The first and far less spectacular World Trade Center bombing took place in February 1993, one month into William Jefferson Clinton's first term as president. Clinton's administration was surely not to blame for this attack, yet the bombing clearly demonstrated that radical Islamic terrorists were intent upon striking prominent landmarks within the U.S. homeland.
Richard Clarke, counterterrorism coordinator, admitted under oath that he and the nation's leaders let America down by failing to prevent 9/11. His remarks seem far more appropriate from the perspective of his time spent serving on Bill Clinton's national security staff than that spent on President Bush's.
Had Clinton, his National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and Clarke done something more substantive and meaningful after the 1993 WTC attack, it is extremely plausible that our 21st century "Day of Infamy" might never have occurred.
That begs the question: What specifically did Clinton, Berger and Clarke do in the eight years after the '93 WTC bombing to prevent another such attackâ¢
Why is it that Bush and Rice are on the hot seat for information that Clinton, Berger and Clarke had years before 9/11⢠Clinton had serious choices to make, and history indicates that from a security perspective, he chose rather poorly.
When the 9/11 Commission examines all the evidence and reports its findings, the blame should fall in varying degrees upon all post-1976 presidential administrations. But the lion's share of that blame rests squarely upon the shoulders of Bill Clinton's failed national security team.
Jeff ThieretHarmony
