National Security Advisor Sandy “Berger was particularly rankled by an editorial in the [August 29, 1998, issue of] Economist that said that only the future would tell whether the U.S. missile strikes [which targeted, but failed to kill Bin Ladin on August 20, 1998] had ‘created 10,000 new fanatics where there would have been none.’ […]
Category: quotes
8/20/1998
Counterterrorism czar “Richard Clarke was the official…who told the Washington Post that the U.S. government was ‘sure’ Iraq was behind the VX [nerve gas] precursor produced at the al Shifa factory [in Khartoum, Sudan] destroyed [on August 20, 1998] in response to the [August 7] 1998 al Qaeda attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa. ‘Clarke […]
8/20/1998
In a speech announcing the U.S. cruise missile strikes of August 20, 1998, on locations in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the August 7, 1998, African embassy bombings, President Bill Clinton said: ” ‘I want the world to understand that our actions today were not aimed against Islam, the faith of hundreds of millions of […]
8/20/1998
President Bill Clinton was looking to retaliate against bin Laden and al Qaeda following the August 7, 1998, African embassy bombings. “On August 17, 1998, CIA director [George] Tenet presented the White House with evidence that the al Shifa pharmaceutical plant on the outskirts of Khartoum [Sudan] was involved in the production of VX nerve […]
8/20/1998
“On August 20 [1998], the United States retaliates against Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda [for the African embassy bombings on August 7, 1998], sending cruise missiles into al-Qaeda training camps. Two hours prior to the attacks, Osama, his sons, and commanders left one of the training camps near Khost [Afghanistan] to travel to Kabul to […]
8/20/1998
“Responding to very time sensitive intelligence information, President Bill Clinton ordered a cruise missile attack [on August 20, 1998] on a training camp in Afghanistan where bin Laden was expected to meet with some of his cadres. The attack failed in its mission when bin Laden did not appear at the scene at the exact […]
8/20/1998
“The unsuccessful [U.S.] cruise missile strike against bin Laden raised the profile of al Qaeda’s leader. Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of Al Quds al Arabi newspaper, recalls this [in a June 2005 interview with Peter Bergen]: ‘It was [20] August 1998. …On my way from the airport to my office, Mohammed Atef [al Qaeda’s […]
8/20/1998
“On the same day that we sent cruise missiles into Afghanistan [August 20, 1998], President [Bill] Clinton signed Executive Order 13099, imposing sanctions against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.” – Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies, Page 190 […]
8/20/1998
Regarding the August 20, 1998, attack on bin Laden, President Bill Clinton said: ” ‘…we were told he was going to be at that training site…and he left a couple of hours before [the missiles hit]. So what did I have? A 40 percent chance of knowing we could have hit it. But there were […]
8/20/1998
“When military action was finally taken against bin Laden, it proved to be ineffective and even counterproductive. On August 20, 1998, U.S. warships in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf fired a series of cruise missiles at four terrorist training camps. …The bombing of the terrorist training camps was carried out even though bin Laden […]