The chairman of the independent commission investigating the 9/11 attacks is hinting that he's prepared to place blame at the doorstep of the Bush White House for not acting on evidence that could have prevented the catastrophe.
But commission chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, has yet to examine key evidence indicating that President Clinton knew Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America but failed to take appropriate action to stop him as the 9/11 operation was being organized.
"[9/11] was not something that had to happen," Kean told CBS News on Wednesday, adding that officials in the Bush administration had failed to protect America.
"There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed. They simply failed," the top 9/11 prober said.
But key recordings of Mr. Clinton admitting that he turned down an offer for bin Laden's extradition to the U.S. – "though we knew," in the ex-president words, "that he wanted to commit crimes against America" – have not been sought by the commission.
Clinton's comments were videotaped by the Long Island Association, where he made the stunning admission during the group's annual luncheon on Feb. 15, 2002. However, requests for the video later that year by NBC News, the Fox News Channel and NewsMax.com were refused by the business group.
It's not known whether the ex-president had an agreement with the LIA to prohibit distribution of their recording.
NewsMax.com's audiotape of the event is the only publicly available recording of Clinton's remarks.
In July, 9/11 commission spokesman Al Felzenberg told NewsMax that the ex-president's admission would likely be part of the probe. "Since this is obviously on the public record, I wouldn't be surprised if it came up," he explained.
But five months later, the Kean commission has yet to seek the original audiotape, which shows the ex-president detailing his decision to pass up what turned out to be America's best chance to avoid the 9/11 attacks.
"We'd been hearing that the Sudanese wanted America to start meeting with them again," Clinton told the LIA. "They released [bin Laden]. 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."
Still, instead of exploring what turned out to be the worst foreign policy blunder in U.S. history, the Kean commission now appears to have the Bush White House in the crosshairs.
"As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," Kean told CBS. "They simply failed."
Hear the audiotape that was too hot to handle for the 9/11 commission.
Editor's note:
"CATASTROPHE" Reveals Bill Clinton’s Role in 9/11 - Click Here to find out more
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