Enabling Danger

Hat Tip: Alexandra Kerry for the gown.

From: Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo & Top Story, August 17, 2005:

"Newly released classified documents paint a stark picture of how Al Qaeda was able to start the war on terror. Two memos written in 1996 warned the Clinton administration that Bin Laden 'can retain the capability to support individuals and groups who have the motive and wherewithal to attack US interests worldwide.' Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and you would assume President Clinton, knew that Osama Bin Laden was on the attack, yet the USA allowed him to operate in Afghanistan without sanction. Mr. Christopher has comment, but I believe Congress should compel the man to speak by issuing him a subpoena. On another front, it is now clear that Army intelligence had identified Mohammed Atta as a dangerous terrorist more than a year before the 9/11 attack, but did not pass the information along. Why? Because of a policy instituted by Attorney General Janet Reno and her deputy Jamie Gorelick. Long time Factor viewers will remember that I called Janet Reno the worst Attorney General in history. As for Ms. Gorelick, who also served on the 9/11 Commission, she obviously made an enormous mistake. The Clinton administration allowed Al Qaeda to grow in ferocity and did not confront an evil they knew existed. We can not allow that to happen again in this country."
Former CIA officer Michael Scheuer joined The Factor with more on the early warnings about Bin Laden. Scheuer affirmed that the CIA knew Bin Laden was a threat, and informed the Clinton administration. "There was a consensus within the intelligence community that Osama Bin Laden was a much more dangerous man in Afghanistan than he had been in Sudan. It never occurred to us that the government would not take action against Bin Laden once we located him for them." Scheuer also claimed that the newly released information vindicates the intelligence community. "It's obvious there was no lack of intelligence for President Clinton to act against Osama Bin Laden. We delivered the goods many times on Osama Bin Laden." The Factor called on former Clinton administration officials to step up and speak the truth. "Richard Clarke has a lot of explaining to do. We need to hear from him, and Warren Christopher should be forced to testify and tell the American people what the heck happened."

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Hat Tip: Iraq War Today