While Clinton was a dirtbag, blaming him for the terrorist attacks is simple minded. The people who attacked are to blame.
If there is a need to go back in history to see what helped cause the attacks it would be intellectually dishonest to leave out the fact that acts committed by Reagan and Bush Sr. contributed at least as much to our present situation.
Reagan helped put the Taliban in place and Bush Sr. helped run the CIA into the ground and left Saddam standing at the end of the Gulf War. If you want to blame Clinton you'd better face up to the fact that this is not solely of his making.
But the bottom line remains that our enemy is not our politicians no matter how many mistakes they've made. The enemy is clearly defined.
Ronald Reagan did not put the Taliban in place. To state that is simplistic. Our aim in Afghanistan was to defeat the Russian Communists who were attempting to over take Afghanistan. We accomplished that mission. No one back then could have forseen the ultimate results of today.
To be sure, George senior should have gone after Saddam Hussein and finished the job. But the reasoning back then was that it would have been too much for us to take over Iraq and there was no guarantee that a Hussein successor would have been any better. We elected to contain him and encourage rebellion. But the policies set up to monitor Hussein, to carry out ongoing weapons inspections, were not enforced by Clinton.
The 'Taliban' as we know it, did not exist when Reagan was President; they were the Afghan rebels, defending their country against the Russians. We helped the Muslims then and in Somalia and in Chechnyia (sp) as well; so we were to late smart on that one perhaps.
It was Jimmy Carter than ran the CIA not into the ground, just out of business. . .
. . .as for Bush Sr. NOT getting Saddam; well we should know by now, what that would have entailed and who would have supported that decision.
Would be good to go back and see, when Bush SR. was trying to get Congressional approval FOR our entry into 'Gulf War'; just where all these Liberal whiners, in fact stood on that military decision, who now cry the loudest that we did not get Saddam.
The difficulties inherent should be obvious as we now ponder the grimmer realities of what it would in fact take, to get Osama. . .while we listen to Joe Biden already starting the Lib moan about our looking like 'bullies'.
No, it is not all BC's fault; but his decisons in the past eight years were all designed to serve HIM and HIS best interests. With every decision, HE won and America lost.
Yes, political mistakes are made every day; and we do not name those responsible, our 'Enemy'; but the fact is, Bill Clinton was MORE than a 'mistake'. He was a President who was willing to trade down his Country for something, someone, he considered more worthwhile.
Any man, who would do this, and certainly anyone so invested with political power on behalf of the United States that would do this, is damn well our enemy.
. . .and the crime is TREASON.
Bit extreme to blame Reagan for the Taliban when there were no Taliban while he was president.
Clinton did absolutely nothing to bring down Usama Bin Ladin, even though he and his administration named Bin Ladin as enemy #1, admitted Bin Ladin was behind the attacks of our Embassy's (the first attack on American soil) and the USS Cole. Now we are told Ladin also had a hand in the first bombing of the WTC as well as other planned and carried out attacks against the US.
As president, Clinton had the responsibility, the highest responsibility, to protect the United States from enemies both foreign and domestic. Clinton did neither. Terrorists were able to kill more American's died during Clinton's watch then under any president in this countries history. Clinton had a job description and a responsibility while in office. His refusal to fufill that responsibility has caused more innocent lives to be lost.
It is also a fact that every president since Jimmy Carter has been lax at defending our citizens against terrorists, all in various ways. The fact remains, Usama Bin Ladin stated his jihad against the US in 1996, right in the middle of Clinton's presidential term. Bin Ladin attacked this country over and over again under Clinton's watch. Clinton's lack of response, along with his policies allowed Bin Ladin to continue, without reprisals, attacks against the US. While terrorism didn't originate under the Clinton administration, Usama Bin Ladin did.
Fact of the matter is, if Clinton had defended this country the WTC would be standing, the Pentagon wouldn't have a huge hole in it's side, and there wouldn't be a crater in the middle of PN. Thousands of people across the US wouldn't be mourning the loss of their loved ones. Thousands of children wouldn't be mourning the loss of one or both parents.
An amazing achievement, considering that Reagan had been out of office for 6 years when the Taliban came into existence.
The Pakistani government of Harvard-educated Benazir Bhutto, whom you see regularly interviewed on CNN (as if she were part of the solution, rather than part of the problem) put the Taliban in place almost single-handedly. Reagan had nothing to do with it.
Xlinton had the CIA investigating such national security issues as global warming and the plight of whales. He had the FBI terrorizing his political opponents. He had the BATF harassing thousands of small gunshops out of business.
All the while al-Qaeda was establishing a foothold in the US.
If recognizing that is "simple-minded," I'm content to be simple-minded. I visited the CIA once on a high school trip. (This was during the Carter administration.) They defined their mission to us as, "preventing the next Pearl Harbor."
On 9/11, a CIA whose leadership was 100% Clinton-era appointees failed to prevent the next Pearl Harbor.