fascinating. i really didn't intend this to be a bash clinton thread, although lord knows i've not shirked from a bit a clinton bashing in the past. i'm only interested in pointing out clinton's shortcomings in peventing 9/11 to the extent that it's useful in defending bush from the same charge- the truth is i'm much less interested in what anyone did or didn't do pre 9/11 than i am in what one has done since. in a sense, we're all to blame for 9/11- no one took the threat seriously enough to transcend petty politics and actually attack terrorism at its source. the video is useful however in pointing out the inadequacy of a "law enforcement" approach to fighting terrorism. we had him in our sights, but institutional walls likely prevented us from pulling the trigger, or at least deciding to pull the trigger until it was too late. and you can bet a trigger was at hand, whether on the predator itself, or near enough to be effective. "some" have taken the lessons learned that dark day, and adopted a deeply serious approach to defending our country from further attack. others, have attacked the attack. if you've spent the majority of the past five years in th elatter camp, you need to watch that video again, and check yourself as the silent screams of 3,000 souls echo at ground zero tomorrow.
Oh, please. As usual with you, Bush is a saint, has made no mistakes, was right to invade Iraq, although it pulled away forces trying to kill or capture the b*stard that actually was responsible for 9/11. Tomorrow will be a very depressing day. That we have had to suffer through Bush during this trying period just makes it even harder to bear. He didn't do enough before 9/11, he did the right thing, miracle of miracles, in Afghanistan, and Iraq has been an unmitigated disaster for the US, our troops, our allies, the fight against those who were behind 9/11, and all those poor souls dead and maimed in Iraq. Those killed and injured on 9/11 still await their vengence. Keep D&D Civil.
We should be going after OBL, not screwing around with a secular government that was crippled by UN sanctions. Bush is a moron, on 9-11 we had the entire FRICKEN planet on our side.....now we are creating THOUSANDS more terrorists. Well done Rummy and GW and Cheney...... DD
_____________ Btw ~ did anyone else notice bigfoot in that crystal clear video? Here is a color enhanced frame grab... We could have nailed Osama and bigfoot in one shot ~ damn you Clinton.
Why didn't Rumsfeld shot Saddam in his head back then? Why didn't Regan administration see what was coming when it exported chemical weapons to Iraq in the 80's?
It really is so sad. What Bush has done since 9/11 has been utterly disheartning. No Bin Laden, a quagmire in Iraq that went from a country with no terrorists to a base for terrorism, national security is a mess, the world hates us more then ever, and the middle east looks worse and worse day by day. I mean, they banned liquids on flights...did anyone ask a chemist if it's possible to build explosives on a plane from mixing liquids? I mean, the stuff you'd need and the machinery...god man, these guys are watching Die Hard with a Vengence when they should be thinking about real threats.
My point is: it is kinda of lame for republicans to blame Clinton for what he could've done but didn't do. Rumsfeld and Reagan were bigger fools back then. They COULD have banned exports of chemical weapons to Saddam. That is not as dramatic as regime change, or firing missles to a sovereign foreign country. Yet you don't hear republicans say "it is our fault that Saddam got WMD".
I agree on that point. Nobody really said anything at the time it happened. Hindsight is 20/20. Not to say people don't deserve blame, but it's easy to second guess.
I would agree with this in general and I personally don't think either admin did enough to address the threat of Bin Ladin but I largely can understand the constraints of why they didn't. In the end I don't think either Admin could or should be blamed. This was a failure with a lot of fathers. That said given the tone of the rest of your post I don't think you think really think that way and you are just looking to defend Bush by trying to shift blame to Clinton. If this is how you want to play it. Have you considered those silent screams of 3,000 souls echoing at ground zero wondering what GW Bush was doing between Jan. 21st 2001 and Sept. 11, 2001? Why was he putting the emphasis of his time trying to push forward a controversial tax cut and stem cell plan? Why wasn't he putting forward a proposal for the dept. of Homeland Security, the PATRIOT act, invading Afghanistan in April or May 2001? Its not like the Bush Admin. hadn't heard of Al Qaeda or known that the USS Cole had been bombed? Couldn't Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz et al hear those silent screams in the winter and spring of 2001 to step up and do something about Al Qaeda? Why do you and Roxran give Clinton so much grief and give Bush a pass? Its not like 9/11 happened on 1/23/2001 the Bush Admin had almost 3/4 of a year to address Al Qaeda.
did you even read my post? i can see you quoted it, but on what grounds do you dismiss everything i said, then take me to task for something i did not say?
How am I taking you for task for something that you don't say? You say yourself you're bashing Clinton to defend Bush.
no, i'm not, i said IF one is bashing Bush for failing to prevent 9/11, then it's only fair to look at the (in)actions of his predecessor. my point is that ultimately i'm much less interested in either pursuit- what's important is what has one done <i>since</i>. have you been serious about the threat we face, or frivouls in inyour pursuit of transient political goals? (bill) clinton doesn't really fit in this instance, since he's largely stayed out of the debate.
So, it's your contetion that killing Osama Bin Laden would have prevented 9/11? If not, what's the point of posting a link to the video?
BWahahah, basso the keyboard martyr, invoking silent screams of dead souls.....Jesus christ, do you read this stuff when you type it? Do your realize how ridiculous and ghoulish your profiteering here looks (to build basketball bbs capital, no less?) I take it that you're just being deliberately ignorant, because this has been outlined to you millions of times while you just revert to the standard "__ hate america/fifth columnist/not serious about security" response whenver you hear it.....but preventing "silent screams" is one of the reasons why I have objected to many the destructive and failed policies that have been implemented over the last 5+ years. I also personally know several individuals who would agree with me in that regard who lost far more that day, and have done far more than you or I have done or ever will do to prevent it from occurring again; so for you to invoke "silent screams" against them and anybody who disagrees with you just plain reeks.
Did you read the article above about the anti-terror bill that Clinton tried to get through only to be hamstrung by the GOP Congress? Clinton TRIED to do all of those things and the GOP blocked his efforts due to partisan politics. How is it Clinton's fault again?
