September 9, 2011

Clinton, Bush, and Osama bin Laden: The WikiLeaks Cables

By David Paulin
Whatever you think of WikiLeaks, the recently released tranche of diplomatic cables reveal naiveté and illusion in America's pre-9/11 attempts to deal with the Taliban. In the months leading up to the September 11 terror attacks, the Bush administration had Osama bin Laden on its radar.  He was not a household name in America yet, but top administration officials regarded him as a mortal enemy.  Secretary of State Colin Powell was among those deeply concerned about bin Laden's ability to launch or provoke serious terror attacks -- and to influence large swaths of the Muslim world, where many admired him and were drawn to his hate-filled anti-Americanism. Secret diplomatic cables just released by WikiLeaks show that ten years ago, just months before 9/11, top Bush officials were attempting to bring bin Laden to justice for outrages that included his role in the truck-bombing attacks of U.S. Embassies in the East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya....(Read Full Article)