An excellent book that goes into much detail about US activities in the ME is Ghost Wars by Steve Koll. It appears to be non-politicized (although it’s written from the CIA perspective).
Here is a summary w.r.t. OBL and Clinton:
During 90’s the CIA increasingly saw OBL as a significant threat that needed to be taken out by whatever means possible. The State Department felt engagement/negotiation with the Taliban was a better approach. Clinton waffled due to conflicting advice and worried about the legality of any action as noted in previous posts.
On more than 1 occasion there was an opportunity for the CIA to take out OBL but Clinton would not authorize due to worries about killing innocents.
I don’t think it’s right to blame Clinton because it’s extremely difficult to determine which of thousands of threats are high priority. But I am disappointed that the CIA’s warnings were not taken more seriously. If I were grading his performance on this topic I would give him a “C”.
Bush just made a speech, and he mentioned [Terrorist*] taking a lesson from Lebanon and Somalia.
I think we all know my views on the President. So his mentioning of these attacks makes me wonder if I’m wrong in my interpretation. Either that, or he’s emulating a stopped clock. (Or his speech writers are reading The Straight Dope! Wait… :eek: )
Tea wasn’t done, so I missed the name in a fit of caffeine deficiency.