PPRuNe Forums - Was Oliver right?

Anybody remember the Iran Contra hearings enough to know if this is true?

A Bit of History:

You know, it's funny. I remember very vividly
the Oliver North hearings, but did not recall the
name of Osama bin Laden as the terrorist that
North was threatened by. Has this slimeball been
around that long?. It's pretty evident, in hindsight
that we should have listened to OLLIE!

I was at a UNC lecture the other day where they
played a video of Oliver North during the Iran-Contra
deals during the Reagan administration.
I was naive back then but
was surprised by this particular clip.

There was Olie in front of God and Country
getting the third degree.

But what he said stunned me. He was being
drilled by some senator I didn't recognize who
asked him;

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

Oliver replied, 'Yes I did sir.'

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh
out of the audience,
'Isn't this just a little excessive?'

'No sir,' continued Oliver.

'No. And why not?'

'Because the life of my family and I were threatened.'

'Threatened? By who.'

'By a terrorist, sir.'

'Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare
you that much?'

'His name is Osama bin Laden.'

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?'

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

'And what do you recommend we do about him?'

'If it were me I would recommend 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 they showed of the clip.

It's scary when you think 15 years ago the
government was aware of Osama bin Laden
and his potential threat to the security of the world.
I guess like all great tyrants they start small but if
left untended spread like the virus they truly are.