Kristol accused Democrats -- not Republicans -- of turning 9-11 anniversary "into a partisan fight"; falsely claimed Bush never attacked Clinton terror policies
SUMMARY: On Fox News Sunday, William Kristol attacked Democrats for "turn[ing] every event, including now the fifth anniversary of 9-11, into a partisan fight," and claimed that it is "a totally false charge that [President Bush] has played the politics of fear." Kristol also claimed that Bush "has never said a word about the Clinton administration. He has never tried to blame past [national security] failures on them."
On the September 10 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol attacked Democrats for "turn[ing] every event, including now the fifth anniversary of 9-11, into a partisan fight" and claimed that it is "a totally false charge that [President Bush] has played the politics of fear." In fact, the White House has reportedly acknowledged that the timing of President Bush's September 6 announcement that 14 terror suspects had been transferred from CIA-run secret prisons to the Pentagon's detention facility at Guantánamo Bay was an attempt to capitalize politically on the then-upcoming anniversary of the attacks and frame the debate over the fight against terrorism in the White House's terms. Additionally, Time magazine reported that, 35 minutes after Bush's announcement, the White House and the Republicans began urging conservatives in the media to promote Bush's speech "by talking about it in the context of the election." As for Kristol's assertion that it was a "totally false charge" that Bush "has played the politics of fear," there are several examples of the administration doing just that. For example, during the 2004 presidential campaign, Vice President Dick Cheney suggested that if Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) won the election, "then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
In an article for the September 18 edition of Newsweek, investigative correspondents Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff quoted an anonymous senior Bush aide acknowledging that Bush's announcement was timed in such a way that the administration might frame the debate over the fight against terrorism:
The timing of last week's announcement, just before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, was no accident. It allowed the White House to showcase its successes in capturing terrorists, and to put pressure on Congress to quickly approve the tribunals. "There were obviously messaging opportunities," says a senior Bush aide. "We could sit back and let the war be defined by the media and our critics, or we can define it ourselves."
In his article for the September 18 edition of Time, White House correspondent Mike Allen reported that after Bush's announcement, the White House and Republican Party leaders almost immediately contacted conservatives in the media, urging them to promote Bush's speech "in the context of the election":
Thirty-five minutes after President Bush finished his surprise East Room announcement last week about plans for prosecuting some of the world's most prominent terrorists, White House and Republican officials convened a conference call of conservative TV pundits and other allies, and later of state party leaders around the country. A participant said listeners were urged to spread the word about the aggressive speech "by talking about it in the context of the election." The message: Republicans are strong, and Democrats are weak. The White House strategy isn't subtle. With Republicans worried about losing the House and conceivably even the Senate in November, the President is taking a big gamble that an unflinching focus on national security will be his party's political salvation.
Kristol also claimed that Bush "has never said a word about the Clinton administration. He has never tried to blame past [national security] failures on them." In fact, both Bush and Cheney have attacked the Clinton administration's counterterrorism policies. In an October 18, 2004, campaign speech, Bush described the Clinton administration's "response to terrorism" as "generally piecemeal and symbolic." From Bush's speech:
BUSH: During the decade of the 1990s, our times often seemed peaceful on the surface. Yet, beneath that surface were currents of danger. Terrorists were training and planning in distant camps. In 1993, terrorists made their first attack on the World Trade Center. In 1998, terrorists bombed American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And then came the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, which cost the lives of 17 American sailors. In this period, America's response to terrorism was generally piecemeal and symbolic. The terrorists concluded this was a sign of weakness, and their plans became more ambitions [sic], and their attacks became more deadly.
Cheney has gone after the Clinton administration's counterterrorism policies several times, claiming that they were ineffectual and emboldened terrorists:
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"It was as though he clearly missed a lot of what was going on.
For example, just three weeks after the -- after we got here, there was
communication, for example, with the President of Pakistan, laying out our
concerns about Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and the importance of going after the
Taliban and getting them to end their support for the Al Qaeda. This was, say,
within three weeks of our arrival here.
