Hmm, so what then, was the Bush administration doing with the CIA for the two years before it invaded Iraq? If Clinton gutted it so, how come Dubya left it alone for so long without "fixing"' it? Of course, Republicans like to completely forget that, while at the same time blaming Clinton for the 1993 WTC bombing -you know, the one that occured only a month or so after he took office. I didn't hear the right blaming that attack on Bush Sr.'s CIA.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpoDaddy
You are right about him standing pat on Iraq for eight years. That was mostly because he was going after the guy who was actually a threat to the US, a little fellow called Osama Bin Laden that Republicans have forgotten about. Instead of invading Iraq to take out a token dictator who's massive and dangerous force surrendered in less than a month, he concentrated on what ended up being the real threat -Al Qaeda.
No way! Clinton was to busy getting blown to touch Osama! - More right-wing bullshit. Clinton did more against terrorism than the previous two Republican administrations combined, but no one mentions that, because then Bush looks even worse than he is.
What did Clinton do after the first WTC bombing? Unlike Bush, he actually caught the guys responsible! All that with a gutted CIA too. Imagine that. In addition to all the operations and efforts, he issued three Presidental Directives to deal with terrorism (not to be confused with the two executive orders on terrorism that he signed.), all of which are still in force today. Fancy that!
This is from the National Security archive:
Since 9/11, Bush has only issued three, one of which was to establish the Dept. of Homeland Security -a Democratic idea that he first was against, then flip-flopped on.Quote:
PDD 39, "U.S. Policy on Counterterrorism," signed on June 21, 1995, has been released in part. The 12-page directive, which consists of at least four parts, focuses on reducing U.S. vulnerabilities, deterring terrorism, responding to terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. The PDD directed the FBI to expand its counterterrorism program, the secretary of transportation to reduce vulnerability affecting the security of airports in the United States, the director of central intelligence (DCI) to lead "an aggressive program of foreign intelligence collection, analysis, counterintelligence and covert action," and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate consequence management activities. The directive also specified that "if we do not receive adequate cooperation from a state that harbors a terrorist whose extradition we are seeking, we shall take appropriate measures to induce cooperation. Return of suspects by force may be effected without the cooperation of the host government, consistent with the procedures outlined in NSD-77. "
In late May 1998, President Clinton signed PDD-62 and PDD-63. PDD-62, "Combatting Terrorism," established the Office of the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counterterrorism. According to a fact sheet released at the time, the coordinator "will oversee the broad variety of relevant policies and programs including such areas as counter-terrorism, protection of critical infrastructure and preparedness and consequence management for weapons of mass destruction." A particular area of concern of the office was to reduce vulnerabilities to biological warfare attacks and mitigate their effects. The office also played a role in coordinating measures to prevent a terrorist attack on U.S. targets at the dawn of the new millennium.
PDD-63, "Protecting America's Critical Infrastructures," was intended to provide guidance for a national effort to "assure the security of the United States' increasingly vulnerable and interconnected infrastructures, such as telecommunications, banking and finance, energy, transportation, and essential government services."
With his "gutted" CIA, Clinton gave a higher priority to terrorism than any previous president. See, he saw that Bin Laden was the real threat, not Saddam. The Republicans fought him every step of the way, spearheaded by Newt "I'm-too-stupid-to-be-in-charge" Gingrich. Yes, Clinton did such a bad job on terrorism and fucked the CIA so bad that even the Bush administration said in Time Magazine that his plan amounted to "everything we've done since 9/11."
I find it ironic that the Bush Administration has completely and totally forgotten about Bin Laden and instead shoved Saddam down our throats. When was the last time you heard about him? Our efforts to find him? What's going on in Afghanistan? Think that's by accident?
We could, of course, go on and detail the incredible negligence by the current administration leading up to 9/11, none of which is the CIA's fault, but then that would mean Bush made a mistake, and we all know he never makes mistakes.
"If you put all those pieces together, I don't say you could have prevented September 11th, but there might have been some warning, had it been handled properly."
— Vice President Dick Cheney
