Former President Bill Clinton signed an order preventing the CIA from organizing a kill operation against al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a new documentary.

The revelation is discussed by former CIA station chief Bob Grenier in the new Showtime documentary The Longest War, which was released Tuesday. Grenier, who was based in Islamabad, Pakistan, explained that the agency was permitted to engage in “lethal activity” against the terrorist leader but could not perform a strike with the explicit purpose of killing him.