200 military aircraft left in Afghanistan- bigger air force than Spain..., page-100

Sorry but I can't find the original source for my quote...it was many years ago now. No matter whilst it may not be verbatim - who doesn't reimagine/paraphrase such things over time - the essence of the story is true IMO.

Some background to the Clinton mindset:

Some of the president's staff and his consultants pressed the case for aggressive action to contain terror at home and attack it abroad. But at the center of the storm, Bill Clinton sat with an unusual imperturbability. Even as he fretted about whether to sign the welfare reform act and brooded about the FBI file, Paula Jones and Whitewater scandals, he seemed curiously uninvolved in the battle against terror. Advised that his place in history rested on eliminating the deficit, making welfare reform work, and smashing the international network of terrorists militarily and economically, he remained unusually passive.

It's also worth noting that the President received daily briefing from the CIA (PDB) concerning the current threat environment:

In the Dec. 4, 1998, President’s Daily Brief from the CIA, the agency told Clinton that “Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks.” The plan, the agency said, was to hijack the planes to gain the release of Yousef and other terrorists, the 9/11 report said.

My original source also detailed Clinton's absolute squeamishness to embark on military/covert action to neutralize perceived threats, especially with Saudi connections, without absolute proof for fear of public/media backlash re racial profiling or failed ventures such as the Black Hawk Down debacle

Thus I maintain the thrust of my post is true. Deal with it, mofo.