Would they kill him, or try to bring him in alive?
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.
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?
Its almost as if somone were fabricating a deranged wing-nut persona as an excercise in post-modernist irony. Dust these posts for fingerprints.
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. 
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?
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.
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. 
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When have I mentioned anything about Clinton getting a BJ?
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.