Lets not forget that Clinton had been in office less than 6 weeks when WTC '93 happened. The threat from Al Queda then was not as apparant then as it was nearer to the end of his second term. Clinton got progressively tougher on terrorism during his terms in office. It was Bush's advisors who downplayed the risk assessment the Clinton administration performed that listed UBL and Al Qaida as the #1 threat to American security.
I see, so in other words it was ok that Cliinton didn't do anything after the 1993 WTC attack because he was only in office for less than six weeks. God forbid if we would've been attacked by China or Russia during that time period. Not apparant? Sounds like Clinton's actions or non-actions have been justified? Wasn't the attack in 1993 apparant enough? Put the blame on Bush when all else fails... It was Clinton who the Sudanese offered Bin Laden and Clinton turned them down. Clinton didn't think they were a threat in Somolia either btw. This country has always responded when attacked but some seem to think that we don't need too?
How long does one have to be in office to understand a bombing on U.S. soil may be a terror attack and should be investigated as such? What policy changes did Clinton implement after this terror attack to try and prevent future attacks on U.S. soil? Unfortuntately, it was treated just like any other crime in this country. Tougher? How many terror attacks against the U.S. occurred during the Clinton years? What specifically did Clinton do in response to these terror attacks? What was Clinton's terrorism policy? You can't blame Bush for Clinton's terrorism policy during the 90s.
Terrorism yes, but that bombing was not planned or conducted by bin Ladin or Al Qaida. There may have been shadowy links, but bin Ladin was not the mastermind of this one. That act was planned by Ramzi Yousef and conducted done by blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and his followers, Egyptians living in America with green cards. There was no foreign base to attack. Egypt, like bin Ladin's Saudi Arabia is our friend. The shiek and four of his gang were arrested within days and sentenced to life in prison. A few others escaped or were tried in their home countries. In all, ten militant Islamist conspirators – including Ramzi Yousef – were convicted for their part in the bombing and were given prison sentences of a maximum of 240 years each. What war was Clinton supposed to have launched that would have been better than actually catching and prosecuting the criminals responsible? Something Bush has not yet accomplished with the masterminds of the 2001 WTC terror.
You still haven't told me what war Clinton was supposed to have launched that he did not? What known threat did he not address?
Anybody that discounts the sworn testimony of a internationally respected and non-partisan terrorism expert like Richard Clark while at the same time praising a political hack writer like Ann Coulter . . . has lost his touch with reality. :dis:
That pretty much sums up the attitude of liberals. We caught the guys who committed the crime, so case closed. Let's not bother finding out who sponsored this attack, like Yousef's uncle Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks. Let's not bother tightening our immigration policies so these thugs can't illegally enter out country, like Yousef and the 9/11 attackers. Let's not bother getting tough with countries that were sponsoring and harboring these terrorists, like Sudan. Yep, we caught the bad guys. We gave them life sentences for blowing up and killing Americans on U.S. soil. Congrats. Too bad that event didn't wake us up to the real threat of terrorism.
My point was that though he had been in office like 30 days he did not blame Bush I for the attacks as the Bush Administration blamed Clinton for 9/11. Clinton instead created a strong anti-terrorsim policy and began to track down and destroy terror cells. The Clinton administration destroyed terror cells in at leat twenty countries via frezing assetts, funding rival groups that were not anti-american, aiding foreign governemnts in anti-terror training, and cruise missle strikes. See red's post. The anti-terrorism act of 1995. Read it. It was severly watered down by the Republican Congress, but was still the most comprehensive terror legislation to date. Other Clinton anti-terror measures included: sent legislation to Congress to TIGHTEN AIRPORT SECURITY. Defeated by Republicans in congress sent legislation to Congress to allow for BETTER TRACKING OF TERRORIST FUNDING. Defeated by Republicans in Congress. Also during his terms the following terrorist acts were prevented (list from Mike Hersh article): -- Stoped cold planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington. --Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up Boston airport. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge. -- Stopped cold the planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania. His administration also produced the Hart-Rudman report which aserted that bin Laden was the #1 threat to American security. The Bush administration shelved the report. So yeah I think Clinton did alright against terror and preparing for possible attacks.
