US - Clinton admits he let bin Laden go

Many on the left claim Bill Clinton never admitted he refused an offer from Sudan to hand over bin Laden. Here's an audio tape of Clinton admitting just that.

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TRANSCRIPT: Ex-President Clinton's Remarks on Osama bin Laden Delivered to the Long Island Association's Annual Luncheon Crest Hollow Country Club, Woodbury, NY Feb. 15, 2002

Mr. bin Laden used to live in Sudan. He was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991, then he went to Sudan.

And we'd been hearing that the Sudanese wanted America to start dealing with them again.

They released him. At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America.

So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato and they didn't and that's how he wound up in Afghanistan.

This despite the fact that bin Laden had declared war on America.

Note also, this shows the mind set of the Democrats in dealing with al Qaeda. Then as now, they consider al Qaeda as criminals that should be handled as a police matter.