Hello,

As they say, hindsight is always 20/20 - if the FOI buffs had been on the ball, they would have picked this exchange up from the Iran Contra hearings of 1987. Perhaps it could become the first page of the National Security document 'Reasons Not To Only Bomb Obscure Pharmacuetical Factories in the Middle East (even when our approval ratings are going down the toilet)'  

rms

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You may already be aware of this, but here's a letter published in the London Daily Telegraph of 6/12/2001

Re: Not better late Date: 6 December 2001

Messrs Bush and Blair might find it interesting to listen to the tape recording of the grilling of Lt Col Oliver North by a senator during the Iran-Contra hearing in 1987:

Q "Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?"

A "Yes, I did, sir."

Q "Isn't that a little excessive?"

A "No, sir."

Q "No? And why not?"

A "Because the lives of myself and my family were threatened, sir."

Q "Threatened? By whom?"

A "By terrorists, sir."

Q "By terrorists? What terrorist could possibly threaten you that much?

A "His name is bin Laden, sir."

Q "And why are you so afraid of this man?"

A "Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of."

Q "And what do you recommend we do about him?"

A "Well, sir, if it were up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his group from the face of the Earth."