Audette-O-Blog

9/11 Responsibility: Clinton Vs. Bush Checklist - Who’s “Soft on Terror”?

Bill Clinton:

- Sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security - The legislation was defeated by the Republicans.

- Sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding - The legislation was defeated by the Republicans.

- Sent legislation to Congress to add taggants to explosives, to allow for better tracking of explosives used by terrorists - The legislation was defeated by the Republicans.

- Developed the nation’s first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator.

- Stopped cold the 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.

- Tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.).

- Brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.

- Brought perpetrators of the Khobar Towers Bombing to Justice

- Did not blame Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after they had left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively — and successfully — to stop future terrorist attacks.

- Named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.

- Tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism.

- Detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries

- Created a national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine.

- Had plans for a full military response to USS Cole bombing, but being so close to the election of a new President, decided to pass it on to the Bush administration in order to avoid doing the same thing to Bush Jr. that Bush Sr. did to Clinton: Leave him with a full-blown mess he didn’t want or escalate (re: Somalia) Clinton passed the war plans to Bush, who then gave it to Cheney, who promptly ignored it.

George Bush (pre-9/11 record)

- Backed off Clinton administration’s anti-terrorism efforts.

- Shelved the Hart-Rudman report.

- Appointed new anti-terrorism task force under Dick Cheney. Group did not even meet before 9/11.

- Called for cuts in anti-terrorism efforts by the Department of Defense.

- Gave no priority to anti-terrorism efforts by Justice Department.

- Ignored warnings from Sandy Berger, Louis Freeh, George Tennant, Paul Bremer, and Richard Clarke about the urgency of terrorist threats.

- Halted Predator drone tracking of Osama bin Laden.

- Did nothing in wake of August 6 C.I.A. report to president saying Al Qaeda attack by hijack of an airliner almost certain.

- Bush - knowing about the terrorists’ plans to attack in America, warned that terrorists were in flight schools in the US - took a four week vacation.

- By failing to order any coordination of intelligence data, missed opportunity to stop the 9/11 plot as Clinton-Gore had stopped the millennium plots.

- Blamed President Clinton for 9/11.

(Original author unknown - facts verified)