Clinton and Osama bin Laden

[dad]

Does anyone know what is the deal with Clinton supposedly letting bin Laden go? Some RWingers are claiming that Bill Clinton was offered Osama on a silver platter. A google search on Clinton and Bin Laden reveals about 1000 articles also supporting this theory. What is the real deal?

[Another Bill C.]

1. There might be an explanation here

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/clinton.htm

[RobertSeattle]

2. The first question to ask, is why wouldn't Clinton want him arrested?

And of course he would have.

I'm pretty confident this has been debunked, but it comes up every couple of months, especially when Bush is in trouble.

I bet it is frustrating for Clinton to keep mum for the most part so the limelight stays on the Dem Prez candidates, but he must be chewing at the bit to go off on the RW.

[Taeger]

3. The bitch is ...

The bitch is that Democrats have no effective outlets to de-spin this crap.

Yes, an individual came forward who CLAIMED that he could deliver Osama Bin Laden. We should keep in mind, that more than one person came forward claiming they could deliver the Uni-Bomber.

The guy was full of shit and was simply trying to con some money out of Uncle Sam.

To counter this story, Democrats should hire some foreigner who will CLAIM to know where Osama Bin Laden is (probably a Republican ploy in the first place). Then we can make the same baseless accusation. The two will cancel each other out.

[RobertSeattle]

4. ABC News: Bush Blew 3 Chances to Kill Osama Before 9/11!

Found this old gem at www.smudgereport.com

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/2020/predator030624.html

[dad]

5. !

Awesome link!!

[Bridget Burke]

6. Bush let Osama go after 9/11.

The Taliban offered to turn him over if his connection to 9/11 could be proven. No proof was offered--Afghanistan was invaded.

It's been suggested that Osama (if still alive) had ample opportunity to leave Afghanistan for Pakistan during the war.

Then the true goal of Iraq took precedence. When last I checked, the Taliban is making a comeback in Afghanistan & Americans are still dying there.

[Tim Howells]

7. Clinton, Sudan and bin Laden

Hi, As far as I can make out, the story is this - Sudan did
offer to extradite bin Laden (more than once). One problem
was that Clinton was advised that if he did bring bin Laden
to the US, he would probably not be able to get any kind of
conviction for specific crimes ... Then what? Clinton tried
to work out a deal with the Saudis where they would take
bin Laden and try and execute him, but the Saudis refused.
The negotiations with Sudan were complicated by the fact
that Clinton was also advised (falsely, as it turns out),
that they were attempting to arrange the assassination of
his National Security Adviser, Anthony Lake.

There's a good Washington Post article on all this at:

http://propagandamatrix.com/sudan_offered_to_arrest_bin_laden.html

Tim Howells

[Catholic Sensation]

8. Here's the full story

Back in 1996 Osama bin Laden was living in Sudan, a notorious sponsor of international terrorism. Because of their terrorist tendancies, the United States had a trade embargo with Sudan. A freelancer named Mansoor Ijaz (if the name sounds at all familiar I'll explain what happened to him at the end of this) came to the Clinton White House claiming to be working for the Sudanese Government. He claimed that Sudan was willing to hand over Osama bin laden.

He met with former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and it didn't take long to figure out this guy was a phoney. Ijaz was trying to get the embargo and trade restrictions on Sudan lifted, because he had investments in Sudanese Oil. Ignoring Ijaz, the Clinton White House tried everything they could to convince the Sudanese government to hand over Osama bin Laden. Sudan wouldn't bite, though they would later kick him out of the country.

Mansoor Ijaz later got a job as a foreign affairs correspondent with Fox News Channel. Happy ending for everyone involved except the three thousand victims of 9-11, America in general, and innocent civilians who were killed in the wars happening because of 9-11.