Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Harry Smith Taken Aback as CBS Analyst Blames Clinton for bin Laden Failures
Newbusters ^

Posted on 09/25/2006 11:27:07 AM PDT by Republican Red

Harry Smith Taken Aback as CBS Analyst Blames Clinton for bin Laden Failures

Despite Bill Clinton's angry protestations, the bulk of the blame for America's failure to catch or kill Osama bin Laden lies squarely on the Clinton administration, at least according to terrorism analyst Michael Scheuer.

Scheuer's words, delivered on today's edition of CBS's "Early Show," must have come as a shock for co-host Harry Smith since the liberal media's usual refrain on bin Laden is to blame Bush for the failure to kill him back in the early days of the Afghanistan campaign.

That just isn't the case, Scheuer argued, implicitly criticizing the press.

"The former president seems to be able to deny facts with impugnity. Bin Laden is alive today because Mr. Clinton, Mr. Sandy Berger, and Mr. Richard Clarke refused to kill him," he said.

Video clip (1:34): Real (2.56 MB at 225 kbps) or Windows Media (2.91 MB at 256 kbps), plus MP3 audio (443 KB). Read on for transcript of the segment.

On Monday's "Early Show", co-host Harry Smith talked with Scheuer about the war in Iraq and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Smith was shocked when Scheuer laid the blame at the feet of the Clinton administration, and attempted to put the focus back on failures of the Bush Administration. Smith highlighted president Clinton's defense of his administration:

"Let's talk about what President Clinton had to say on Fox yesterday. He basically laid blame at the feet of the CIA and the FBI for not being able to certify or verify that Osama bin Laden was responsible for a number of different attacks. Does that ring true to you?"

Scheuer refuted Smith’s portrayal of Clinton:

"No, sir, I don't think so. The president seems to be able, the former president seems to be able to deny facts with impugnity. Bin Laden is alive today because Mr. Clinton, Mr. Sandy Berger, and Mr. Richard Clarke refused to kill him. That's the bottom line. And every time he says what he said to Chris Wallace on Fox, he defames the CIA especially, and the men and women who risk their lives to give his administration repeated chances to kill bin Laden."

Smith couldn’t let these facts tarnish the Clinton legacy, so he attempted to change the subject back to the Bush Administration:

"All right, is the Bush administration any less responsible for not finishing the job in Tora Bora?"

Scheuer acknowledged that there is plenty of blame to go around for not getting bin Laden, but asserted that Clinton bears most of it:

"Oh, I think there's plenty of blame to go around, sir, but the fact of the matter is that the Bush Administration had one chance that they botched, and the Clinton Administration had eight to ten chances that they refused to try..."

Scheuer continued his response and accused President Clinton of lying to the American people:

"...But it's just, it's an incredible kind of situation for the American people over the weekend to hear their former president mislead them."

Scheuer’s points may have hit at Clinton too hard for Smith, as Smith used his final word to assert that President Bush is responsible too:

"And, and, and with this also further revelation that, in fact, the war in Iraq has only exacerbated the terrorist situation."

Scheuer’s facts about the failures of the Clinton administration in catching bin Laden are largely ignored by the media, but keep them in mind the next time a reporter starts hammering the Bush administration because Osama bin Laden is still at large.

Transcript of the relevant portion of the interview follows:

Harry Smith: "Elizabeth Palmer live in Pakistan this morning, thank you. I'm going to go back now to Michael Scheuer once again. Let's talk about what President Clinton had to say on Fox yesterday. He basically laid blame at the feet of the CIA and the FBI for not being able to certify or verify that Osama bin Laden was responsible for a number of different attacks. Does that ring true to you?"

Michael Scheuer: "No, sir, I don't think so. The president seems to be able, the former president seems to be able to deny facts with impugnity. Bin Laden is alive today because Mr. Clinton, Mr. Sandy Berger, and Mr. Richard Clarke refused to kill him. That's the bottom line. And every time he says what he said to Chris Wallace on Fox, he defames the CIA especially, and the men and women who risk their lives to give his administration repeated chances to kill bin Laden."

Harry Smith: "Alright, is the Bush administration any less responsible for not finishing the job in Tora Bora?"

Michael Scheuer: "Oh, I think there's plenty of blame to go around, sir, but the fact of the matter is that the Bush Administration had one chance that they botched, and the Clinton Administration had eight to ten chances that they refused to try. At least at Tora Bora our forces were on the ground. We didn't push the point. But it's just, it's an incredible kind of situation for the American people over the weekend to hear their former president mislead them."

Harry Smith: "And, and, and with this also further revelation that, in fact, the war in Iraq has only exacerbated the terrorist situation. Michael Scheurer, we thank you so much for your time this morning."



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 8months; 8years; cbsnews; harrysmith; michaelscheuer
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last
Terrorism analyst Michael Scheuer - no friend of the Bush administration.

As for Harry, don't ask a question when you don't know the answer. lolol

1 posted on 09/25/2006 11:27:08 AM PDT by Republican Red
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

.


