Bill Clinton Reveals CIA Abandoned Pre-9/11 Bin Laden Plot

Former US President Bill Clinton has revealed that the CIA abandoned a plan to take out Osama bin Laden before the September 11 attacks because officials feared civilians could be killed if the operation failed.

Speaking on WABC's “Cats Roundtable” with host John Catsimatidis on Sunday, Clinton said he had authorised the CIA to target the al Qaeda leader and would have preferred to see him captured alive, although stopping him was the priority. Clinton said he was “scared” and angry when the agency called off the operation, which he believed could have succeeded.

“But they were afraid that if they missed, they’d kill a lot of innocent civilians,” Clinton said. “They didn’t want to run the risk.” He added that he did not second-guess the agency's decision, but believed bin Laden had the resources and determination to attack the US.

Clinton also recalled the moment he realised bin Laden was likely responsible for the September 11 attacks. He was in Australia when the second plane struck the World Trade Centre, while his wife Hillary Clinton was in Washington and their daughter was in Lower Manhattan. Clinton said his family was unable to reach their daughter as people in the area were instructed to leave and walk north.

“I was watching television in Australia when the second plane hit. I immediately said that bin Laden did this,” Clinton recalled. He said bin Laden was among the few US adversaries he believed had both the motive and capability to carry out such an attack, adding that the al Qaeda leader had been planning an assault on American soil for years.

Bin Laden was eventually killed on May 2, 2011, during a US Navy SEAL raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The operation was authorised by then-President Barack Obama.

Clinton also warned that New York City could face another terrorist attack , although he said the US is now better prepared than it was before 9/11. “I think it’s entirely possible. I think we have to stay on guard about that,” Clinton said, stressing the need for continued intelligence gathering.

“We’re much better prepared [now] than we were,” he said, while warning that a single intelligence failure could have serious consequences. Clinton said preventing major threats while delivering positive results should remain a priority for the US and could help bring greater unity to the country.