posted April 27, 2010 09:35 AM         

When we saw transcripts of bin Laden's declaration that the US is a "paper tiger" without the stomach for a sustained fight, we realized bin Laden and other terrorists had been conditioned by Clinton to believe they could get away with attacking the US and pay no price for the attacks.

Now, a high level terrorist and confidant of bin Laden has confirmed what thinking people knew all along.

How shocked bin Laden and the Taliban must have been when Bush responded to the 911 attacks on the United States with B-52 Bombers and ground forces which swiftly overthrew the Taliban, killed al-Qaeda members, sent the rest scurrying to caves in Afghanistan and Pakistan AND killed about 75% of al-Qaeda's leadership.

Unlike Kommander Korruption, Bush didn't wave his finger in the air and bloviate that "we're going to get those guys". Bush sent the US military to kill them. Surprise!

At the time, leftists were warning that attacking al-Qaeda would only make them madder than they already were. Let's see, they attacked 2 US embassies in Africa, attacked the Kobar Towers in Saudi Arabi, attacked the USS Cole and had already attacked the World Trade Center in 1993. All these attacks were aimed at the United States and killed Americans. Kommander Korruption did...essentially nothing...beyond shaking his finger in the air and bloviating.

We have another leftist in the White House who refuses to call terrorists...terrorists, refuses to call terrorist attacks...terrorist attacks, wants to have terrorists read their rights...just like American citizens and wants to treat terrorist attacks as a "law enforcement matter".

Leftists live in a dream world and are incapable of learning the lessons of history. Conditioning terrorists to believe they can get away with attacking the United States and pay no real price gets more Americans killed and that's the real lesson of history.

Bin Laden had 'no clue' about Sept. 11 retaliation
April 27, 2010 - 5:31am

Former head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group Noman Benotman says he warned Osama bin Laden about how the U.S. would respond to the Sept. 11 attacks.

WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden had no idea the U.S. would hit al-Qaida as hard as it has since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a former bin Laden associate tells WTOP in an exclusive interview.

"I'm 100 percent sure they had no clue about what was going to happen," says Noman Benotman, who was head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group in the summer of 2000.

"What happened after the 11th of September was beyond their imagination, " says Benotman, who adds that al-Qaida thought the U.S. was a "paper tiger."

Sitting on the floor at bin Laden's compound in Kandahar, Afghanistan during a meeting the summer before the attacks, Benotman shocked bin Laden and more than 200 other international jihadist leaders by telling the al-Qaida leader his jihadi strategy was "a total failure."

Benotman, a highly regarded associate of bin Laden's at the time, says he surprised him again by rebuffing a plea for help.

"He asked for my help. Bin Laden asked me personally, you know. I responded immediately on the spot ...'No. I'm not going to help you.'"

Bin Laden was stunned.

"Because he used to like to sit next to me, you know. My right hand side," Benotman says.

The seating location meant he was someone bin Laden respected.

Benotman says he spoke frankly because his reputation allowed him to.

"I've spent time in the front line engaging with the enemy more than bin Laden and [Ayman Al-]Zawahiri and the entire group of al-Qaida."

Zawahiri laughed when he warned those at the 2000 meeting that the U.S. response would be swift, hard and long, Benotman says.

Benotman attributes al-Qaida's overconfident attitude to the United States' response to al-Qaida attacks on its in embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998.

Zawahiri, according to Benotman, expected only a missile attack.

"When they attacked the embassies in East Africa, they estimated the U.S. launched 75 cruise missiles and eight people got killed. So they said this time, maybe they will launch 200 and they laughed about this."

Benotman's assessment is backed up by a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, who was active in the fight against al-Qaida.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says "several captured terrorists have said publicly that al-Qaida never expected the towers to fall. Their goal was to frighten people and impact the U.S. economy, so they really didn't plan for the massive response the U.S. launched."

Bin Laden got more than one warning, says Benotman.

"I told him several times before the Sept. 11th attacks that if you do this, the U.S. is going to retaliate in a very harsh way. At least twice I reminded him about the serious orders he was given by Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban to stop fighting the U.S., and he disobeyed the order."

Now living in London and openly campaigning against organizations like al-Qaida, Benotman - according to some - is simply trying to avoid going to jail in his native Libya.

"I would like to believe that bin Laden was shocked and dismayed by what we did after 9/11, but I come hard up against an awful lot of evidence that that's exactly what he wanted," says Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit.

Scheuer questions whether Benotman is speaking out freely.

"Clearly, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is holding a hammer over his head," Scheuer says, noting some of Benotman's ex-LIFG colleagues are in prison and Benotman still has relatives in Libya.

Benotman, who still believes in the commitment Jihad requires, laughs at the notion he's afraid of being arrested.

"I'm not afraid of the Americans or any other country. My speaking out is a conscious decision and it's based on my entire experience and understanding of jihadism."

Not only does Benotman reject al-Qaida's ideology, but he says "killing civilians is a crime. I don't care if it's Jews, Christians, Muslims or anyone. It's a crime and we shouldn't help them (al Qaida)."

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1943289&nid=778