What about this? >>According to the London Times, in 1996 Sudan contacted the CIA “with an offer to hand over bin Laden.” This offer of extradition; however, was turned down by the Clinton administration. The reasoning? Sources at the White House under Clinton said, “There simply was not the evidence to prosecute Osama bin Laden. He could not be indicted, so it would serve no purpose for him to have been brought into U.S. custody.” At this same time though, the U.S. State Department was calling bin Laden “the greatest single financier of terrorist projects in the world.”
Later in 1996, Sudan informed American diplomats that they were going to expel bin Laden. They offered yet another opportunity for the U.S. to seize him. This offer was declined in a decision that “went to the very top of the White House.” When bin Laden left Sudan on May 18 “in a chartered C-130 plane” bound for Afghanistan, they stopped to refuel in Qatar, which is friendly with the U.S. He was allowed to proceed, however. Why? Administration sources say that “the clear focus of the American policy was to discourage the state sponsorship of terrorism. So persuading Khartoum [Sudan] to expel bin Laden was in itself counted as a clear victory.”
Finally, there’s the saga of Mansoor Ijaz. Ijaz, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, negotiated several opportunities to nab bin Laden between 1996 and 2000. Ijaz, an American Muslim and Clinton supporter, said in an L.A. Times article he feels that “their [Clinton administration] counter-terrorism policies fueled the rise of bin Laden from an ordinary man to a Hydra-like monster.”
Clinton claims that there was no legal basis to bring bin Laden into custody back in 1996. However, in July 2000, just three months before the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole, there was more than enough evidence. Ijaz presented the administration an offer to extradite bin Laden to an Arab country and begin the process that would bring him to the U.S. All Clinton had to do was make a state visit to personally request this extradition. This offer was shot down as well.
If you want to question actions the Bush administration took leading up to 9/11 it’s only fair to question the previous administration as well. The people who were there, dealing with this issue as their “highest priority”, for the past eight years.
Brian Yates is a 21-year old senior at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. A Constitutional conservative, Brian believes in a limited government and hates political correctness.<< |
