” ‘The British and the American people loudly declared their support for their leaders’ decision to attack Iraq,’ bin Laden announced in December 1998 in the Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat. According to his logic, this made it imperative that all Muslims ‘confront, fight and kill’ Britons and Americans.” [The 15th of the month used […]
Category: quotes
12/15/1998
“On January 14, 1999, ABC News reported that three intelligence agencies believed that Saddam had offered asylum to bin Laden. ‘Intelligence sources say bin Laden’s long relationship with the Iraqis began as he helped Sudan’s fundamentalist government in their efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. …ABC News has learned that in December [1998], an […]
12/15/1998
“In December 1998, [UNSCOM (UN Special Commission on Iraq) chairman] Richard Butler submitted a controversial report to the [UN] Security Council concluding that Iraq had not in fact provided the full cooperation it had promised. In anticipation of U.S./UK bombings, he ordered the withdrawal of UNSCOM staff engaged in the inspection effort. They were evacuated […]
12/8/1998
In a speech on December 8, 1998, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said: ” ‘Through constant confrontation, our policy of containing Iraq has been successful. But that does not mean that by itself it is sustainable over the long run.’ Noting the many costs of containing Saddam and the concern that with time international support […]
12/8/1998
On December 8, 1998, “the toughest UN Security Council Resolution on Afghanistan to date [Resolution 1214]… threatened unspecified sanctions against the Taliban for harboring international terrorists, violating human rights, promoting drugs trafficking and refusing to accept a cease-fire. ‘Afghanistan-based terrorism has become a plague,’ said US envoy Nancy Soderberg. Pakistan was the only country that […]
12/7/1998
“In a [December 7] 1998 article for the New Republic, [former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul] Wolfowitz wrote, ‘Toppling Saddam is the only outcome that can satisfy the vital U.S. interest in a stable and secure Gulf region, because, to a degree unique among contemporary tyrannies, the Iraqi regime is Saddam Hussein. …The vast […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Some members of the Bin Ladin network have received hijack training, according to various sources, but no group directly tied to Bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization has ever carried out an aircraft hijacking. Bin Ladin could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft. […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “[Redacted] indicate the Bin Ladin organization or its allies are moving closer to implementing anti-US attacks at unspecified locations, but we do not know whether they are related to attacks on aircraft. A Bin Ladin associate in Sudan late last month told a colleague […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Bin Ladin associates last month discussed picking up a package in Malaysia. One told his colleague in Malaysia that ‘they’ were in the ‘ninth month [of pregnancy].’ An alleged Bin Ladin supporter in Yemen late last month remarked to his mother that he planned […]
12/4/1998
George Tenet described threats against the U.S. from December 1998 to September 11, 2001: “A PDB [President’s Daily Brief] briefing prepared for President Clinton on December 4, 1998, was titled, ‘Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks.’ ” – George Tenet with Bill Harlow, At the Center of the Storm, Page 105 […]