2 posted on 09/25/2006 11:32:20 AM PDT by Mo1 (Hey McCain and Graham .... our soldiers signed up to dodge bullets not lawsuits)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
From where did Smith pull his closing statement? It's unclear, ungrammatical, and is a non-sequitor to the previous comments. Desperation methinks.
3 posted on 09/25/2006 11:32:30 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The broken wall, the burning roof and tower. And Agamemnon dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

Harry Smith. Honestly, I didn't think Harry was this much of a leftist robot.

Look, if you knock over an anthill, the ants are gonna get angry. Same thing with terrorists. They didn't think we'd chase them home! We did.

As for Mr. Scheuer and his comments about Mr. Clinton's failure to take out OBL. Mr. Scheuer is correct.


4 posted on 09/25/2006 11:32:34 AM PDT by RexBeach (Will Rogers Never Met Bill Clinton.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

Harry Smith is a p***y.


5 posted on 09/25/2006 11:32:57 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: toomanygrasshoppers

Ping


6 posted on 09/25/2006 11:33:02 AM PDT by FrogHawk (watchforlowflyingfrogs)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: holdonnow

Catch this one!


7 posted on 09/25/2006 11:33:53 AM PDT by Petronski (Living His life abundantly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

The Clinton legacy is secure. And the Rodham campaign might want to lower the life boats...


8 posted on 09/25/2006 11:34:25 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
"And, and, and ....

What's the matter, Harry? Cat got your tongue??

9 posted on 09/25/2006 11:35:16 AM PDT by Lurking in Kansas (Nothing witty here… move on.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

Rush played the clip on his show today. This guy Michael Scheuer is a very partisan liberal who just a few weeks ago said on CBS that we were losing the War on Terror. I'm sure Harry Smith booked the guy believing full well he would have a fun Bush bash session.

I guess Scheuer didn't like his former employer, the CIA, being maligned by Clinton.


10 posted on 09/25/2006 11:38:37 AM PDT by Republican Red ("There’s God, then there’s the president and then there’s my father.”- 6 yr old Jack Roberts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

Clinton is many things but dumb aint' one of them. He got mad on purpose - to rally the left-wingnut fringe and to try to intimindate the few media outlets who would dare question him or point out his shortcomings. Wallace stood tough, now Scheuer brings reinforcement. Don't let Bubba keep repeating lies until they are accepted as truth!


11 posted on 09/25/2006 11:38:43 AM PDT by bigbob (2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

How do you become a "terrorism analyst."??? Sounds like easy work to me. Read the newspapers and bloviate.


12 posted on 09/25/2006 11:39:44 AM PDT by churchillbuff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
"And, and, and with this also further revelation that, in fact, the war in Iraq has only exacerbated the terrorist situation . . ."

Boy, he slipped that talking point in at the last second without allowing for any rebuttal.

13 posted on 09/25/2006 11:41:13 AM PDT by blues_guitarist (Splunge!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
I guess Scheuer didn't like his former employer, the CIA, being maligned by Clinton.

Or good people he knew and worked with. This is another example of how neoliberal bs is wearing thin on reasonable people.

14 posted on 09/25/2006 11:41:24 AM PDT by polymuser (There is one war and one enemy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
Cheap shot Harry! ... "Harry Smith: "And, and, and with this also further revelation that, in fact, the war in Iraq has only exacerbated the terrorist situation. Michael Scheurer, we thank you so much for your time this morning."

Just say goodbye, Harry. Stop the propaganda!

15 posted on 09/25/2006 11:45:13 AM PDT by bvw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RexBeach
"Look, if you knock over an anthill, the ants are gonna get angry. Same thing with terrorists. They didn't think we'd chase them home! We did."

Bump that!

16 posted on 09/25/2006 11:53:42 AM PDT by BenLurkin ("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Lurking in Kansas
A cat wouldn't touch Harry's tongue, but would try to throw sand on that P.O.S. weenie liberal commentator! That dude is a wuss, and the Pillsbury doughboy analyst he talked to is almost as bad. I thought it humorous Harry got caught flatfooted by the doughboy, and couldn't recover without his cheap-shot comment at the end. Poor hairless Harry doesn't have the guts to be honest, and he is just another pawn in the MSN.
17 posted on 09/25/2006 12:24:00 PM PDT by geezerwheezer (get up boys, we're burnin' daylight!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red
Delicious.
Enjoyed every word!
18 posted on 09/25/2006 12:25:20 PM PDT by MaryFromMichigan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bvw
Harry Smith: "And, and, and with this also further revelation that, in fact, the war in Iraq has only exacerbated the terrorist situation".

And I suppose it would only be fair to also say that FDR's war against the Japanese empire exasperated the kamikaze situation in the Pacific, right, Harry?

19 posted on 09/25/2006 12:58:54 PM PDT by auzerais (Congress is the only whorehouse in America that loses money)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Republican Red

"impugnity"??

ROTFL


20 posted on 09/25/2006 1:08:20 PM PDT by Fatuncle (Of course I'm ignorant. I'm here to learn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson