Friday, June 18, 2010

Losing Bin Laden

I'm late to the party on this but I finally got around to reading the book, Losing Bin Laden, by Richard Miniter. It details the failures of the Clinton Administration to be involved in any attempts to track down those who wanted Jews and Americans dead. One could say that it began under Reagan with the murder of 240 soldiers in Lebanon but it wasn't until the 1993 Trade Center bombings that our antennae should have been up. After all, the WTC was in the U.S. and Lebanon is not.
Clinton became president as an economic guy and had little or no concern with overtures from Muslim nations to take OBL off their hands. First, it was Saudi Arabia then the Sudan. Saudi Arabia needed American equipment and protection against Iraq. the Sudan, an impoverished country fighting a decades long civil war hoped to receive foreign aid. They were fearful of being placed on a "do not trade" list. The Us ignored their pleas. Our CIA was lax in having operatives who could not only speak Arabic but there are many differing dialects that further impeded any attempt at covert and overt operations. The United States didn't even know who Osama bin Laden was until 1996 and then we pooh-pooed his five declarations of war against us.
The attack on the USS Cole exemplified the do nothing attitude. Clinton addressed the nation and stated; "we will do everything necessary to bring these terrorists to justice".
What a joke. The guy was headed for impeachment and Monica dominated his every day thoughts. Clinton failed to meet with and discuss terrorism with the heads of the CIA and FBI---Their pleas for help were ignored--period!
As George Will so eloquently stated: "Bill Clinton may not be our worst President but he is the worst man to be President". That about says it all.

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