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During the past two weeks, the debate about Iraq, terrorism and al Qaeda has intensified. What is driving this highly partisan debate is the November election, in which the control of the US Congress is very much on the line. Now, the Clinton and the Bush families are getting involved. During an interview with the Fox network, specifically Chris Wallace, former president Clinton weighed in with some rather indefensible statements about his administration and Osama bin Laden. Clinton argued that he was closer to getting bin Laden than Bush and he would make the priority of killing bin Laden worth more that the current 20,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. His wife, Hillary, also weighed in arguing that had her husband been the president, we would be in a much different situation in the war on terror.
Richard Miniter of the Hudson Institute has done us a wonderful service by articulating the actual, objective and clear policy decisions of the former president on terror. Permit me a summary of Clinton’s policies and actions. The American people will need to decide who is telling the truth and under whose leadership the nation should entrust the war on terror.
1. Miniter writes, “Some 38 days after he [Clinton] was sworn in, al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center [with the massive truck bomb explosion in the Tower parking garage]. He did not visit the Twin Towers that year, even though four days after the attack he was just across the Hudson River in New Jersey, talking about job training. He made no attempt to rally the public against terrorism. His only public speech on the bombing was a few paragraphs inserted into a radio address mostly devoted to an economic stimulus package. Those stray paragraphs were limited to reassuring the public and thanking the rescuers, the kinds of things governors say after hurricanes. He did not even vow to bring the bombers to justice. Instead, he turned the first terrorist attack on American soil over to the FBI.”
2. In 1994, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (who would later plan the 9/11 attacks) launched “Operation Bojinka” to down 11 US planes simultaneously over the Pacific. A Filipino police officer foiled the plot. What did America do? Increase the cooperation between the Philippine and American police agencies.
3. In 1995, al Qaeda detonated a 220-pound car bomb outside the Office of Program Manager in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing five Americans and wounding 60 more. He sent in the FBI.
4. In 1996, al Qaeda bombed the barracks of American pilots patrolling the “no-fly zones” over Iraq, killing 19. He sent in the FBI.
5. In 1997, al Qaeda consolidated its position in Afghanistan and bin Laden repeatedly declared war on the US. In February 1997, bin Laden told an Arab network: “If someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters.” No response from the Clinton administration.
6. In 1998, al Qaeda simultaneously bombed US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224, including 12 US diplomats. Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan. Fearing that Pakistan might misinterpret what was happening as an attack coming from India, the US informed Pakistan, which perhaps informed bin Laden, who escaped 45 minutes before the missiles hit.
7. In 1999, the Clinton administration disrupted al Qaeda’s Millennium plots, a series of bombings stretching from Amman to Los Angeles. Richard Clarke, NSC senior adviser, was the key to this success. Clarke asked for a more aggressive response to terrorist plots and an end to the status quo, but the administration returned to the status quo.
8. In January 2000, al Qaeda tried and failed to attack the USS The Sullivans off the coast of Yemen. But in October 2000, al Qaeda attacked the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and wounding another 39. Clarke then presented Clinton with a plan to launch a massive cruise missile strike on al Qaeda and Taliban facilities in Afghanistan, but the Clinton cabinet vetoed the plan. One aide said to Clarke: “What’s it going to take to get them to hit al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Does al Qaeda have to attack the Pentagon?”
9. There were three times in 1999 and 2000 that predator drones spotted bin Laden, but they were grounded due to bureaucratic infighting!
Miniter concludes: “Still, Bill Clinton did not fully grasp that he was at war. Nor did he intuit that war requires overcoming bureaucratic objections and a democracy’s natural reluctance to use force. That is a hard lesson. But it is better to learn from studying the Clinton years than reliving them.”
The point of all this is that neither the Clinton administration nor the Bush administration can take the high road in this fight against terrorism. No intellectually honest person would argue that Bill Clinton seriously confronted al Qaeda during his administration. Al Qaeda was incredibly successful as the above shows in attacking American positions oversees. But no one anticipated the true serious threat al Qaeda posed to the heart of America—New York City and Washington, D.C. It is silly and totally irrelevant to be having this highly partisan bickering over who better responded to al Qaeda. It was certainly not Bill Clinton! And, tragically, it was not George W. Bush. Despite all the warnings and actions dating back to 1992, the first year of Clinton’s administration, al Qaeda was attacking the US. Democrats and Republicans must end this ridiculous partisanship and face the reality that we are at war—and will be for a very long time. Neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush has much to brag about when it comes to anticipating al Qaeda’s next step.
See Miniter’s op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal (27 September 2006). |
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