsight of history, everybody's got 20/20 vision - the real issue is should we have attacked the al-Qaeda network in 1999 or in 2000 in Afghanistan.

Here's the problem. Before September 11 we would have had no support for it - no allied support and no basing rights. So we actually trained to do this. I actually trained people to do this. We trained people.

But in order to do it, we would have had to take them in on attack helicopters 900 miles from the nearest boat - maybe illegally violating the airspace of people if they wouldn't give us approval. And we would have had to do a refueling stop.

And we would have had to make the decision in advance that's the reverse of what President Bush made - and I agreed with what he did. They basically decided - this may be frustrating to you now that we don't have bin Laden. But the president had to decide after Sept. 11, which am I going to do first: just go after bin Laden or get rid of the Taliban?

He decided to get rid of the Taliban. I personally agree with that decision, although it may or may not have delayed the capture of bin Laden. Why?

Because, first of all the Taliban was the most reactionary government on earth and there was an inherent value in getting rid of them.

Secondly, they supported terrorism and we'd send a good signal to governments that if you support terrorism and they attack us in America, we will hold you responsible.

Thirdly, it enabled our soldiers and Marines and others to operate more safely in-country as they look for bin Laden and the other senior leadership, because we'd have had to have gone in there to just sort of clean out one area, try to establish a base camp and operate.

So for all those reasons the military recommended against it. There was a high probability that it wouldn't succeed.

Now I had one other option. I could have bombed or sent more missiles in. As far as we knew he never went back to his training camp. So the only place bin Laden ever went that we knew was occasionally he went to Khandahar where he always spent the night in a compound that had 200 women and children.

So I could have, on any given night, ordered an attack that I knew would kill 200 women and children that had less than a 50 percent chance of getting him.

Now, after he murdered 3100 or our people and others who came to our country seeking their livelihood you may say, "Well, Mr. President, you should have killed those young women and children."

But at the time we didn't think he had the capacity to do that. And no one thought that I should do that. Although I take full responsibility for it. You need to know that those are the two options I had. And there was less than a 50/50 chance that the intelligence was right that on this particular night he was in Afghanistan.

Now, we did do a lot of things. We tried to get the Pakistanis to go get him. They could have done it and they wouldn't. They changed governments at the time from Mr. Sharif to President Musharraf. And we tried to get others to do it. We had a standing contract between the CIA and some groups in Afghanistan authorizing them and paying them if they should be successful in arresting (unintelligible).

So I tried hard to - I always thought this guy was a big problem. And apparently the options I had were the options that the President and Vice President Cheney and Secretary Powell and all the people that were involved in the Gulf War thought that they had, too, during the first eight months that they were there - until Sept. 11 changed everything.

But I did the best I could with it and I do not believe, based on what options were available to me, that I could have done any more than I did. Obviously, nobody has been successful. I tried a lot of different ways to get bin Laden cause I always thought he was a very dangerous man. He's (unintelligible), he's bold and he's deadly.

But I think it's very important that the Bush administration do what they're doing to keep the soldiers over there to keep chasing him. But I know - like I said - I know it might be frustrating to you. But it's still better for bin Laden to worry every day more about whether he's going to see the sun come up in the morning than whether he's going to drop a bomb, another bomb somewhere in the U.S. or in Europe or on some other innocent civilians.

[Paul Atreides]

I just wonder how much salt it would take to dissolve that slug.

[Clara Lou]

This is one of the none too numerous times that NewsMax has provided me with some useful information. I hope they pass this along to FOX news channel. This needs to be aired. It would be nice if the other majors would carry it, but that would be way too much to hope for.

[evolved_rage]

I think he is more of a Coney Island whitefish. (A used condom on the pavement)

[stubernx98]

I agree with your assesment of Clinton, but what he said rings somewhat true. And 9/11 did change everything. Pre 9/11 there is no way we could have accomplished what we have.

[gaspar]

When Clinton tries to hang George Sr. for the Somalia fiasco the Republicans should point to Al Watan Al Arabi, 22 January 1993 and the quote by an American official that: "There is an actual danger of terrorist operations in Somalia and against our interests in the [Horn of Africa] and the world." The same official also noted that , "American embassies abroad, particularly in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, have received instructions to take maximum precautions and to bolster their protection." The Clinton administration was forewarned, the errors, blunders and idiocies are of their own making and not to be blamed on George Bush.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Time is busted. There article was classic pre-release Clintonista war room damage control for an upcoming book about Clinton's failure to take bin Laden when offered on a silver platter.

[dodger]

CLINTON: I actually trained people to do this.

Gee, Beelzebubba is really in the GI Joe mode of late. First he's off to join the IDF and now he reveals his formerly secret career as a Black-Ops Commandant. Perhaps he should take a Walter Mitty Professorship in History at UMass with that other guy who fancies himself the big 'Nam vet.

[Paul Atreides]

Always notice that his heroism comes AFTER the fact. Never did we hear of any of this until time for a major CYA operation. Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE who voted for this worthless vermin, should hang his head in shame.

[Paul Atreides]

Isn't that quite a reversal of fortune for Bill and Hill? She had to lie about being rejected for the Marines and he had to lie about fighting for Israel and getting tough with terrorists. That is quite a lot to swallow for two such rabid anti-American socialists.

[dodger]

It is astonishing -- and astoningly worrisome -- he was elected & re-elected. Heaven help us if the even more dangerous (but now 'moderate') Hitlery wheedles her way back into the White House.

But as Stentor long ago said 'The People wish to be deceived'.

[uncbob]

This should be sent to TIME and see if they do a follow up

[ex-snook]

"Now I had one other option. I could have bombed or sent more missiles in. "

Let's see now. The mantra is 'bin Laden's attack on the WTC was totalled unprovoked'. Did these guys ever know that in war, there is potential payback. That's the problem with civilian gurus - they think the other side has no options.

[Paul Atreides]

I have no faith in the American public. We went from a President with approval ratings in the 90s to a "man" not even worthy enough to sweep up dog feces off a sidewalk. I will not be one bit surprised if the sheeple vote for Hillary. And, that is what scares me.

[Laverne]

Done! Plus I sent it to CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS requesting apologies all around to the American People and the Bush administration for participating in Clinton revisionist history and out right lies to the American people! HA, will we ever see this make the alphabet soup news(?) casts? Certainly we will not, but it sure is fun to write these folks, pass this information on, and request a formal apology! Try it, you will like it! :-)

[Paul Atreides]

Wasn't it Bubba who halted the bombing of Hussein, or somebody, because it was said that he had a Picasso or Van Gogh in his palace?

[dodger]

I have no faith in the American public.

I completely agree ... such vacuity and unsteadfastness.

[Freee-dame]

This should be sent to TIME and see if they do a follow up

I won't hold my breath.

[Sidebar Moderator]

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