Khobar Towers (as told by Louis Freeh - WOW!)

WSJ ^ | June 23, 2006 | Louis J. Freeh

[nuconvert]

Khobar Towers

June 23, 2006

The Wall Street Journal

Louis J. Freeh

Ten years ago this Sunday, acting under direct orders from senior Iranian government leaders, the Saudi Hezbollah detonated a 25,000-pound TNT bomb that killed 19 U.S. airmen in their dormitory at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast wave destroyed Building 131 and grievously wounded hundreds of additional Air Force personnel. It also killed an unknown number of Saudi civilians in a nearby park.

The 19 Americans murdered were members of the 4404th Wing, who were risking their lives to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. This was a U.N.-mandated mission after the 1991 Gulf War to stop Saddam Hussein from killing his Shiite people. The Khobar victims, along with the courageous families and friends who will mourn them this weekend in Washington, deserve our respect and honor. More importantly, they must be remembered, because American justice has still been denied.

Although a federal grand jury handed down indictments in June 2001 -- days before I left as FBI director and a week before some of the charges against 14 of the terrorists would have lapsed because of the statute of limitations -- two of the primary leaders of the attack, Ahmed Ibrahim al-Mughassil and Abdel Hussein Mohamed al-Nasser, are living comfortably in Iran with about as much to fear from America as Osama bin Laden had prior to Sept. 11 (to wit, U.S. marshals showing up to serve warrants for their arrests).

Solemn and Personal

The aftermath of the Khobar bombing is just one example of how successive U.S. governments have mishandled Iran. On June 25, 1996, President Clinton declared that "no stone would be left unturned" to find the bombers and bring them to "justice." Within hours, teams of FBI agents, and forensic

[InvisibleChurch]

good answer ...(some people are just touchy)

[El Gato]

Under a different administration, there might have been serious reprisals.

It's not too late you know. Just publish the evidence, ask for the perps to be turned over. Then if (when) they aren't. Warm up the "Wobblin Goblin", the Spirit and then the Bones and BUFFs.

[Shermy]

Interesting.

IIRC there were stories back then that the Saudis were stalling us. This story reads that the only "stall" was a purposeful failure in protocol.

[tina07]

Clinton said he will hunt them all down, the terrorists, he said the same line after each terrorist attack...yeah, him and OJ are still hunting.

[NonValueAdded]

There was a thread earlier today (Khobar Towers Shame – Ten Years After---The roots of Iranian terror.) about how the commanding general was framed. They withheld the intel from him, he made preparations on his own initiative, but Clinton & co. made him the scapegoat. "Air Force commanding General Ronald R. Fogleman was so outraged at Cohen’s behavior that he resigned in protest, as did [scapegoat] Schwalier." Culture of corruption / culture of incompetence.

[popdonnelly]

"Old news."

Which the Left doesn't get ten years later.

[LucyJo]

Some are saying this is "old news", and perhaps it is, but there has been so much spin, and outright lies, to cover Clinton and Clintonistas that the retelling of truth serves to remind those who've heard it, inform those who haven't heard it, and provide an opportunity to tell others who may not have heard it.

Thanks for the post.

[mockingbyrd]

We need the old stuff repeated so we always remember what we have to lose. I was young during the Clinton years, and I don't remember everything and appreciate being refreshed.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Wow, this is unbelievable!

[LucyJo]

I think most of us appreciate when the truth is told for just the reason you have mentioned. It's for certain that the lies will be repeated, and usually more often than truth, so truth can't be repeated often enough,imho.

[TXnMA]

I'm familiar with the last three -- but..."Wobblin Goblin"...?

[VOA]

I found it pretty stunning.

We can't expect the MSM to report that sort of thing.
Even if it's in a book put out by a major publisher.

But for talk radio, I'd never have heard about the pusillanimous
Clinton-Administration round table that wussed out in response to the
the attack on the USS Cole.
(in Richard Miniter's "Losing bin Laden", if I recall that correctly)

[nuconvert]

Thanks. I read that earlier.

[CyberAnt]

I just purchased that book recently, and now I'm even more convinced I need to read it.

It's great to see that a lot of the treachery of the Clintons is now being exposed for all the world to see.

[nuconvert]

"It's great to see that a lot of the treachery of the Clintons is now being exposed for all the world to see."

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans (and the rest of the world) know nothing about it, and Clinton will never be held accountable.
We can only hope that years from now, history books will set the record straight. Whether school children are taught the truth is another thing. Obviously, they aren't being taught the truth about Carter and the legacy of his presidency on our world today.

[nuconvert]

Pong

[Valin]

Yes?

[bwteim]

First - an aside to your "Old news" comment, toddlintown:
what *does* get to be old news are posters who are quick to dismiss a thread as "old news". BTW, americaprd also posted his take on Freeh's op ed.

Back to the topic and just my two cents -- first, it is not old news. It is a reflection by Freeh on mistakes past....

Second, anyone who thinks that Sandy "burglar" Berger and Madeline not-so-bright Albright are just minor league screwups would think of John Gacy as just a guy in a clown suit.

This post is a good example of why we have FR. To continue to expose Clinton and his minions. Freeh's editorial is worthy of repeating to remind us why we are in the Middle East today.

And, third, while I have your attention, if every warning were considered to be old news *after* the initial warning, we would have needed only the ONE warning given to us by G*d in the Garden of Eden; you know, the warning that went something along the lines of "watch for snakes".

Instead, we need to be reminded daily to watch for snakes in the grass.

Nuconvert, thanks for the post.

[Valin]

I was young during the Clinton years, and I don't remember everything and appreciate being refreshed.


I wish I could say that.
"Bill Clinton may not be the worst president we've ever had, but he's the worst man we've ever had as president."
George Will

[Dems_R_Losers]

You have to remember that this was just over a year after Oklahoma City and in the middle of a presidential election year. The Clintons had very successfully run their coverup/PR campaign to convince Americans that the only terrorists we needed to worry about were white right-wing militia nuts. That campaign had brought Clinton back from a political abyss in January 1995 to running away with the 1996 election. I have no doubt that Sandy Berger was under direct orders to stifle any reports of terrorist acts that could be traced to a foreign government and require a declaration of war, and possibly lead to the uncovering of the Oklahoma City coverup and the fact that Iraqis were involved in that bombing. It was a tangled web of deception that lasted right up until the Bush inauguration. Condi Rice was still untangling it all on 9/11.

Imagine if the truth of any of this had come out at the time. Clinton could actually have been impeached and convicted, and it would not have been "just about sex." He and his harpy wife would have been disgraced forever. So this is a pretty damn big story!!!!