Former US President Bill Clinton has said the CIA abandoned a plan to eliminate al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden before the September 11, 2001, terror attacks because officials feared the operation could fail and lead to the deaths of innocent civilians.
Clinton, 80, said he had authorised the CIA to target bin Laden and would have preferred to capture him alive, although stopping the al-Qaida leader was the main objective. According to Clinton, the agency ultimately cancelled the operation at the last moment over concerns about possible civilian casualties.
“I had authorised the CIA to try to take him out. I was scared, and I was mad because we tried to get him before, and the CIA at the last minute killed the plan that I think might well have succeeded,” he said during a Sunday appearance on WABC's “Cats Roundtable” radio show.
Clinton said CIA officials were worried that a failed operation could result in the deaths of a large number of innocent people. “But they were afraid that if they missed, they'd kill a lot of innocent civilians. They didn't want to run the risk. I didn't second-guess them,” he said.
'OSAMA BIGGEST THREAT TO US'
Clinton said he had considered Osama bin Laden the greatest threat to the United States for years and regretted that his administration had not done more to capture or kill him.
“I wish we had done even more to get him. I always thought he was our biggest threat. I wanted to get him, and I did what I could to do that,” he said.
The former president also recalled watching the September 11 attacks unfold on television while he was in Australia. He said he immediately suspected bin Laden was behind the attacks after seeing the second plane crash into the World Trade Center.
“At the time, I was in Australia. Hillary was in Washington. But our daughter was in Lower Manhattan, and we were worried to death about her,” Clinton said.
His daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was in New York when the attacks occurred and, like thousands of others, was directed to move north as the situation developed.
Clinton recalled watching the second plane strike the Twin Towers on television. “I immediately said that bin Laden did this. They all looked at me and said, ‘How do you know this?’” he recalled.
CIA DOCUMENTS REVEAL OSAMA'S ATTACKS' PLANS
Clinton's comments came as newly declassified CIA records provided further details about intelligence warnings concerning Osama bin Laden in the years leading up to 9/11.
Released ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the documents include presidential daily briefs from as early as 1998 that warned about bin Laden's plans to attack the US and his efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
One assessment from 1998 even warned that al-Qaida could potentially hijack an aircraft and turn it into a weapon against an American city.
The records also highlight the international reach of bin Laden's organisation. A CIA brief dated August 28, 1998, stated that bin Laden planned to carry out attacks in multiple countries, including India, Pakistan, Egypt and nations in the Arabian Peninsula. However, it did not mention any particular target or specific operational plan in India.
Bin Laden remained at large for almost 10 years after the September 11 attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives in the United States.
He was eventually killed during a covert US military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, while Barack Obama was president. US Navy SEALs conducted the raid on his compound.
Clinton said that, looking back, he believed bin Laden had been firmly committed to attacking the US and possessed both the financial resources and operational capabilities necessary to carry out his plans.
CLINTON ON NYC SECURITY
The former president also warned that New York City could potentially become the target of another terrorist attack, although he said the US is now considerably better prepared to deal with a threat comparable to 9/11.
“I think it's entirely possible. I think we have to stay on guard about that. We have to make sure we're getting all the intelligence we can on the issue,” Clinton said.
He stressed that the possibility of another attack means counterterrorism efforts and intelligence gathering must remain an ongoing priority within US national security planning.
“We're much better prepared (now) than we were,” Clinton said, while cautioning that even one intelligence failure could have catastrophic results.
“If you're running the country, you want to make big good things happen, and stop big bad things from happening,” he said, adding that he hoped such challenges could eventually help Americans achieve “unity again.”
