# It's Amazing Just How Badly Bill Clinton Dropped The Ball RE: Bin Laden **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954 "2005-09-04T00:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/41 "2005-09-04T03:37:08Z")
Would they kill him, or try to bring him in alive? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/42 "2005-09-04T03:42:28Z")
That’ll depend on the circumstances. If they can capture him alive, I imagine they will. If the only way to get him is by firing a missile at him, then that’s what will happen. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/43 "2005-09-04T04:31:53Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Well, really, here’s the point: Clinton has made a big deal about how he told Bush that Osama was dangerous. In fact, Clinton said on _Larry King Live_ that as soon as the 2nd plane hit the WTC, he thought, “Osama.” Soon as I was thinking ‘terrorist’ and not ‘horrible mistake’, that was pretty much the top name in my head, too. With equal space of ‘not Osama, someone completely different, let’s not jump to conclusions.’ Ah, yes, remember the Wag the Dog furor? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/44 "2005-09-04T04:35:32Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Soon as I was thinking ‘terrorist’ and not ‘horrible mistake’, that was pretty much the top name in my head, too. With equal space of ‘not Osama, someone completely different, let’s not jump to conclusions.’ > > Ah, yes, remember the Wag the Dog furor? OK, so knowing ahead of time that Osama was indeed capable of such an act (why else he be the first name you think of?), would you have pulled the trigger on the guy years ago? Knowing that there might be collateral damage if you do? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/45 "2005-09-04T05:10:04Z")
Its almost as if somone were fabricating a deranged wing-nut persona as an excercise in post-modernist irony. Dust these posts for fingerprints. ---
**Author:** ![Kyle\_Rayner1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58f4c7/32.png) [@Kyle\_Rayner1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyle_Rayner1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/46 "2005-09-04T05:33:50Z")
**Stephe96** , you’re a fucking heartless moron and everyone knows it. Bill Clinton was one of the best presidents of all time. He’s probably in the top 10 or 20, whatever. So, shut the fuck up. Just because Bush screwed up the whole 9-11 situation doesn’t mean you can blame Clinton for it. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/47 "2005-09-04T05:37:08Z")
> [@Kyle Rayner1](#): > > **Stephe96** , you’re a fucking heartless moron and everyone knows it. Bill Clinton was one of the best presidents of all time. He’s probably in the top 10 or 20, whatever. So, shut the fuck up. > > Just because Bush screwed up the whole 9-11 situation doesn’t mean you can blame Clinton for it. Ha ha ha! Hit a nerve, did I? You might want to read my above post where I explicitly state that I do _not_ blame Bill Clinton for 9/11. You irrational, foamy-mouthed Bush-haters really make my day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyle\_Rayner1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58f4c7/32.png) [@Kyle\_Rayner1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyle_Rayner1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/48 "2005-09-04T05:45:39Z")
Then why even start this subject? Was it because Bush was getting pitted every day (deserved by the way) and it made you feel like less of man for supporting Bush? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/49 "2005-09-04T05:48:32Z")
Ignoring the ignoramic OP from the ignoramic poster and fighting a bit of ignorance here… > [@Frankenstein Monster](#): > > I do agree, however, that Clinton dropped the ball at least twice. One is the Sudan episode. If it’s true that Sudan offered to extradite Bin Laden, and Clinton did not take up that offer, then he made a grave mistake. Quite simply, this is not true. The Reader’s Digest version of the story is that the Clinton Administration was approached by a Sudanese businessman who claimed to have connections with the Sundanese government and could talk them into turning over Bin Laden if Clinton would help him out on some business deals. The CIA investigated the offer and found it bogus, and when asked about the matter, the Sudanese government denied that such a deal was even possible, much less offered. I’m pretty sure there are a few old threads in the SDMB archive covering this in greater detail, but I’m too lazy to go check right now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ink\_a\_dink\_a\_dink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ink\_a\_dink\_a\_dink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ink_a_dink_a_dink)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/50 "2005-09-04T06:06:00Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > What is this, _Minority Report_? Leaders of countries should be killed _before_ they commit a heinous crime? Oh boy, did a response ever strike a chord with me like this one did. If we KNEW what someone was going to do with a certainty, without doubt, and not have a last minute change of heart then…wow…what a scary place. Inky ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/51 "2005-09-04T06:24:03Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Ignoring the ignoramic OP from the ignoramic poster and fighting a bit of ignorance here… > Quite simply, this is not true. The Reader’s Digest version of the story is that the Clinton Administration was approached by a Sudanese businessman who claimed to have connections with the Sundanese government and could talk them into turning over Bin Laden if Clinton would help him out on some business deals. The CIA investigated the offer and found it bogus, and when asked about the matter, the Sudanese government denied that such a deal was even possible, much less offered. That’s the _Reader’s Digest_ version? Tchah! Have you ever read the _Reader’s Digest_? They’d be more likely to report that OBL showed up at the White House _begging_ to be executed, and old Bleedin’ Heart, America-hatin’ Bill Clinton told him to hit the bricks until he’d done something worth punishing him for. ---
