Posted on 09/23/2006 8:37:08 PM PDT by STARWISE
Former president Bill Clinton angrily defended his administration's counterterrorism record during a Fox News interview to be aired today, while accusing "President Bush's neocons" and other Republicans of ignoring Osama bin Laden until the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Clinton had planned to discuss his climate change initiative during his appearance on "Fox News Sunday," but he turned combative after host Chris Wallace asked why he hadn't "put bin Laden and al-Qaeda out of business." Clinton shot back that "all the conservative Republicans" who now criticize him for inattention to bin Laden used to criticize him for over-attention to bin Laden.Clinton said he authorized the CIA to kill bin Laden, and even "contracted with people to kill him." He also said he had a plan to attack Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban and hunt for bin Laden after the attack on the USS Cole, but the CIA and FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible, and Uzbekistan refused to allow the United States to set up a base.
By contrast, Clinton said the Bush administration's neoconservatives "had no meetings on bin Laden for nine months," believing he had been "too obsessed with bin Laden."
(snip)
Clinton : There is not a living soul in the world who thought Osama bin Laden had anything to do with Black Hawk down or was paying any attention to it, or even knew al-Qaeda was a going concern in October '93.
Wallace : I understand.
Clinton : No, no, wait. Don't tell me that -- you asked why didn't I do more to bin Laden, there was not a living soul, all the people who now criticize me wanted to leave the next day. You brought this up, so you get an answer. But you -- secondly
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
for the past year, the Dems have made much of W's waiting four days instead of going immediately to New Orleans after Katrina .... is there some published record of what Slick did in the days/weeks/months after the first WTC bombing? My memory is that he never visited the site.
"Bill Clinton did not visit the WTC towers."
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six and injured 1,000; President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
Bill Clinton warned America in his radio address that we should not overreact to the 1993 WTC bombing. "I would discourage the American people from overreacting to this," Clinton said.
Bill Clinton treated it as a petty criminal offense even though Bush 41 told him terrorists had declared war on America.
CIA director Woolsey now reveals that he never had a private personal meeting with Clinton during the first two years of his tenure as head of the CIA - exactly the key period in investigating the 1993 attack.
Bill Clinton did not visit the WTC towers.
Bill Clinton did not even make a public appearance on national television.
Bill Clinton tried to stop a reward fund for the capture of terrorists involved in the attack.
From the time President Clinton took office until May of 1995, a Presidential Decision Directive, PDD 39, sat in the National Security Council, in the In Box of one of the officials with no action taken. The significance of PDD 39 is that it was the document defining what the missions and roles were of combating terrorism.
Despite what happened at the World Trade Center in 1993, the Clinton administration did not finally act on [PDD 39] until after the attack in Oklahoma City.
The only reason for that is because in the two weeks prior to Oklahoma City, the front page of both Newsweek and Time Magazine carried the question: 'Is President Clinton Relevant?'
After the 1993 ambush in Somalia, which killed 19 and injured 84; President Clinton just tucked tail and ran away.
On May 4, 1993, Clinton having taken office in January, U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Robert Johnston handed over control of the relief mission to the UN. "It's all yours," he told the new UN commander, a Turkish general, as he departed with most of his U.S. troops in tow.
http://tinyurl.com/edrkd
thanks! I DO remember that on the night of April 18, 1995, Clinton wanted network time for an address from the Oval Office, and not one network would give him the time, due to his perceived 'irrelevancy.' The next day was the OKC bombing, and he took full advantage of it.
TROLL
Nosair, the assassin was one of the plotters of the 93 WTC attack.
A real leader wouldn't have been deterred by his critics if his confidential intelligence told him of nature of the threat and its seriousness.
Bad argument, President Clinton.
The point is YOU do NOT know (and the rest of us).....because some of it is probably CLASSIFIED intelligence....and because YOU do not know how hard it is to get something done in a bureaucracy....and President Bush does not EVER, EVER, EVER need to "answer Clinton." Yes, he's showed him "respect" just as he's shown it to every other President....it's the OFFICE, and it's politics.
There is no reality IMO for him to defend what he did not do.
He can go wiggle that finger and attempt all the fabrication regarding his legacy he likes, but history will IMO bury the bum.
See sections 6 and 8.
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