"So, I guess, the other thing I would say about [former National Security Council counterterrorism coordinator] Dick Clarke is that he was here throughout those eight years, going back to 1993, and the first attack on the World Trade Center; and '98, when the embassies were hit in East Africa; in 2000, when the USS Cole was hit. And the question that ought to be asked is: What were they doing in those days when he was in charge of counterterrorism efforts?" [The Rush Limbaugh Show; 3/22/04] - "Terrorists were on the offensive around the world, emboldened by many years of unanswered attacks. Repeatedly, they had struck America with little cost or consequence. Terrorists tried to bring down the World Trade Center for the first time in 1993; they attacked us at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, in 1996; they blew up U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in 1998; and they attacked the USS. Cole, in 2000. In none of these cases, did the United States respond very forcefully." [Cheney speech in Louisiana; 7/1/04]
- "And for many years, they were the ones on the offensive. They grew bolder in the belief that if they killed Americans, they could change American policy. In Beirut in 1983, terrorists killed 241 of our service men. Thereafter, the United States withdrew from Beirut. In Mogadishu in 1993, terrorists killed 19 American soldiers. Thereafter, the U.S. withdrew its forces from Somalia. Over time, the terrorists concluded that they could strike America without paying a price, because they did, repeatedly: the bombing at the World Trade Center in 1993, the murders at the Saudi National Guard Training Center in Riyadh in 1995, the Khobar Towers in 1996, the simultaneous bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and, of course, the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000." [Cheney speech in Washington, D.C.; 11/21/05]
- "For us, that war started on 9-11. For them, it started years before. They killed 241 servicemen in Beirut in 1983. Then there was the first World Trade Center attack in 1993; and after that, the murders at the Saudi Arabian National Guard Training Center in Riyadh in 1995; the simultaneous bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998; and the attack on the USS Cole 2000. With each attack, the terrorists grew more confident in believing they could strike America without paying a price. So, they continued to wage those attacks -- making the world less safe and eventually striking here in the homeland on September 11th." [Cheney speech in Nevada; 8/28/06]
Also, contrary to Kristol's claim that Bush has not "played the politics of fear," his administration and his campaign have repeatedly done so:
- Cheney said the following on September 7, 2004: "We made decisions at the end of World War II, at the beginning of the Cold War, when we set up the Department of Defense, and the CIA, and we created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] and undertook a bunch of major policy steps that then were in place for the next 40 years, that were key to our ultimate success in the Cold War, that were supported by Democrat and Republican alike -- Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and Gerry Ford and a whole bunch of Presidents, from both parties, supported those policies over a long period of time. We're now at that point where we're making that kind of decision for the next 30 or 40 years, and it's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on November 2nd, we make the right choice. Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-9-11 mindset if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts, and that we're not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us."
- Several 2004 campaign ads by the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign also warned of what they suggested would be the consequences of electing Kerry. One ad, titled "Risk," ended with the announcer saying: "John Kerry and his liberal allies: Are they a risk we can afford to take today?" Another ad, "Wolves," featured a pack of wolves prowling a dark forest as an announcer accused Kerry of being weak in fighting terrorism, concluding that "weakness attracts those who are waiting to do America harm."
- Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said he faced pressure from others in the administration to raise the terror alert level, even when he believed the evidence did not justify doing so. According to the USA Today, "The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though [Ridge] argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level." Ridge reportedly said that "he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or 'high' risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled." He added, "There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?'" [USA Today, 5/10/2005]
From the September 10 broadcast of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday:
KRISTOL: Listen, I think a lot of these debates, incidentally, have been healthy. I mean, would you prefer a situation where no one criticized the Bush administration for having gone into Iraq or for the way it's pursuing the war in Iraq? I, myself, disagree with the Democrats on about 90 percent of what they've been saying, but I wouldn't say they don't have the right to say it, and I wouldn't say that you don't want an opposition party saying some of this.
I mean, I think there have been times when, especially the Democrats, in my view, have sort of not understood the unseemliness when you have soldiers fighting in the field, et cetera, to turn every event, including now the fifth anniversary of 9-11, into a partisan fight. But, it happens.
[...]
KRISTOL: I just want to strongly object to one thing -- and I'm willing to be critical of President Bush's management of the war in all kinds of ways -- but it is a totally false charge that he has played the politics of fear.
Compared to previous presidents at wartime, he has been incredibly responsible. He has never said a word about the Clinton administration. He's never tried to blame past failures on them. He's been scrupulous about that. He has bent over backwards not to make this a war against Islam. He's said Islam's a religion of peace. He's tried to be very careful in not demonizing enemies.
I mean, look at Joe McCarthy. Look at Harry Truman, a man I admire. Look at his rhetoric against Tom Dewey in 1948: "Fascism is coming back." Look at normal rhetoric used by presidents who were in political trouble. Bush has been, I think, very careful and very responsible.
