Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities

[Postman]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4540958/

hmmm....interesting, using "intelligence" footage from the Clinton administration to make an argument that Democrats missed the opportunity to capture OBL and asks the question- Why wasn't he killed when we had the oppurtunity?

Using intelligence agencies to conduct political campaigns? Trying to scare the American people into voting for Bush?

I would ask, why didn't Bush grab OBL from the Taliban when they offered him up right after 9/11?

[blm]

1. Actually, they were working to ARM the drone that was tracking Bin Laden

and it was ready in January. Clinton decided to leave the decision up to Bush, since he would have to deal with the consequences. Clinton couldn't have even IMAGINED that the Bush team would so callously disregard their warnings on Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and terrorism.

In fact, didn't Bush decide instead to pull the force back that was after Bin Laden?

[LiviaOlivia]

2. "intelligence footage" was filmed Oct. 2000.

This story ran on Keith Olbermann's show also. What part of Oct. they
didn't know(they being Olbermann and Coll from the Washington Post).
Transcript from show not yet available.

[aprilgirl]

3. RW witch hunters and "House Managers" must take share of blame

for 9/11. Had the Congress and FBI been doing the jobs they were elected and hired for, many things might have been different.

Excerpt from report:

"In reality, getting bin Laden would have been extraordinarily difficult. He was a moving target deep inside Afghanistan. Most military operations would have been high-risk. What’s more, Clinton was weakened by scandal, and there was no political consensus for bold action, especially with an election weeks away."

[hexola]

4. It would have been irresponsible for Clinton to engage in any major action

He knew he wasn't going to be reelected...it would seem better to engage them after the change of leadership...regardless who won in 2000.

And lets not let this play like grabbing OBL in 2000 would have prevented 9-11...seems like that was probably "in the can."

[Toby109]

5. Missed Opportunities by Clinton?

What a joke. The entire U.S. Army could not(or would not)capture bin Laden at Tora Bora. What the fuck was Clinton supposed to do when the Repuke Congress was too busy studying his dick to worry about terrorism?

[ComerPerro]

6. Here is what really pisses me off

We knew where he was at the end of Clinton's term, in October and November of 2000...

Ok...

So why the fuck didn't Bush do anything about him for EIGHT MONTHS!!!!!!!!!

Moreover, why did Bush spend one of those months ON VACATION!!!!!!!!!!

God I fucking hate reich wingers.


Oh, yeah, and good point, BTW.

What these reports indiciate is that Clinton had exactly two months to get bin Laden.

Bush had eight months to get him before 9/11, and he did not.
He has had two and a half years since 9/11, when bin Laden was the priority target, and he still has not....

[blm]

8. Now THAT is a good answer, Toby.

.

[Imajika]

7. Everyone made mistakes...

...even the Clinton administration.

There is no point wasting time trying to defend every single thing the Clinton administration did.

The Clinton team should have taken bin Laden far more seriously. The Bush administration was even worse. We don't have to defend everything Clinton did or did not do in order to attack Bush's record. Clinton is not running for President, Bush is.

"A Democratic member of the 9/11 commission says there was a larger issue: The Clinton administration treated bin Laden as a law enforcement problem."

I agree with this, and it is a real story and there is nothing wrong with MSNBC writing about it.

Islamic militancy is a problem far beyond a simple law enforcement matter, and this was also true in the 1990's.

"One Clinton Cabinet official said, looking back, the military should have been more involved, 'We did a lot, but we did not see the gathering storm that was out there.'"

Pretty much nobody did.

The question is what do you do going forward. Since 9-11 has Bush made us safer? No. Since 9-11 has Bush done enough to make sure a WTC event doesn't happen again? No. Could Kerry do a better job coordinating with our allies, going after the actual terrorists and protecting the "homeland"? Yes.

Imajika

[blm]

9. But that is not the spin from the media, is it?

The honest answer is that Clinton didn't have the armed drone ready at that time. When it was ready in January, BushInc decided NOT to use it.