Interesting....Do You Remember This?

[TwinMom7]

Anyone remember this??

It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration. There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a senator; "Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?" Ollie replied, "Yes, I did, Sir." The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, "Isn't that just a little excessive?" "No, sir," continued Ollie. "No? And why not?" the senator asked. "Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir." "Threatened? By whom?" the senator questioned. "By a terrorist, sir" Ollie answered. "Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?" "His name is Osama bin Laden, sir" Ollie replied.

At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn't pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn't. A couple of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued. Why are you so afraid of this man?" the senator asked.

"Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of", Ollie answered. "And what do you recommend we do about him?" asked the senator. "Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth."

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was shown of the clip. By the way, that senator was Al Gore

Also: Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners."

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands, The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all prisoners be released.

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

urban legend, never happened.

snopes

Claim: Oliver North stated during the 1987 Iran-Contra hearings that Osama bin Laden was "the most evil person alive" and that "an assassin team [should] be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth."
Status: False.

Origins: For most of us who watched the televised Iran-Contra hearings in 1987 -- held by Congress to determine whether the Reagan administration had secretly and illegally sold arms to Iran in order to secure the release of American hostages, then used the profits from those sales to fund the contra rebels in Nicaragua -- the enduring image we came away with was a memory of an unapologetic and resolute Lt. Col. Oliver North delivering testimony in a Marine uniform. North, who was a central figure in the plan to secretly ship arms to Iran despite a U.S. trade and arms embargo, and who as a National Security Council aide directed efforts to raise private and foreign funds for the contras despite a Congressional prohibition on U.S. government agencies' providing military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, testified before Congress under a grant of limited immunity in July 1987, becoming "the darling of the American conservative movement with his earnest, self-justifying testimony during the televised hearings" (or, to the other side, becoming a villain "who lied to Congress to support an illegal war").

Although North had been granted limited immunity for his testimony, he was later convicted of criminal charges related to Iran-Contra activities (a conviction that was eventually overturned on the grounds that witnesses had been influenced by his immunized testimony). One of the charges against North was that he had received a $16,000 home security system paid for out of the proceeds of the Iran-Contra affair and had forged documents to cover his receipt of an illegal gratuity. North admitted that he knew the security system was a "gift" but maintained he never inquired about who had paid for it or how it was financed, and he was insistent that he needed the security system because the government had failed to provide adequate protection against international terrorists for him and his family.

The terrorist North mentioned in his testimony was not Osama bin Laden, however. To the extent that bin Laden was known to the western world in 1987, it was not as a "terrorist" but as one of the U.S.-backed "freedom fighters" participating in the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden's hatred of the U.S. and conversion to "terrorist" status is not believed to have come about until the Gulf War of 1990-91, when he was outspokenly critical of Saudi Arabian dependence upon the U.S. military and denounced U.S. support of a "corrupt, materialist, and irreligious" Saudi monarchy. (The Saudi Arabian government stripped bin Laden of his citizenship in 1994 for his funding of militant fundamentalist Islamic groups.)

No, Oliver North did not testify about or speak the name Osama bin Laden during the Iran-Contra hearings. He claimed that threats against his life had been made by terrorist Abu Nidal, telling a congressional committee:

I want you to know that I'd be more than willing . . . to meet Abu Nidal on equal terms anywhere in the world. There's an even deal for him. OK? But I am not willing to have my wife and my four children meet Abu Nidal or his organization on his terms.

 

[bsnyder]

Patty, it makes a dramatic story, but it's not true. It's an urban legend that got wide circulation right after 9/11.

 

[TwinMom7]

Thanks for setting me straight!!! Just received this today in an email, and you know me....pretty gullible.

 

[bsnyder]

I found it totally believable too, Patty.

 

[Libbysmom2000]

I'm relieved that this is an urban legend but I'm going to still post my original response.

I realize I'm new to the "neighborhood" and many of you might read this with the attitude "who does she think she is". However, in the short time I've been posting I've read some very hurtful things and have been on the receiving end of some nasty posts. Simply for sharing a difference of opinion.

I'm sure the original post was not made with an ulterior motive. I understand the individual who posted it, as well as many others on these boards, has a loved one fighting in Iraq. I want you to understand that whatever my feelings are about our current administration I truly hope these loved ones are safe and come home quickly. I consider myself a very patriotic person and fully support our troops.

However, posting something like this is just opening pandora's box.

 

[TwinMom7]

I'm sorry if you found anything in the post to be considered hurtful or nasty.

Luckily, I was quickly corrected on it's status as an urban legend and I immediately responded that I was glad to be corrected.

The last thing I meant to do was open a Pandora's Box - but I don't see it that way at all.

 

[wovenwonder]

Patty -
I REALLY enjoy your posts! Don't let one misunderstanding post make you hesitate from finding very interesting information and posting it for us! It sounded good to ME too!

 

[Libbysmom2000]

Please don't think I in any way was implying your post was nasty. The point I was trying to make was although you were probably posting this as just as interesting item it's exactly the type of thing that will set off more hostility here.

 

[Keli]

Right now I think just about anything that someone posts could open a pandora's box. It's been crazy around here.

 

[TinkHappy]

I don't think that Patty was posting this to "open Pandora's box" I believe she was just sharing something with us that was shared with her.
Libbysmom ~ as you can see from the post, additional information was shared (without hostility) to correct this "urban legend" It is my opinion that YOUR post created hostility and "finger pointing". Please remember this is a board with people of all thoughts and opinions. Sharing them (for the most part) is not used to "set off more hostility here" just to inform and sometimes VENT

 

[Galahad]

I think this new board is taking on the flavor of kind of a merger between the DB and the CB. Folks that post on the CB, but hardly ever go to the DB might find the posts more pointed than they are used to, but as long as there aren't any personal attacks I think we only serve the overall purpose of this board by letting folks "debate" and "vent" about the war and how they feel about it.

 

[jfulcer]

More info on snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/atta.htm

 

[Mishetta]

TwinMom7 ~ I would have posted that too if I had received it before you! Just passing along information....we are all glad to be corrected if we are in error though.

I read each & every one of your (inspiring) posts!

God Bless you!

Mishetta

 

[Pugdog007]

Originally posted by Libbysmom2000
However, posting something like this is just opening pandora's box.

As if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.



What's the deal? Are you a Gore in '04 Fan or something?

There wasn't anything about that post that warranted this response.