[aristeides]

Look at #9 on this thread, HAZY OUTLINES OF AN ISLAMIST INTERNATIONAL. Saudi Arabia was negotiating with the Taliban in 1998 for a handover of bin Laden when Clinton's bombing of bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan (simultaneous with the aspirin factory) squelched the deal and solidified relations between bin Laden and the Taliban. So both of those bombings had ulterior purposes. Bombing the aspirin factory prevented FBI interrogation of the two bin Laden lieutenants the Sudan was holding. And bombing the camps in Afghanistan prevented bin Laden from being handed over to the Saudis.

[Poincare]

It is characteristic of Klinton to take actions that have a multiplicity of effects. That is how his mind works. Additionally, by bombing the aspirin factory he stops Freeh in the Sudan, takes some media atention away from the Lewinsky GJ appearance, and brings a nice commission to Vernon Jordan by bombing his client's failing business. With Klinton it's not one of those things, it's ALL of them and perhaps more that we know of not.

As C. Hitchens and other leftists have pointed out the bombing of the pharmaceutical plant may have caused the deaths of thousands if they were denied the use of needed drugs as a result. Who knows?

[Ranger]

From what I have read in background research there were four plants in the Sudan, 2 chemical and 2 bio or pharmaceutical. We bombed the wrong bio plant. I think it was basically that simple.

There is an excellent australian newspaper article from last month that said Bin Laden purchased bio and chem warfare technology from Saddam and built the plants in the Sudan. This was independently confirmed by Russian technicians that rehabed some Iraqi Scud missiles with bio warheads that had been secreted to the Sudan and aimed at Egypt.