Bill Clinton Takes On Fox News

As for my comment that set Lash off on such a tear - I stand behind it.

Perhaps someday 'snake will explain why he uses 'kkk' exclusively against Democrats.

On second thought, don't bother....

You don't know from "tear." I was merely continuing the same rudeness you introduced. We can all type *******.

Moi? Rude?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092300928_pf.html

"A Combative Clinton Defends Record on Fighting Terrorism
Former President Faults Neocons for Inaction on Bin Laden

By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 24, 2006; A09



Former president Bill Clinton angrily defended his administration's counterterrorism record during a Fox News interview to be aired today, while accusing "President Bush's neocons" and other Republicans of ignoring Osama bin Laden until the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Clinton had planned to discuss his climate change initiative during his appearance on "Fox News Sunday," but he turned combative after host Chris Wallace asked why he hadn't "put bin Laden and al-Qaeda out of business." Clinton shot back that "all the conservative Republicans" who now criticize him for inattention to bin Laden used to criticize him for over-attention to bin Laden.

Clinton said he authorized the CIA to kill bin Laden, and even "contracted with people to kill him." He also said he had a plan to attack Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban and hunt for bin Laden after the attack on the USS Cole, but the CIA and FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible, and Uzbekistan refused to allow the United States to set up a base. By contrast, Clinton said the Bush administration's neoconservatives "had no meetings on bin Laden for nine months," believing he had been "too obsessed with bin Laden."

"At least I tried," Clinton said. "That's the difference [between] me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, [Richard] Clarke, who got demoted."

Clinton seemed particularly irked by Wallace's reference to his decision in 1993 to pull troops out of Somalia, a move bin Laden later described as a sign of American weakness. Clinton argued that even though many Republicans demanded a withdrawal from Somalia the day after the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter, he kept a U.S. presence there for another six months to ensure an orderly transition to United Nations forces.

That's when the interview got testy, as a Fox transcript reflects:

Clinton : There is not a living soul in the world who thought Osama bin Laden had anything to do with Black Hawk down or was paying any attention to it, or even knew al-Qaeda was a going concern in October '93.

Wallace : I understand.

Clinton : No, no, wait. Don't tell me that -- you asked why didn't I do more to bin Laden, there was not a living soul, all the people who now criticize me wanted to leave the next day. You brought this up, so you get an answer. But you -- secondly,

Wallace : -- Bin Laden says, but it showed the weakness of the United States.

Clinton : Bin Laden may have said it -- but it would have shown the weakness if we left right away. But he wasn't involved in that, that's just a bunch of bull. That was about Mohamed Aideed, a Muslim warlord, murdering 22 Pakistani Muslim troops. We were all there on a humanitarian mission; we had no mission, none, to establish a certain kind of Somali government or keep anybody out. He was not a religious fanatic --

Wallace : Mr. President --

Clinton : -- there was no al-Qaeda --

Wallace : With respect, if I may, instead of going through '93 and --

Clinton : No, no -- you asked it. You brought it up.

Wallace, a 30-year broadcast veteran who worked at NBC and ABC before Fox, is not usually considered part of the network's conservative commentariat, but Clinton accused him of doing "Fox's bidding" by preparing a "conservative hit job."

He attacked Wallace for failing to ask Bush administration officials why Clarke was demoted from his counterterrorism job: "Tell the truth, Chris. Tell the truth, Chris. Did you ever ask that?" He also complained that Wallace had lured him to the interview "under false pretences," but when Wallace offered to discuss his climate change project, he replied: "No, I want to finish this now."

And so he did, attacking President Bush for focusing on Iraq instead of Afghanistan, urging Americans to read Clarke's book and accusing Republicans of "a serious disinformation campaign" to blame the Clinton administration for losing bin Laden.

"I got closer to killing him than anybody's gotten since," Clinton said. "And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. . . . You got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I responsibly could." "

Wait. Am I misunderstanding something? You mean the footage of the Clinton interview? You are claiming that

- Partisan Dem reporters do [the same thing] on a regular basis to Republicans (and one has to be out of one's **** mind to think otherwise)

- When that Irish reporter interviewed Bush and Dan "yelled at Bush I", it was the "same thing"

- Couric e.a have done "the same thing" to Republicans

- Clinton just yelped and thats only how this was made to look much worse than when it happens to other people

But you havent actually seen the interview? Or were you referring to some other footage?

the "theatre" is irrelevant.

The substance is what is important from that interview.

Bottome line is to quote Bubba..." I tried and I failed"

As opposed to Bush who didnt try and failed - yes, we know.

If either of them had succeeded, there wouldnt have been a 9/11. Respect to the guy who at least tried. Who tried even in the face of Republican ridicule that he was just playing "wag the dog".

GWB did little of anything in those first 9 months of his presidency, he didnt think it was a priority.

This is amusing.

Clinton was nearly apoplectic about wanting to kill bin Laden.

Do you think he got off on the killing of people in the Balkans, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq the way Bush gets off?

Why dont you just watch the interview for yourself? Its unedited footage is easy to find on www.foxnews.com .

What a joke this thread and our entire political establishment has become. The two-party system is a joke.

Yeah... If you make Dick Cheney the head of your terrorism task force, make sure he calls at least one meeting prior to the worst terrorist act on American soil.

Bill Clinton's Excuses
No matter what he says, the record shows he failed to act against terrorism.

By Byron York


"I worked hard to try and kill himSource

Does this mean the ABC "docudrama" was innaccurate in saying those same military and intelligence servicws were ready to go and kill Bin Laden but the Clinton administration stopped them?

The issue is not comparing who did what better or worse than anyone else.

The biggiest problem in the political dialoge is the extreme STUPIDITY of those who refuse to look at their actions (or the actions of those they support) except to compare them to what others may or may not have done.

The question that Wallace tried to ask (but he was not clear enough) was "What could he have done differently, if anything".

Clinton did a good job in trapping Wallace, but any objective observer could have read through the theatrics and come to the same conclusion that Bubba did.

He tried and he failed in trying to capture OBL.

So has GW to date failed. That was not the question that was asked.

tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick.....

In the quoted piece above, Byron Yorkk starts out his arguments by stating:



I beg his pardon?

He's actually saying that Clinton had no knowledge or memory of his own?

No he's actually saying that Clinton based nearly his entire defense on one source: Clarke's book. If you saw the interview or read the transcript you would know that Clinton was effectively saying that everything one needs to know about this subject is contained in that book.

Could be.

I think most people agree that the ABC show played fast and loose with the truth in certain instances. If Clinton had limited his tirade to that show, his outrage might have seemed more sincere. However, FOX is so much more an object of the scorn of his party's base than ABC, it was necessary to focus his outrage on them.

I did see it, and that is what Clinton said. He referred listeners to a complete historical accounting from Clarke.

But that is not what York was saying - or implying. He also used the word "defense". Of what need does Clinton have to defend?