Clinton Assigns Blame [What did they know and when did they know it? Pre-GWB]

Clinton Assigns Blame
And, no, it’s not his fault.

By Kevin M. Cherry, a writer living in Alexandria, Va..
November 8, 2001 11:30 a.m.

n a speech at Georgetown University, President Bill Clinton blamed, in part, the United States for the terrorist attacks of September 11. Speaking to a group of about 1,000 students, the former president said that our nation is "paying a price" for slavery and for its treatment of the "significant number of native Americans" who "were dispossessed and killed."

Osama bin Laden certainly has given no indication that he was concerned about the American sin of slavery — partially, perhaps, because Islam provides some justification for the abuse. While Clinton cites the Christian sins of the crusades as something for which "we are still paying," bin Laden prefers to focus on more recent events — the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, the sanctions on Iraq, the existence of Israel.

The first two of bin Laden's grievances, of course, are just over a decade old; the last... well, it's been an issue since May, 1948. Bin Laden has also cited the post-WWI breakup of the Ottoman Empire, but let's not dwell on that.

We don't need to turn to such (relatively) ancient history to understand some of the reasons why September 11 happened. Let's look at some of the policy failings of the Clinton administration that severely hampered American efforts to curtail terrorism.

In 1995, the CIA enacted a policy that forbids the recruitment of "dirty" agents — foreign agents that have less than spotless human-rights records. Despite the denials that any recruit was ever turned down, this policy undoubtedly had a chilling effect on who was recruited in the first place. One ex-CIA official told Franklin Foer of The New Republic that under Clinton appointee John Deutsch, the agency had "become very politically correct."

And just last year, the National Commission on Terrorism — chaired by former Reagan counterterrorism head Paul Bremer — issued a report with the eerily foreboding image of the Twin Towers on its cover. A bipartisan effort — led by Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein — was made to attach the recommendations of the panel to an intelligence authorization bill. But Sen. Patrick Leahy feared a threat to "civil liberties" and torpedoed the effort. After the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, Kyl and Feinstein tried yet again. This time, Leahy was content with emaciating the proposals instead of defeating them outright. The weakened proposals died as the House realized "it wasn't worth taking up." President Clinton certainly could have encouraged Sen. Leahy to drop his opposition, but he didn't.

In 1996, President Clinton charged Al Gore with improving airline security. But the commission he led "focused on civil liberties" and "not effectiveness," according to the Boston Globe. The commission concluded that "no profile [of passengers] should contain or be based on... race, religion, or national origin." The FAA also decided, in 1999, to seal its passenger screening system from law-enforcement databases — thus preventing the FBI from notifying airlines that suspected terrorists were on board.

When bin Laden fled from the Sudan to Afghanistan in 1996, "some officials," according to the Washington Post, "raised the possibility of shooting down his aircraft." But the plan was never pursued, in part because "it was inconceivable" that President Clinton would approve of it.

What President Clinton did do, of course, is launch a series of cruise-missile attacks on Afghanistan and the Sudan around the time of his grand-jury testimony in August of 1998. Put aside any talk of "wagging the dog." This low-risk, low-damage effort helped bin Laden in the Muslim world. He looked strong, and we looked weak. We looked (and, of course, were) averse to casualties. It fit a pattern of tepid American responses to serious attacks on our interests — the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center (which the Clinton administration treated as a criminal matter and not an act of war), Khobar Towers, embassy bombings. The Muslim world senses weakness and feeds on it; they tremble only before resolution and strength. As one senior Defense Department official put it, "I wish we'd recognized [that we were at war] then and started the campaign then that we've started now."

Russian President Putin echoed the same sentiment when he told ABC News that he was disappointed by the level of cooperation by the Clinton administration in fighting terrorism: "We certainly were counting on a more active cooperation in combating international terrorism."

And they're not alone. Many former Clintonites read recent history, and their part in it, differently than does their ex-boss. Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general, told the Boston Globe, "Clearly, not enough was done." And Nancy Soderberg of the National Security Council admitted, "In hindsight [the administration's effort] wasn't enough, and anyone involved in policy would have to admit that." And, most damning: Joe Klein quotes an unnamed senior Clinton official, who reported that "Clinton spent less concentrated attention on national defense than any other president in recent memory."

Bill Clinton, however is his same old self — content to pass the buck — blaming the Founders, the crusaders, and anyone else in sight for the attacks of September 11. He is entirely unwilling to accept any responsibility for what occurred on his watch. Before, he has pardoned the unpardonable; now he has justified the unjustifiable.

Originally posted here.

1 posted on 05/27/2003 6:31:08 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

I wish x42id would go away. Incredible...

2 posted on 05/27/2003 6:33:09 PM PDT by homeschool mama

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

What a piece of work! This man is pathetic.

