Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carolyn who wrote (19669)	11/12/2001 7:45:33 AM
From: GROUND ZERO™	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 59480

I dread to think what Gore would have done if he won the election..... he probably would have sent Ben Laden some wind chimes and a small group of social workers... but would they all be sitting around the campfire peacefully, holding hands with Ben Laden up in the cold Afghan mountains singing Kumbaya? I doubt it... I shudder to imagine what would have happened to them..... GZ

To: Carolyn who wrote (19669)	11/12/2001 8:58:18 AM
From: Zoltan!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Page got some important elements wrong. The most important one being that Sudan offered to serve up OBL to the US - and the Clinton regime refused that offer. Please read: Sudan's Angle How Clinton passed up an opportunity to stop Osama bin Laden. BY RICHARD MINITER Monday, October 8, 2001 12:01 a.m. EDT "....President Bashir saw a unique opportunity to weaken his bitter foe while simultaneously repairing his ties with America and Western Europe by arresting and deporting the gun-toting guardians of his rival. Through a back channel--an Arlington, Va.-based woman who had frequent contact with President Bashir--Sudan made an approach to both the CIA and the FBI in the spring of 1996. A secretive meeting near the Rosslyn Metro stop on March 3, 1996, and a series of cables and faxes fleshed out the offer. Sudan would take bin Laden into custody and turn him over to Washington--or to any other government the Clinton administration designated. A few facts made Sudan's claim credible. Sudan turned over the infamous "Carlos the Jackal" to France--which makes it plausible that Khartoum would agree to hand over a then less infamous terrorist to a much greater power. To prove its bona fides, Sudan provided a series of surveillance photographs and other intelligence material that revealed that they kept close watch on bin Laden. They knew his whereabouts and had the ability to bring a large force to bear in a surprise attack on bin Laden. In fact, a Sudanese representative told me, bin Laden could have been captured as his truck moved through the streets of Khartoum. In addition, Sudan offered to turn over all of its files on bin Laden--the result of more than four years of day-to-day surveillance. A Sudanese government representative indicated that these files filled several rooms and included the history of numerous financial transactions, which could be used to expose the global spider web known as al Qaeda. Finally, Sudan has little incentive to lie about bin Laden these days. The U.N. Security Council recently lifted its sanctions on Khartoum, and Washington has warmed to the dictatorship whose help it may need to win the war on terrorism. Ultimately the Clinton administration refused Khartoum's offer. Instead, the Clinton administration simply asked the Sudanese to deport bin Laden. Steven Simon, director of counterterrorism on President Clinton's National Security Council, told the Washington Post: "I really cared about one thing, and that was getting him out of Sudan." The Clinton administration hoped that Saudi Arabia might agree to arrest, try and execute the terrorist. This was a mind-bogglingly shallow reading of Saudi politics. The Saudi regime is weak and fears the retaliation of the many militant groups active on its soil. "One can understand why the Saudis didn't want him--he was a hot potato--and, frankly, I would have been shocked at the time if the Saudis took him," Mr. Simon told the Post. The Clinton administration focused on buying time, not fighting terrorists. "My calculation was, 'it's going to take him a while to reconstitute, and that screws him up and buys time.,' " Nor did the administration believe that extraditing bin Laden to America would be wise. "In the United States, we have this thing called the Constitution, so to bring him here is to bring him into the justice system," Sandy Berger, who in 1996 was deputy national security adviser, told the Post. "I don't think that was our first choice. Our first choice was to send him someplace where justice is more"--Mr. Berger paused, according to the Post--"streamlined." Senior Clinton staffers told the Post about a "fantasy" in which the Saudis would kill bin Laden. But let's not pass too quickly over Mr. Berger's careless words. If the Clinton administration sought "streamlined" justice and saw bin Laden as a great enough threat to America's interests that they hoped another country would kill him, the president could have secretly overturned the executive order banning assassinations of terrorists and sent in a U.S. Army sniper team. Clearly what Clinton officials really wanted was for another country to take the political heat...." opinionjournal.com

To: Carolyn who wrote (19669)	11/12/2001 9:10:57 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 59480

Thanks Carolyn...and I agree...Here are some events of the last decade from that article.... usatoday.com A Decade of Terrorism Feb. 26, 1993 New York City: In the first major terrorist act on U.S. soil, a truck bomb explodes at the World Trade Center, killing six Americans and injuring more than 1,000 people. Investigators debate the extent of bin Laden's involvement but agree that he provided some support to the conspirators. U.S. response: Six conspirators are convicted in New York of federal charges in connection with the attack and sentenced to life in prison; a seventh suspect eludes capture. Oct. 3, 1993 Mogadishu, Somalia: On a U.N.-sanctioned mission, Army Rangers raid a suspected meeting place for Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid. In a 15-hour battle believed to involve Somali gangs and bin Laden followers, 18 Americans are killed and 80 wounded. A dead soldier is dragged through the streets. U.S. response: President Clinton announces a few days later that the U.S. role in Somalia will end by March 31, 1994. Nov. 13, 1995 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A bomb in a van at the U.S. military headquarters kills seven, including five Americans. U.S. response: The FBI sends a team of agents to investigate but complains about a lack of Saudi cooperation. The Saudis arrest four Muslim militants, who confess and are beheaded the following spring. June 25, 1996 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: A truck bomb at a U.S. military barracks kills 19 Americans. U.S. response: Five years later — on June 21, 2001 — a federal grand jury in Washington indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese on charges of taking part in the attack. But none is in U.S. custody, and experts say the suspects aren't likely to be extradited. The indictments don't target alleged Iranian government involvement. FBI Director Louis Freeh, who will leave that job the following day, says the case "remains unresolved." Aug. 7, 1998 Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Two truck bombs kill 224 people, including 12 Americans, at U.S. embassies in East Africa. More than 5,000 are injured. U.S. response: Two weeks later, Clinton orders a missile attack on a suspected bin Laden training camp in Afghanistan and on a suspected chemical weapons factory in Sudan. Bin Laden is unscathed. Clinton approves additional covert action by the CIA and invokes emergency economic powers to freeze assets. Four people are convicted and sentenced to life in prison; others who are indicted, including bin Laden, are still at large. Oct. 12, 2000 Aden, Yemen: A small boat laden with explosives blows up alongside the USS Cole, killing 17 U.S. sailors. Later, a recruitment video shows bin Laden's group praising the bombing. U.S. response: An FBI investigation is begun but makes little progress. Agents blame the refusal by Yemen to broaden the inquiry to include Islamic militant groups and to allow access to prominent Yemenis they want to interview. Yemeni officials arrest eight people, but none has been put on trial.