"it is a totally false charge that he (Bush and company) has played the politics of fear."
They are the politics of fear and everyone is "playing" their game. Fox is breaking out the terror level alerts and Bush is having a speech in the middle of the pathway to 9-11. Corporatists and fearmongers all around.
In attempting to defend the Liar-in-Chief, Billy's ridiculous "He has bent over backwards not to make this a war against Islam. " has to be one of the biggest lies quoted here by MMFA.
Duhhbya doesn't speak about terrrr, trrrrrwrists or trrrrizm without including an Islamo-this or Islamic-that ... never ... EVER!
Lucking Fyer.
Lucking Fyers!
The fluidity, the ease with which these neocons question the patriotism of Americans is beneath contempt. And they have no conscience -- none at all; Kristol advocated for war in Iraq, he predicted an easy go of it and he ways wrong. To date, I don't recall him crawling on his yellow belly to apologize.
It is tempting to return fire in their direction by questioning THEIR patriotism, their love of America, but I leave that sort of filthy dealing to the Republicans, and to the chicken hawks that comprise that verminous clan of cowards and crazies.
Still, Kristol holds his position with all the certainty of a sociopath, or a serial killer.
But it's time to stop being nice to these people. The conservofacist wing of the republican machine is destroying this country and everyone needs to stand up to them and call them on their unpatriotic cowardly rhetoric and actions. That goes from the top (bush cheney et al) to the lowest troll on your favorite website. they all are responsible for the decline in freedom, the rise in fear, the decline of the middle class, the rise of the underclass, the rise in terrorism, in the bank accounts of bush's cronies, the increase the lack of faith in our democratic institutions and of the deaths of almost 3000 true patriots. do folks realize that very soon we will surpass the death toll on 9-11 in bush's iraq debacle? Why do we owe them anything other than contempt and spit?
There's be at least 30,000 recorded civilians deaths in Iraq as a direct consequence of the US invasion and occupation. That's ten times the number killed on 9/11.
for 30,000 deaths. Blame those people that go around and blowing the kids and woman up. Bunch of scum sucking sub-humans......
No matter, no matter, that country will ALWAYS be in termoil. They will always be at war with eachother. Sadam was only able to buy the country time by killing some of its peeps and spreading fear.
I do not at all in any way shape or form care for Bush. His policies are miserable, and his cabinet racist.
From the military intervention alone and its a low figure Iraqibodycount puts it at a minimum of over 40,000. Also there are a lot of downsides to a brutal dictatorship however one benifit is security. Before the invasion the Iraqis were NOT killing each other wholesale and the country was NOT in turmoil, so YES we can absolutly blame Bush, his lies and deceptions, for at LEAST 30,000 deaths in Iraq.
The place was a wreck before, and is worse now.
"I stand by my comment"
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OK, stand by it, but don't lean on it. It's made of straw, and won't support you or itself.
If you want. It wont make it true. The place was far from a wreck before the first gulf war. The Iraqi people were the healthiest, best educated people in the Islamic middle east with the largest middle class. Saddam was a cruel butcher and despotic dictator those kind of tyrants however usually keep the peace. Claim anything you want it just shows that you dont know what you are talking about.
He doesn't have to . . . all the corporate media lapdogs do it for him - including you, Billy Kristol . . .
Riiiiiight, and it is totally false to say the sky is blue and water is wet.
about the terrorists attacking the cole "without paying a price". that was the bush administration that decided to make no response. condi rice told the 9-11 commission that responding would only "embolden the terrorists". but there is nothing that this administration can't lie about, no history they can't rewrite. i saw bush on the today show. he is breathing rather heavily, on heavy drugs or something.
also mention Beirut, along with the other attacks between then and the Cole. Is this attacking or just bringing out the facts?
the people responsible for the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center have been caught and prosecuted and now sit in jail. Remember? There was some retribution for the attacks on the African embassies as well, Clinton missed his target, but he at least tried. do you remember what the response was from the conservofacists was Oscar? "No War For Monica" was the chant, from pundits like Kistolnaut to your buddies in congress, to your average joe on the street to pbs children's character wingnuts. None of you people supported Bill Clinton when he went after terrorists. None of you. That's why you have to lie about it now.