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/52 "2005-09-04T12:41:26Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Quite simply, this is not true. The Reader’s Digest version of the story is that the Clinton Administration was approached by a Sudanese businessman who claimed to have connections with the Sundanese government and could talk them into turning over Bin Laden if Clinton would help him out on some business deals. The CIA investigated the offer and found it bogus, and when asked about the matter, the Sudanese government denied that such a deal was even possible, much less offered. > > I’m pretty sure there are a few old threads in the SDMB archive covering this in greater detail, but I’m too lazy to go check right now. 😉 Thanks. I hadn’t followed that story all that closely. Bin Laden had been kicked out of country after country. He never was too popular with most countries’ governments, including even Afghanistan at first. So I thought the Sudan story plausible, at least. However, I’ll accept that it was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/53 "2005-09-04T14:02:42Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > OK, so knowing ahead of time that Osama was indeed capable of such an act (why else he be the first name you think of?), would you have pulled the trigger on the guy years ago? Knowing that there might be collateral damage if you do? Nah, I would have had him arrested by the local head of state, if I could. A lot of people were capable of that act. Arafat, for one. (But things were going well for him at the time, plus he was being watched) Osama was just the one I knew of. Osama was the first name I thought of… but I didn’t think it was him, for sure, I thought it was someone new. The US theoretically doesn’t assassinate people. We _should_ operate within the bounds of what’s considered international law. So, would I have had him arrested for the Stark assault? Hell yes. Would I send a SEAL team in to assist Pakistan or Afghanistan if they wanted to arrest him? Heck yes. But assassination? Naw. Ain’t right. At least, that’s how I saw it at the time. Of course, I wouldn’t shoot baby Hitler, either. I hate messing with time travel and consequences. ---
**Author:** ![tbea926](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/45deac/32.png) [@tbea926](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbea926)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/54 "2005-09-04T23:05:09Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > And Bush’s CIA director says he has a “very good idea” of where Osama is right now. Seriously, why has Bush not killed him yet? Not to be too Mooreish about that question, but when you are in bed with the Saud family and the bin Laden family, you tend to ignore their brat kids. This is neither a BushBash nor a ClintonBash, but a CountryThatNeedsItsOilFixBash. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/55 "2005-09-05T03:33:35Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Quite simply, this is not true. The Reader’s Digest version of the story is that the Clinton Administration was approached by a Sudanese businessman who claimed to have connections with the Sundanese government and could talk them into turning over Bin Laden if Clinton would help him out on some business deals. The CIA investigated the offer and found it bogus, and when asked about the matter, the Sudanese government denied that such a deal was even possible, much less offered. That ain’t how I heard it. Basically, the President of Sudan (Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir) wanted terrorism sanctions lifted from Sudan in exchange for the arrest and extradition of Bin Laden, as well as providing detailed intelligence data about the global networks constructed by Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, Iran’s Hezebollah, and the Palestinian Hamas. The Clinton White House refused. Now certainly, they wouldn’t have refused had they known Bin Laden would later be behind the 9/11 attacks. However, lifting terrorist sanctions is a big request. I don’t know what I would have done if I were in that position. But we do know now that, in hindsight, the Clinton White House chose poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/56 "2005-09-05T03:54:24Z")
Didn’t Clinton sign the executive order authorizing the CIA to kill Bin Laden? Killing Saudi princes in the process… bad idea, if you ask me. I wish Clinton had gone after Bin Laden harder, but let’s not bullshit ourselves - those of us who are capable of not bullshitting ourselves, that is. Congress and the public at large would not have supported Clinton taking all the steps he should’ve to get the guy. When he fired those few missiles, everybody said he was trying to distract people from the Lewinsky scandal. I’ve read that his advisors told him the same thing, and he went ahead anyway. Of course, he’d have had more political capital if he’d kept it in his pants, that’s also his own fault. But I still don’t think he would have had support. Not enough people’s eyes were open at that time, even if Clinton’s were. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/57 "2005-09-05T04:40:39Z")
The Federal Admin really botched the hurricane relief! Bush stayed on vacation and his FEMA appointee is a complete fuckup! “Yeah, but Clinton got a blowjob! _Gosh!_ Can’t you people remember _anything_!” **Stephe** , you need to get out from under the bridge a little more often. Go out for goat or something. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/58 "2005-09-05T04:47:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Didn’t Clinton sign the executive order authorizing the CIA to kill Bin Laden? I needed a chance to check this, but I remembered correctly. He did sign that order back in 1998, in response to the embassy bombings. He also successfully fought for a freeze of Bin Laden’s assets and UN sanctions against the Taliban. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/59 "2005-09-05T05:07:13Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > The Federal Admin really botched the hurricane relief! Bush stayed on vacation and his FEMA appointee is a complete fuckup! > > “Yeah, but Clinton got a blowjob! _Gosh!_ Can’t you people remember _anything_!” > > **Stephe** , you need to get out from under the bridge a little more often. Go out for goat or something. When have I mentioned anything about Clinton getting a BJ? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/60 "2005-09-05T05:10:22Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I understand that he felt it more politically expedient to lie and blame right-wing talk-radio, but don’t you think the American public had/has a right to know what was really going on? Why the cover-up? I remember that day: all the APBs were identifying men of Middle-Eastern descent fleeing the area immediately after the bombing. And then…nothing. It was as if those APBs were never even issued in the first place. Why? Who was covering up for whom? You’ve got fast hands. Minutes earlier, you’d never heard of this, yet you’re still able to pull conspiracy theory implications out of your ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954.md?page=4)