Michael Scheuer
Michael Scheuer headed the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit from 1996 through 1999.
He’s
charged that during that time, the Clinton White House blocked multiple
opportunities to kill Bin Laden, and before he resigned from the CIA in 2004,
Scheuer was also harshly critical of George W Bush’s anti terror efforts.
“If anyone’s marching to the tune of al Qaeda,” he said, “it’s the US
Government.”
Most startling, Scheuer revealed that several times in ’98 and
’99, he’d confirmed Bin Laden’s precise location by air and ground surveillance,
asked permission for immediate missile strikes, but was refused
Scheuer
says all his requests were backed by “sound intelligence,” and some had preliminary
approval from Cabinet-level advisors to Clinton. But each time, he says, they were
denied because of White House concerns about ”collateral damage”
Scheuer
claims the U.S. missed its best opportunity in February 1999, when CIA drones
pinpointed Bin Laden on a hunting trip at a desert camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan,
with members of Dubai’s royal family.
At that time, bin Laden had already
been indicted in the US for the American Embassy bombings in Africa that had killed
more than 200.
One of bin Laden’s hunting companions according to US Joint
Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Hugh Shelton, was Dubai Defense Minister Sheik
Mohammed Al- Maktoum. He has since become Ruler of Dubai.
Within months
after leaving office, former Presiden Clinto became an advisor and board member of
an investment firm, Yucaipa, which managed some of billionaire Al-Maktoum’s assets.
According to the San Fransisco Examiner, the company has been paying Clinton up to $
10 million per year. Maktoum donated millions to the Clinton Library Foundation,
though exact amounts have not been made public.
Clinton also picked up a
$550,000 fee for a speech he made in Dubai, shortly after Dubai publicly announced
giving $150,000,000 to US Designated Global Terrorist groups Al Aqsa Fund and
Infifada Fund.
When Al-Maktoum’s government-owned Dubai Ports World tried to take control of
operations at several major U.S. ports in early 2006, Clinton was a key lobbyist for
the takeover. Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed to be against the deal, while claiming
she had no knowledge of her husband’s actions on behalf of his business partner
Al-Maktoum
In early 2008, Clinton announced he would be severing his business
times to Al-Maktoum so their business relationship would not be a campaign
liability for his wife; according to Newsweek, Clinton’s payout, according to the
Wall Street Journal would be about $20 million.)
Scheuer speculates that the
February 1999 attack was called off because the Clinton White House did not want
Al-Maktoum, a United Arab Emirates prince meeting bin Laden clandestinely in the
Afghan desert to be killed,” His administration was also pushing a major sale of
F-16 to Dubai at the time.
Four months after the attack was called off,
Scheuer stepped down as head of the CIA bin Laden task force, but served as a
Special Advisor to the unit from September 2001 through November 2004. Scheuer says
he left the CIA to publicly criticize the 9/11 Commission for failing to blame top
U.S. intelligence officials for their actions prior to the attacks. He has
published two books, Through Our Enemies’ Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and
the Future of America (2003) and Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on
Terror (2004). He is currently working on his third book, Marching Towards Hell:
America and Islam After Iraq, expected to be published in 2008.
Categories
Government Officials | Information Technology | Good Guys | Terror Funding | 9/11 | Homeland Security | Defense
Sources
- “Chapter 4: Responses to Al Qaeda’s Initial Assaults,” 9/11 Commission Report, July 2004, pp. 108-143, http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm.
- “The Dark Side.” PBS Frontline Interview with Michael Scheuer, June 22, 2006.
- Hinderaker, John. “Leaking At All Costs.” Weekly Standard, November 30, 2005.
- Kelly, Mary Louise and Melissa Block. “CIA Chief Says Al-Qaeda is Plotting Attack on U.S.” All Things Considered, September 7, 2007.
- “Michael Scheuer Interview.” Hardball with Chris Matthews, November 16, 2004.
- “Michael Scheuer Interview, Episode #519,” Real Time with Bill Maher, September 21, 2007.
- Scheuer, Michael. “Tenet Tries to Shift the Blame. Don’t Buy It.” Washington Post, April 29, 2007, B01.
- Scheuer, Michael. “Why I Resigned from the CIA.” Los Angeles Times, December 5, 2004.
- Tenet, George. “9/11 Commission Written Testimony.” March 2004, http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing8/tenet_statement.pdf.
- “The Torture Question,” PBS Frontline Interview with Michael Scheuer, July 21, 2005, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/interviews/scheuer.html.