Former President Bill Clinton said the CIA halted a 1998 plan he had authorized to capture or kill Osama bin Laden because officials feared civilian casualties if the mission failed. He said he would have preferred a capture but prioritized stopping bin Laden and now wishes more had been done. The 9/11 Commission documented several Clinton-era efforts against bin Laden, and Clinton recalled immediately suspecting bin Laden during the Sept. 11 attacks while in Australia. He warned that another large-scale attack remains possible and urged ongoing vigilance.
Clinton: CIA Scrapped 1998 Bin Laden Operation Over Fears Of Civilian Casualties
Bill Clinton (JP Yim/Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative)
Former President Bill Clinton said the CIA abandoned a 1998 plan to capture or kill Osama bin Laden because agency leaders feared a failed operation could kill innocent civilians. Speaking on WABC's "Cats Roundtable" with John Catsimatidis, Clinton said he had authorized the agency to attempt to remove bin Laden and that he now wishes more had been done.
Clinton's Account
"I had authorized the CIA to try to take him out," Clinton told the program. "I was scared, and I was mad because we tried to get him before, and the CIA at the last minute killed the plan that I think might well have succeeded."
Clinton said he would have preferred to capture bin Laden alive but maintained that stopping the al-Qaida leader was the administration's overriding priority. He said CIA officials were concerned that a missed strike could result in significant civilian casualties and therefore decided to halt the operation.
What History Shows
The 9/11 Commission later recorded multiple efforts during Clinton's presidency to track, capture or kill bin Laden. One high-profile 1998 proposal would have used Afghan tribal fighters to seize bin Laden; that plan was ultimately dropped after agency leadership and operatives in the field judged the chances of success were too low.
Personal Memories And A Warning
Clinton recalled that while he was in Australia he watched the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on television and immediately suspected bin Laden's involvement: "I was watching television in Australia when the second plane hit. I immediately said that bin Laden did this." He also noted that his daughter Chelsea was in Lower Manhattan during the attacks and that he and former first lady Hillary Clinton initially could not reach her.
Bin Laden was ultimately killed in May 2011 when U.S. Navy SEALs raided his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during the Obama administration. Reflecting on current threats, Clinton warned that another major attack on New York remains possible and urged continued vigilance: "You only have to miss once."
Bottom Line
Clinton's remarks underline the difficult trade-offs intelligence agencies face between operational risk and civilian safety, and they renew debate about whether more aggressive action before 9/11 might have changed the course of subsequent events.
Help us improve.
