Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities [CIA had video of him in fall of 2000]

MSNBC ^ | Mar 16, 2004 | Lisa Myers

[The Raven]

As the 9/11 commission investigates what Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush might have done to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, one piece of evidence the commission will examine is a videotape secretly recorded by a CIA plane high above Afghanistan. The tape shows a man believed to Osama bin Laden walking at a known al-Qaida camp.

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The question for the 9/11 commission: If the CIA was able to get that close to bin Laden before 9/11, why wasn’t he captured or killed? The videotape has remained secret until now.

Over the next three nights, NBC News will present this incredible spy footage and reveal some of the difficult questions it has raised for the 9/11 commission.

In 1993, the first World Trade Center bombing killed six people.

In 1998, the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa killed 224.

Both were the work of al-Qaida and bin Laden, who in 1998 declared holy war on America, making him arguably the most wanted man in the world.

In 1998, President Clinton announced, “We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice, no matter what or how long it takes.” INTERACTIVE

NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government. It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden. Critics call it a missed opportunity.

In the fall of 2000, in Afghanistan, unmanned, unarmed spy planes called Predators flew over known al-Qaida training camps. The pictures that were transmitted live to CIA headquarters show al-Qaida terrorists firing at targets, conducting military drills and then scattering on cue through the desert.

[Mia T]

When deciding not to respond militarily to the attack on the Cole, Madeleine Albright let slip the reason clinton didn't go after bin laden. clinton wanted the Nobel Peace Prize for effecting a Mideast "peace." Going after the terrorists would upset the Arab half of the equation, so clinton let terrorism slide... and kill... and propagate.

[Mia T]

Doesn't seem to support Mac and OSX. Microsoft appears to be pulling a fast one....

Did anyone capture the video in another format?

[nutmeg]

Joe Scarborough will be covering this story TONIGHT on "Scarborough Country" on MSNBC, which is on NOW. Joe is talking abut Bush vs. Kerry at the moment... the "Clinton missed bin Laden" story is coming up within the hour.

[doug from upland]

No cable, but I'll look for the FReeper reports.

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

FoxFans... you may want to switch from Greta to MSNBC right now. Joe Scarborough will be covering this story TONIGHT on "Scarborough Country", which is on NOW. Joe is talking abut Bush vs. Kerry at the moment... the "Clinton missed bin Laden" story is coming up within the hour.

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[RaceBannon]

Sorry, I am watching the history of the Gulf War.

It is now the correspondents side, what they witnessed, and it seems so far all they witnessed was innocent people getting shot and soldiers who were killed while holding white flags

[Andy from Beaverton]

Did Tom BrokenJaw run this story???

[nutmeg]

Great tag line, Race!

[nutmeg]

Related thread here:

NBC: Clinton Ordered Bin Laden Spared

[yonif]

The whole montra of US administrations before 2001 was naive towards terrorists and the fact one could not capitulate to them. This started with Carter (Iran 1979), continued with Reagan (1982 Beirut), Bush Sr. (Middle East), and Clinton (1993 WTC, 1998 Embassies, 2000 USS Cole). After 9/11, Bush Jr. realized what the US was facing, and he has so far shown that physical terrorist threats to the USA specifically will not go unhindered, and there will be a big response to terror bombings, which is a shift in government policy.

[clintonh8r]

I hate clinton.

But you knew that...

[nutmeg]

Joe Scarborough ran Lisa Myers' NBC exclusive video of an unmanned CIA Predator drone tracking OBL in fall 2000. Lisa Myers narrated her report (pretty much verbatim, as posted above), while the video shot from the drone ran.

The video showed Tarnak Farm in Afghanistan, which was the walled compound where OBL was supposedly living at the time. From the video shot by the drone, you could very clearly see groups of men doing some sort of military-like maneuvers/drills with a very tall white-robed figure in the middle of these men all the time. (OBL is 6 ft 5)

Lisa Myers concluded with: "NBC News contacted the three top Clinton national security officials. None would do an on-camera interview". Two of the officials pictured were Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger. I can't remember who the other one was.

After Lisa Myers' report, Joe had a short discussion with David Frum of the American Enterprise Institute and author of the book: "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror". The discussion turned to the election in Spain. Frum said "We can fear that the voters of Spain have opened the rest of Europe to attacks by al Qaeda". He said that in the U.S., however, 9-11 only strengthened our resolve.

Bottom line re: Clinton missing OBL: The Clinton administration didn't treat terrorists as a military issue (as they should have), but as a legal one. When they had a clear picture of OBL and could've struck at him, the U.S. military's hands were tied.

If you'd like to see a replay of this report, "Scarborough Country" reruns on MSNBC at 3am ET.

Hmmm... what else was going on during Fall 2000? Weren't the Klintoons awfully busy with Hitlery's NY Senate campaign??

[stands2reason]

It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden.

They didn't scream it, but it's in there.

[finnman69]

[stands2reason]

I agree. It's way beyond just a "private life/public life" issue. A highly blackmailable president with a weakness for debauchery puts America in danger.

[nutmeg]

NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government. It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden. Critics call it a missed opportunity.

Good catch, stands2reason!

[nutmeg]

Thanks for posting those screen shots!

[lainde]

bttt

[doug from upland]

Great report. Thanks.

[petitfour]

You and the others on this thread are right, of course, that it became a problem for all of us. It was only the tip of the iceberg. I guess my real point is that there were so many other lies during the Bubba years that sex with Monica Lewinsky is so trivial. When are the Clintons going to be forced to address those issues?