...that is the truth of it. The Republican Congress of the late 1990's had more interest in "getting Clinton" on anything than protecting the US or us, whichever you prefer. Then after 9-11 they walked around with their chests all puffed out with their manhood in their hands claiming the Democrats were the problem. Now being proven to be incompetent and impotent again, they squeal "Play fair it is not a partisan issue." or the political equivalent of "Not in the face, not in the face." As they hope to waylaid the Democrats and the people of the US as a whole.
If this does not work watch the "Diebold States", I am guessing the Righties will not lose many of them. If they hold both houses of Congress this will be why.
Actually, the attack on the USS Cole was not "terrorist"...it's only terrorist if civilians are attacked. Cole was a military target.
"there was communication, for example, with the President of Pakistan, laying out our concerns about Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and the importance of going after the Taliban and getting them to end their support for the Al Qaeda. This was, say, within three weeks of our arrival here."
Is the Vice President senile or what? Didn't the CIA author of The Blue Sky Memo try, according to his testimony to the 9/11 commision to give the incoming administration intel about the activities of 19 young men whom we now know as the 9/11 hijacker and was told to go to the back of the line because the president was "focusing on Iraq"? The truth of the matter is that the administration didn't know a thing about the Taliban or Afghanistan or Al Qaeda "within three weeks of our arrival" because they were too busy trying to find an excuse to invade Iraq as early as 30 Jan 2001. Don't take my word for it, asked former Treasury Secretary John Snow who attened the first meeting National Security Council meeting in which Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice were all picking out targets and making preliminary invasion plans. Does the adminstration think we're all stupid or as uninformed as the President?
Take a Democratic talking point...
And make it a Republican talking point!
Doesn't matter if it has ZERO merit, nothing to back it up, all evidence to the contrary. People out there are still listening. Millions! Why?
nail the bs attitude the neocons truly had against terrorism when it was festering and they were still soaked up in a return to "morals" in the executive office.
So I'll take a personal swipe at that douchebag Kristol. Does he always have that same stupid expression on his face?
same stupid expression. a constant smirking smile and an air of total arrogance, just like so many of his conservative buddies. think novak for one. and all this arrogant confidence in spite of the fact they are constantly wrong.
looks like a constipated toad.
a chicken hawk's chicken hawk. He has no humility. No one can insert there foot in their mouth with more conviction than this one. Like Cheney, I don't think anyone pays attention to what he says any more, or gives it any weight anyway.
This is the same genius who, right after the start of the Iraq invasion, dimissed the notions that Iraq's secular groups can't get along as simply "pop sociology": [link to www.npr.org]
These stupid right wingers have no concept of reality and no ability whatsoever to heed warnings and anticipate consequences, and it's contagious all the way from Dubya down to the stupid bobbleheads like Kristol.
While watching coverage on national cable channels today, 3 of them used 'headlines' that talked about remembering 9/11 Five years later.
FoxNews' headline said "The Day America Changed."
That's the Bush propaganda.
This administration never threw Clinton under the bus and this administration never tried to connect Iraq with AlQueda. Now that I understand these things I feel like a walking zombie who would believe anything. Oh no, I have become an idiot. I suggest we all try it. So this is how it feels to be a Bushie and the quote is true.."Ignorance is Bliss."
P.S. Mr. George Tenet should really be feeling good after Buckshot Dick threw him under 20 buses on "Meet the Press".
if Billy Kristol tuned into Bush's speech, which politicized 9/11 almost beyond belief as our Dear Leader used the anniversary to scare up support for his unpopular Iraq "policy." I wonder if Billy got all bent out of shape about that.
What Billy and his NEOCON co-conspirators are really pissed about is that Duhhbya's and Rummy's bumbling and fumbling has delayed their plans for expanding The New Millennium Crusade to the countries to the east and west of Iraq.
Maybe some of you enlightened people can pick out the quote above where Bush is supposedly attacking Clinton.
The one I found is where Bush says this: "In this period, America's response to terrorism was generally piecemeal and symbolic. The terrorists concluded this was a sign of weakness, and their plans became more ambitions [sic], and their attacks became more deadly."
If you think that is attacking Clinton, then you have some pretty thin skin. Unavoidable as you'd like it to be, there are eight years where Islamofacists attacked the U.S. It is only fair to say not much was done during that time. Unfortunately the truth sometimes hurts.
to almost everyone that the Bush Administration, and Bush himself, has given less credit to Clinton for fighting terrorism that what Clinton deserved, and it is also clear that the Bush Administration, Bush included, has taken more credit than they deserved for protecting the security of Americans.
missed it when clinton launched missiles at bin ladin's camp. an effort that bush mocked in the 2000 campaign as "destroying a couple tents".
