I know, I know!
There is only one thing that I agree with Richard Clark, post Bush administration, about that is we might have been able to thwart to at the very least make the 9/11 hijackers uncomfortable. If only we had alerted the public along with the appropriate government to this very serious looming problem. Clark neglects to tell us that had clinton made an issue of bin Laden/al Qaeda back in say,,, 1998, we would have been much better prepared. But no, we had to go save Albanian Muslims. Not that that's a bad thing of course, however to devote the bulk of his bully pulpit to telling us how Slobo was the new Hitler!!!!, while excluding any real effort in getting Pakistan to come along with us to end the Taliban and OBL is well, just so clintonberger. I also have to wonder if the media would have given the republicans in congress any real coverage if they had screamed loud enough. McCollum, former congressman from FL had alerted clinton and congress to what was up, guess he didn't fuss enough and he was busy as one of the prosecutors on impeachment. I put the bulk of the blame on clinton's administration.
75 posted on 07/23/2004 7:55:56 PM EDT by BigWaveBetty
While we are at this, the natural tendency to blame someone or some agency for 9/11 needs to be avoided. The courageous men and women of the FBI and CIA who put their lives on the line for our country every day are our heroes, not our adversaries. The men and women of the FBI--and the New York office in particular--have done an extraordinary job in pursuing and preventing terrorism over the decade preceding 9/11, saving countless lives by their courage and skill. They deserve our gratitude and respect. They also deserve, as do people in uniform, the laws and resources necessary to do what we expect them to do.
I agree completely Mr. Freeh, it was clinton's job to educate the public about this threat and then do what he certainly thought was too hard or too messy, not stuff he'd want to jeopardize his legacy over.
...the complex question that remains not fully answered is why the political leadership of our nation--which included presidents and Congresses--declared war back on al Qaeda only after that horrific day.
Don't try and lay the blame at the feet of GWB. The Bush administration did start communicating with Pakistan in early 2001, while just getting into office and the delay in senate confirmations on the cabinet (most especially Ashcroft)and that pesky Chinese spy plane problem where how many (20?) service men and women's lives were at stake. Seven months of what could be described as chaos as opposed to at least 3 years of clinton's term.
Face it Freeh, you weren't man enough to stand up to clinton or Reno. Since you knew how important it was why didn't you resign and tell the country what was happening.
Feh on you Freeh.
Also, let's not lose sight of the delay in transfer of power due to the Gore moves after the election, and the 'monkey-wrenching' by the outgoing dems of systems and procedures that could have smoothed the transition and gotten us ahead of the curve earlier.
I also ponder what our world would be like today, if Clintoon had focused on our vulnerabilities in his final days, rather than pardons, arsenic content in water and the rest of the crap he did at the end.