Clinton vs. Condasleeza



Who's to blame for 9/11?

Easy. Bin Laden.

But the Bush Administration and the right isn't content with that answer. Seeing falling poll numbers and increasing dissent because of their ill-advised Iraq War, the right wingers are attempting to blame 9/11 on Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy and Socrates.

The gloves have come off. First, Fox News attacks Bill Clinton for defending himself against accusations that his inaction caused the deaths of 3,000 people. "How dare Clinton get upset that we're blaming him for 9/11!" shout the Republicans.

Now Condasleeza "I do not recall that" Rice is going after Clinton's assertion that Bush did nothing for 8 months in office, as evidence mounted that Bin Laden was behind the attack on the U.S. Cole and was planning an attack on the United States. "He did lots of stuff," the Condasleeza argument goes, "Like spend most of that time on vacation. He had to rest up so he could be a strong leader in the post-9/11 months ahead."

About all Bush did in those months was force schools to teach to a new standardized test that he himself would not be able to pass. Oh, and chop a lot of firewood on his ranch.

All this while "The system was blinking red" and reports like "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S." came across his desk.



Read the 9/11 report. Not because it blames Bush. Because it doesn't... really. And it doesn't blame Clinton either. Rather, it is a detailed, wide ranging analysis of all the missed signals and opportunities that no human being could have picked up upon at the time. It also makes clear that, while there were signs during the Clinton presidency, the final stages of the plan, which were most overt and easily detected, were overlooked by a Bush administration which dismissed its predecessor's warnings.

If you don't have the patience to read it all, then perhaps section 8 is enough. While the Bush administration received more warnings and more reports of a possible Bin Laden attack than any other administration, they did nothing-- especially in the crucial month and a half before 9/11. A month and a half when Bush was chillin with his cows in Texas. It's clear from the report that the most opportunities to stop the attack came during Bush's presidency.

I promise its not a boring read. On the contrary, it'll help you ignore this bullshit fight between Republicans and Democrats-- a fight only designed to confuse voters before midterm elections.

And then you can focus on debates that actually mean something. Like what the hell are we doing in Iraq?