Most people will recognize Macbeth and chuckle. Try “It is a tale … full of sound and fury; signifying nothing.”
is the president of PNAC (project for a new armerican century),i recommend anybody to read their charter,i truly scary read.republicans of twenty years ago would not even recognize the republicans of today..the neocons have totally taken the party over,and the modem operandi???...fear.....on another note,keith olbermann did another scathing commentary against bush on the 9/11 anniversary. [link to throwawayyourtv.com] .its a beatiful piece,a great admonishment to this fearmongering administration.
& Kristol has some of the ugliest roles in their contamination of the planet. I could not help but think of this photo when seeing the picture attached to the MMFA article, because it symbolizes the evil these people are projecting, emanating from themselves but labelling as the mantel others bear:
[link to www.nationalgeographic.com]
Fortunately, some of them are deserting what is hopefully a sinking ship ... the party, not the country they are trying to bring down to their level.
Kristol is Ann Coulter without the dress. He contradicts himself constantly, is completely driven by idelogical nonsense.
He's a criminal and should be punished as such.
Yet we allow this thug as a media spokesman?
We should hang our heads in shame..then hang him by the neck.
mr. kristol & rich lowry have an op/ed. they opine, rightly, that for iraq to be truly secure, and have a real chance of becoming a functioning democracy (regardless of what you think of the whole operation), many more american troops are needed, now.
they neglected to mention the half-assed planning of rumsfeld, and the pleas by the military, to put more troops there to to begin with. further, they don't bother to suggest where those extra troops might come from.
a draft? god forbid, it would be the death knell of the republican party. it would also give a lie to the blatant misrepresentations of this whole administration, with regards to the ease of taking over the middle east.
i sent a letter to the editor, asking this very question. anyone want to make book on its being published by that "liberal" rag?
yes jeremy, he always has that same stupid smirk on his face, as do bush and sen. george allen
i just realized that clinton was president in 1983! who knew? i always thought it was reagan, but mr. cheney implies otherwise.
that damn clinton been's president longer than FDR!
"Unavoidable as you'd like it to be, there were eight years when Islamofascists attacked the U.S. It is only fair to say not much was done during that time. Unfortunately the truth sometimes hurts." - AnotherAmerican
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The truth does sometimes hurt . . . like the fact that those responsible for the 1993 WTC attack were captured and in prison 1997 - remind me again how long we've been looking for bin Laden?
And let's not forget the foiled Millenium Bomb plots . . . if those are your definition of "not much [being] done", may I suggest you apply for a position in the Bush White House/Homeland Insecurity Department . . . you'll fit RIGHT in . . .
TERRORIST ATTACKS CLINTON STOPPED. Just for the record, under Richard Clarke's leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:. · CLINTON developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts. · Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania. · Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.). · Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice. · Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks. · Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security. (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for better tracking of explosives used by terrorists. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA. · Bill Clinton increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I. · Bill Clinton tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism. · Bill Clinton detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries. · Bill Clinton created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine. · Of Clinton's efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism: "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama". · Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as he believed the Bill Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden. · Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Bill Clinton left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort".
No one will tell the people? Not even Davod Brock? Why?
TERRORIST ATTACKS CLINTON STOPPED. Just for the record, under Richard Clarke's leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:. · CLINTON developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts. · Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania. · Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.). · Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice. · Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks. · Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security. (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for better tracking of explosives used by terrorists. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA. · Bill Clinton increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I. · Bill Clinton tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism. · Bill Clinton detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries. · Bill Clinton created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine. · Of Clinton's efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism: "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama". · Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as he believed the Bill Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden. · Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Bill Clinton left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort".
A great record but no one will tell the people just let Fox News batter us?
TERRORIST ATTACKS CLINTON STOPPED. Just for the record, under Richard Clarke's leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:. · CLINTON developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts. · Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge. · Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania. · Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.). · Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice. · Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks. · Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security. (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests. · Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for better tracking of explosives used by terrorists. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA. · Bill Clinton increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I. · Bill Clinton tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism. · Bill Clinton detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries. · Bill Clinton created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine. · Of Clinton's efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism: "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama". · Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as he believed the Bill Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden. · Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Bill Clinton left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort".