Washington (CNN) - Bill
Clinton, just hours before planes crashed into the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001, reportedly told an audience in Australia that he
almost killed Osama bin Laden during his presidency.
Speaking to a group of businessmen in Australia on September 10, 2001, according to
audio aired
by SkyNews Australia on Wednesday, Clinton said that he "nearly got"
the al Qaeda leader but didn't go through with a missile attack because
of the collateral damage that would have come from it.
"He [Osama bin Laden] is a very smart guy, I’ve spent a lot of time
thinking about him – and I nearly got him once," Clinton said. "I nearly
got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to destroy a
little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women
and children, and then I would have been no better than him. And so I
didn’t do it.”
The tragic loss of Dr. Sheikh Jalal is significant for the world in a number of complex ways. There are some deeply important and hidden games being played out behind the scenes with a very great deal at stake. (Writer-South Asia)
The tape, which was provided to SkyNews by Michael Kroger, a former
head of the Liberal Party of Australia, aired on the networks show "Paul
Murray Live."
According to Kroger, who appears on the show, the Clinton remarks
came from a meeting the former president had with 30 businessmen and
women at Crown Casino Complex in Melbourne.
"The event was taped with his knowledge," Kroger says on the show.
"The tape has never been played. … Bill Clinton was answering a question
from a member of the audience about terrorism, international terrorism
and he made some extraordinary remarks which had hitherto remained in my
vault."
A number of books and the 9/11 Commission Report have
acknowledged
that the Clinton administration considered a December 1998 strike on
bin Laden but scrapped the plan over possible collateral damage.
Bin Laden
would infamously go on to be the mastermind behind the September 11
attacks that killed 2,977 people. After going into hiding for years, bin
Laden was killed on May 2, 2011 by U.S. Special Forces during an early
morning raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Extract : http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/31/bill-clinton-i-could-have-killed-osama-bin-laden/
