Scott C. Smith: 'Osama bin Laden on a silver platter'

(Smirking Chimp) ~Scott C. Smith is a writer from Beaverton, Oregon. Scott's column appears weekly at web sites such as Counter Bias dot com and The Smirking Chimp dot com.

"Regular viewers of Hannity and Colmes on Fox News have heard Sean Hannity say on numerous occasions that the government of Sudan wanted to hand Osama bin Laden over to the United States "on a silver platter," only to have the offer rejected by the Clinton administration.
Hannity says this a lot. If the topic of the day is terrorism, it's a sure thing Sean Hannity will mention the alleged offer by Sudan to turn Osama bin Laden over to the United States.
Fox News analyst Mansoor Ijaz has made the claim that he brokered the deal to turn over bin Laden, as a sort of freelance diplomat.
Ijaz claims that in 1996, he opened talks with the government of Sudan. According to the December 5, 2001 Los Angeles Times, Ijaz says, "From 1996 to 1998, I opened unofficial channels between Sudan and the Clinton administration. I met with officials in both countries, including Clinton, U.S. National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger and Sudan's president and intelligence chief. President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, who wanted terrorism sanctions against Sudan lifted, offered the arrest and extradition of bin Laden and detailed intelligence data about the global networks constructed by Egypt's Islamic Jihad, Iran's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas."
Was this a legitimate offer? According to the 9/11 Commission's final report, the answer is no.
In the 567-page report, the 9/11 Commission mentions Ijaz only once, as an end note on page 480: "In February 1997, the Sudanese sent letters to President Clinton and Secretary of State Allbright, extending an invitation for a U.S. counterterrorism inspection mission to visit Sudan. The Sudanese also used private U.S. citizens to pass along offers to cooperate...but these offers were dismissed because the National Security Council viewed Sudan as all talk and little action...U.S. officials also feared that the Sudanese would exploit any positive American responses..."
What about the claim, as articulated by Hannity on hundreds of occasions, that we were offered Osama bin Laden on a silver platter? The 9/11 Commission report says it never happened. From page 110 of the report:
"Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand bin Laden over to the United States. The commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. U.S. Ambassador Timothy Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel bin Laden. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding."
For years now, conservatives have battered Clinton over his "failure" to accept bin Laden on a "silver platter." Ijaz has made the cable news circuit on many occasions with his claim that he brokered a deal to hand over bin Laden.
Of course, conservatives have always believed the Ijaz story and never accepted the Clinton administration's explanation of the "offer." As Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger wrote in the July 13, 2002 Washington Post: "Although less was known about Osama bin Laden in 1996, when he left Sudan, than has been learned since, U.S. officials pressed the Sudanese to end their support and sanctuary for bin Laden. But no senior Clinton administration official -- from the State Department, the CIA, the Defense Department or the National Security Council -- is aware of any offer by the Sudanese to turn bin Laden over to the United States..."
Berger also adds, "...that he (Ijaz) was not used as a channel of communication by the U.S. government to the Sudanese reflects the disinclination of any administration to use self-appointed diplomats to conduct official U.S. business -- given uncertainties over motivation and interest. Indeed, other governments complained to U.S. officials that Ijaz represented himself -- incorrectly -- as acting on behalf of the U.S. government."
To be fair, attempts were made in 1998 to capture bin Laden, and government agencies developed plans to do so. Following the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, the Clinton administration decided to attack the camps bin Laden used with cruise missiles. The missiles were fired on August 20, 1998. According to the 9/11 report, bin Laden was missed by a few hours.
Conservatives like Hannity have said for years that the Clinton Administration did nothing to stop terrorism. The 9/11 Commission report shows the administration did take action against terrorists, and describes the Clinton Administration as being "obsessed" with capturing bin Laden.
Of course, in the world according to Sean Hannity and other conservatives, Bill Clinton took no action against terrorism, and it's doubtful the 9/11 report will change their minds."