Quote:
Originally posted by sgtclub
I am familiar with the plot. Why, pray tell, could Clinton not send troops into Afghanistan? He sent a few cruise missles there, why not troops? I know, I know. Because the GOP was grilling him on a blow job or two, right?
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When? I assume you don't mean after the Yousef plot, because he didn't have a particular tie to Afghanistan. He was apprehended in Pakistan. After the embassy bombings? Here is Clarke explaining some of the reasons we couldn't bomb Afghanistan:
- Although the Pakistanis were helping us with the investigation following the embassy attacks by looking for people who had fled Africa before and after the attack for Afghanistan, they had been less than helpful before. Al Qaeda members had moved freely through Pakistan to Afghanistan. Despite the fact that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate was training, equipping, and advising the Taliban in Afghanistan, they professed no ability to influence that group to close terrorist camps and hand over bin Laden. Any U.S. military strike on Afghanistan would have to cross Pakistani airspace. If they were not told in advance, they might shoot down our aircraft or cruise missiles. If they were told in advance, some of us believed that the ISID would alert the Taliban and possibly Al Qaeda. The State Department Deputy Secretary, Strobe Talbott, also feared that the Pakistanis would see the U.S. attack coming and assume it was an Indian air raid. Talbott thought that Pakistan would not hesitate to launch an attack on India, even before confirming what was going on, and that could trigger a nuclear war between the two South Asian rivals (each of which now had nuclear bombs).
Against All Enemies 185.
That's just the beginning of the discussion of the cruise missile attacks after the embassy bombings -- it goes on for several pages. In the event, the Pakistanis had ample notice as the Navy launched cruise missiles, and while bin Laden was not killed, several ISID officers were.
The reaction to the U.S.S. Cole also gets extensive discussion. Perhaps you should check it out.
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