3 posted on 05/27/2003 6:33:12 PM PDT by chachacha

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

I almost went berserk! I thought that slime was out there saying this again! Then I saw you posted to the link to the original thread!
Rush, or Hannity I can't recall which one said something I agree with today. Why does the media have to print every single thing this loser says to this day?
We don't hear much about what former President Ford says or does, but Clinton is in the news daily! Sheesh!

4 posted on 05/27/2003 6:35:17 PM PDT by ladyinred (Bush/Cheney '04ever!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Slavery wasn't outlawed in Saudia Arabia until the 1960's ...........

Funny that OBL (or Clinton!) didn't mention that.

5 posted on 05/27/2003 6:41:08 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I support FR monthly; and ABBCNNBCBS (continue to) Lie!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Clinton is crazy as hell, still searching for a legacy.

6 posted on 05/27/2003 6:41:34 PM PDT by janetgreen

"Why does the media have to print every single thing this loser says to this day?"

Because they adore him. And they miss him so...

7 posted on 05/27/2003 6:42:53 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Being a liberal means never having to say you are sorry. I know a radical liberal who I used to work with and no matter what he did, he never apoligized. I know those words have never passed his lips in his adult life.

8 posted on 05/27/2003 6:45:02 PM PDT by microgood (They will all die......most of them.)

To: homeschool mama

Someday clinton will pay for his dirty deeds,but not soon enough for me!

9 posted on 05/27/2003 6:47:11 PM PDT by ohiobushman (HEY CLINTON'S,DON'T GO AWAY MAD,JUST F'N GO AWAY!!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

This thing's brain is really affected by whatever disease it suffers from.

10 posted on 05/27/2003 6:49:12 PM PDT by mom-7

**This thing's brain is really affected by whatever disease it suffers from. **

A terminal case of the most extreme narcissism.

11 posted on 05/27/2003 6:50:45 PM PDT by homeschool mama

What a piece of work! This man is pathetic.

Yeah, and becoming more certifiable every day...like the rest of the dims.

FMCDH

12 posted on 05/27/2003 6:55:44 PM PDT by nothingnew (the pendulum swings and the libs are in the pit)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Speaking to a group of about 1,000 students, the former president said that our nation is "paying a price" for slavery and for its treatment of the "significant number of native Americans" who "were dispossessed and killed."

He's loonier than Osama bin Laden. At least Osama has a some grasp of cause and effect.

13 posted on 05/27/2003 6:58:28 PM PDT by Rightwing Conspiratr1

To: Rightwing Conspiratr1

Then again I'm inclined to believe that God just might from time to time remove his hand of protection from a people whose leaders have strayed far into depravity and immorality as an abject lesson. Meaning that BaalBeezub Clinton is part of the problem.

14 posted on 05/27/2003 7:02:56 PM PDT by Rightwing Conspiratr1

To: homeschool mama

The facts matter. The press covers up the truth, but the American people know more today than they did last year - about their country, the world - the UN.

This article's full of facts. Carville, Shrum and the DNC are choosing to fight President Bush on national security. We can share the facts with friends and acquaintances - write letters to the editor. Florida press is worse than NY Times. We took the info straight to the people, bypassed the press in 2002. The Dems. didn't know what hit 'em. (^;

Sen. Bob Graham knew all of the above before Pres. Bush was elected. If Graham's going to accuse the President of not being prepared on 911, he must be ready to answer questions about the years he had access to info while Clinton was President - did nothing then, and, as head of the Intel Comm., did little to help President Bush before or after 911.

Today's Dem. accuser-candidates knew...and chose to do nothing, knew...and chose to blame the President, knew...and joined with America's enemies for power's sake on the "world" stage.

We're armed w/ammo (facts) and motivated to fight.

15 posted on 05/27/2003 7:29:38 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("Our men and women in uniform have won for us every hour that we live in freedom." - Pres. Bush)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl

He is so full of it!

16 posted on 05/27/2003 10:10:43 PM PDT by LiteKeeper

LOL, but how could they miss him? They follow him around and take down every word he says, well, the uncensored ones anyway! :-) Isn't there a country song that says, " How can I miss you when you won't go away?"

17 posted on 05/27/2003 10:13:17 PM PDT by ladyinred (Bush/Cheney '04ever!)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl; All

18 posted on 05/28/2003 1:49:40 AM PDT by backhoe (A nuke for every Kook ( NK, Iraq, Iran, Pak, India... )- what a Clinton "legacy...")

To: backhoe; MEG33; Miss Marple; MeeknMing; Howlin; PhiKapMom; Grampa Dave; All

Nov. 2001 ~ Clinton assigns blame:

Gov. Bush was in Texas.

19 posted on 07/16/2003 1:43:33 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl (We're in a global war on terrorism..If you want to call that a quagmire, do it. I don't.*Rummy* 6-30)

To: Ragtime Cowgirl; All

20 posted on 07/16/2003 1:53:39 PM PDT by backhoe (A nuke for every Kook ( NK, Iraq, Iran, Pak, India... )- what a Clinton "legacy...")

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