Former US President Bill Clinton revealed Sunday that the CIA called off an operation intended to take out Osama bin Laden before the September 11 attacks because of concerns that the mission could result in the deaths of innocent civilians.
Speaking on WABC Radio’s “Cats Roundtable” with host John Catsimatidis, Clinton said he had authorized the CIA to pursue bin Laden and would have preferred to capture him alive, although stopping him was the primary objective.
“I had authorized the CIA to try to take him out,” Clinton told Catsimatidis, adding that he told the agency it would have been good to capture bin Laden alive, but the main priority was to stop him.
“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,” the former Democratic president said.
Clinton said the agency ultimately decided the risks were too great because an unsuccessful operation could have caused significant civilian casualties.
“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, but I think, in the end, [bin Laden] was determined to do what he did, and he had lots of money and lots of capacity,” Clinton reflected.
“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.
Clinton also described his reaction to the September 11 attacks, saying he identified bin Laden as the likely perpetrator almost immediately after watching the second plane strike the World Trade Center.
At the time, Clinton was in Australia while his wife, Hillary, was in Washington. Their daughter was in Lower Manhattan, and the family was unable to reach her as thousands of people were instructed to leave the area on foot.
“At the time, I was in Australia. Hilary was in Washington. But our daughter was in Lower Manhattan, and we were worried to death about her. She was one of the thousands of people who were told to just walk north. We couldn’t get in touch with her,” Clinton told Catsimatidis.
“I was watching television in Australia when the second plane hit. I immediately said that bin Laden did this. They all looked at me and said, ‘How do you know this?’ I said, ‘Well, because the only adversaries we have with the capacity to do this are Iran and bin Laden,” he recalled.
“And the Iranians wouldn’t do it because we could wipe them off the face of the Earth immediately. And bin Laden is holed up in a cave in Afghanistan.’ I just knew it had to be him. I also knew that he had been planning to do what he did to hit us for a long time.”
Clinton said he believes another terrorist attack on New York City remains possible and stressed the need for continued vigilance and intelligence gathering.
“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. I think there is a chance that will happen,” Clinton said when asked if New York could be targeted by terrorists again.
At the same time, he said the United States is now significantly better prepared to respond to an attack of that magnitude.
“We’re much better prepared 1789361997 than we were… [But] you only have to miss once, and then you’re screwed. It’s just something that has to be a continuing part of our national security plan,” he said.
Clinton’s remarks came two days after the CIA released more than 100 pages of declassified presidential intelligence briefings from the years before the September 11 attacks. The documents include a 1998 memo warning the Clinton administration about a potential Al-Qaeda operation involving the hijacking of a commercial airliner.
Many of the documents remain heavily redacted, but they contain warnings about “potential US targets” and intelligence from “questionable sources” suggesting that bin Laden was preparing to attack the United States. One briefing described a possible operation in which two accomplices may have successfully evaded security checks during a trial run.
A September 10, 1998 memo stated that Bin Laden’s “preferred option is to strike the US on its own soil in Washington” and “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.”
Other CIA briefings document the agency’s evolving understanding of Al-Qaeda and bin Laden’s intentions, including his desire to bring “war to America.” Despite incomplete intelligence, analysts continued warning White House officials about the terrorist network’s plans and capabilities.
A briefing dated August 6, 2001, during George W. Bush’s presidency, said bin Laden was “determined to strike” the United States and could potentially use Al-Qaeda members already inside the country. It also said the FBI had found activity “consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.”
Another assessment, dated August 28, 2001, characterized bin Laden’s operations as “expert and flexible,” while noting that they could be vulnerable to short-term disruption. It said Al-Qaeda relied on “careful planning, tight security practices and flexibility” and employed “sound operational practices” that enabled it to threaten the United States “even in a heightened security environment.”
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