In 1999, Richard Clarke cited gains against bin Laden; "We've made life difficult for him"

The Washington Post Archives | January 23, 1999 | Vernon Loeb

[nwrep]

Approximately 2 years before USS Cole was attacked, Richard Clarke boasted of counterterrorism gains made against bin Laden, and how bin Laden had been made all but impotent thanks to him and Clinton in this 1999 article from the Post archives:

************************************************************************

Richard A. Clarke, who occupies the recently created post of national coordinator of counterterrorism and computer security programs, also said U.S. officials do not believe that bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire now living in the mountains of Afghanistan, has acquired chemical or biological weapons despite his contacts with experts in the production of nerve gas and biological toxins.

"I think we've made life extraordinarily difficult for [bin Laden], but he's still there," Clarke said. "I think it is very difficult for him and his lieutenants to travel. I think it's very difficult for them to raise money or move money or move explosives."

------------------------snip------------------------

Assessing U.S. counterterrorism policy to date, Clarke said it's no accident that there have been so few terrorist attacks on American soil.

"The fact that we got seven out of the eight people from the World Trade Center [bombing], and we found them in five countries around the world and brought them back here, the fact we can demonstrate repeatedly that the slogan, `There's nowhere to hide,' is more than a slogan, the fact that we don't forget, we're persistent -- we get them -- has deterred terrorism," he said.

[maica]

And the hits just keep on coming! Thanks a million!

[Two Thirds Vote Aye]

This says it all. May the blood of the victims of 9/11 be on the heads of the fools that elected bill clinton, and for God's sake, the fools that re-elected him and demanded he stay in office no matter what he did. This is what we got for 8 years of bill clinton.

This says it all. May the blood of the victims of 9/11 be on the heads of the fools that elected bill clinton, and for God's sake, the fools that re-elected him and demanded he stay in office no matter what he did. This is what we got for 8 years of bill clinton.

[maica]

Ha-hem?

Can you get this one? - It is being discussed on the thread about today's realease of the PDB.

^^^^^^
The Dems like the title ....Thats all they wanted

The title was published in a front page story in the Washington Post, in May of 2002. That's right. The August 6, 2001 PDB was named by its title, and many opf its contents were summarized in that front page article, almost two years ago.

[don-o]

Shoot me a copy, please.

Excellent. What, you just searching Post archives?

[JustPiper]

In the PDB it states they knew from 1997

[LRS]

"I think we've made life extraordinarily difficult for [bin Laden], but he's still there," Clarke said.

That's called "swatting flies", Senator Kerrey...

[lilylangtree]

Fascinating. Am forwarding this on.

[Redbob]

No wonder Dr. Rice found him a window seat, and a harmless task.

[finnman69]

I love it. Clarke is a real triple A grade Schmuck.

[eggman]

...the fact that we don't forget, we're persistent -- we get them -- has deterred terrorism," he said.

The fact that al-Qaeda was growing and Clarke knew it, the fact that we did not get bin Laden or many other al-Qaeda terrorist suspects, the fact that we did not stem much of his cash flow, the fact that Afghanistan was being taken over by the Taliban, the fact that Richard Clarke knew all this and still thought we were winning the battle shows just how wrong he was about the "success" of the Clinton administration in fighting terrorism.

This was the "swatting of flies" that Bush referred to. We were catching a few bad guys and stopping a few attacks but the terrorist were getting stronger and bolder. It was this delusion that we were deterring them that set the course for 9-11.

[finnman69]

can you at least post the dates and titles of the articles so it an be distributed to other sources, blogs, etc.

[mountaineer]

The fact that we got seven out of the eight people from the World Trade Center [bombing] .... has deterred terrorism

Thank goodness there were only seven or eight people in the entire Al Qaeda operation! Just imagine what might have happened if we hadn't deterred them so effectively.

Huh? Airplanes? 3,000 dead? (Never mind)

[nwrep]

can you at least post the dates and titles of the articles so it an be distributed to other sources, blogs, etc.

Check the header. Its all there.

[Dolphy]

He is the designated fall guy for the Clinton negligence and alas his self-absorbtion never allowed him to see it.

It really seems that way, doesn't it? It doesn't look as if Dick considered the length of the limb he walked but I suppose it was made to appear much shorter with a pot of money and notoriety at the end.

[GeorgiaYankee]

Clarke speak with forked tongue.

[dixiechick2000]

Great post, nwrep. You've had your share of them lately.
Thanks for all you do.

Thanks for the heads up, Howlin!

[dixiechick2000]

ROTFLOL! Very good!

[Howlin]

FYI.