Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylander
We had bin Laden at Tora Bora, but Rumsfeld (and the Pentagon) had by then so screwed up the military that Gen Franks, believing he could run the war from the Florida beaches, screwed up royally and let the bastard get away.  |
Saw an interesting piece on the time bin Laden escaped death in 1998. This is the infamous instance that Limbaugh and the right-wing punditry like to refer to as the time Clinton "let" him go.
It's true that his position had accurately been pinpointed and that plans to launch cruise missles were in place and waiting on the Presidents order. However, what you never hear from the talking heads is the reason
whythe President didn't fire.
It seems General Dynamics was working on a deal to sell F-16 to the Saudis, worth billions, at this time. There was a Saudi prince in OBLs company as the decision was being made. The President came under pressure from the
Pentagon and executives from GD to stand down. They were afraid that if the Prince was killed, the deal would fall through.
One could say that the President could have had the stones to do it anyways, but I wonder how many wing-nuts know that it was done to protect the financial interests of a private corporation?
What did Ike say about the Military-Industrial Complex?
Dave