On December 21, 2000, investigators into the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole “concluded that the CIA had ‘no definitive answer on [the] crucial question of outside direction of the attack–how and by whom.’ The report noted that the Yemeni government claimed that [al Qaeda operative] Khallad had directed the attacks from Afghanistan, perhaps as bin Laden’s intermediary, but added that the intelligence supporting the Yemeni government’s claim had not been shared with the CIA. The CIA did conclude, however, that it could establish that Khallad was an al Qaeda operative through both signals and human intelligence. This was not sufficient proof, in the estimation of President [Bill] Clinton and National Security Advisor [Sandy] Berger, to warrant the use of military force against the Taliban or bin Laden. …he [Clinton] did not think it would be responsible for a president to launch an invasion of another country just based on a ‘preliminary judgment.’ ”
– John Farmer, The Ground Truth, Pages 46-47