Different Approaches to Terrorism

-CTF Editorial: August 14, 2005

The right wing has traditionally tried to paint the Democrats as somehow weak on defense, a charge particularly ridiculous especially in the light of World War II which was entirely led by Democrats, not to mention WWI, Korea, and Vietnam. Democrats have consistently fought to defend our national interests, so the charge is spurious to begin with. However, beyond even that straw man erected by the Republicans to try to win elections, there is this odd, personal hatred of former President Clinton (perhaps because he was so successful) and a repeated effort by the right wing to characterize him as somehow even "worse." This despite the evidence that Clinton quite accurately had recognized the threat of our times, and was actively struggling against that threat - terrorism.

So what is the actual record on this matter, independent of partisanship, and how does Clinton's record on national security compare to George Bush's? Mike Hersh gives us the definitive answer.

-Mike Hersh: August 13, 2005

President Clinton led the fight against terrorism despite strong opposition from Republicans in Congress and the pro-Republican Media. Here’s a partial - yet incredibly long - list of accomplishments against terrorism for which the Clinton Administration gets almost no credit or even recognition.

President Clinton:

• Sent legislation to Congress to TIGHTEN AIRPORT SECURITY. (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines.
• Sent legislation to Congress to allow for BETTER TRACKING OF TERRORIST FUNDING. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests.
• Sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for BETTER TRACKING OF EXPLOSIVES USED BY TERRORISTS. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA. When Republicans couldn’t prevent executive action, President Clinton:
• Developed the nation’s first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator.
• Worked hard, even obsessively — and successfully — to stop future terrorist attacks, holding daily meetings especially prior to the Millennium.
• 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.
• Stopped cold the planned attack during the Millennium Celebrations.
• 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.
• 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.
• Robert Oakley, Reagan Counterterrorism Czar says of Clinton’s efforts "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama."
• Paul Bremer, Bush’s Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley saying he believed the Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden."
• Barton Gellman of the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Clinton left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort."

Here, in stark contrast, is the Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism record before September 11, 2001:

• 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 Tenet, Paul Bremer, and Richard Clarke about the urgency of terrorist threats.
• Ignored warnings of increasing terrorist activity in 52 separate Presidential Daily Briefings.
• 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. Even though Bush had been in office for the prior 9 MONTHS.

It should also be noted that Clinton did NOT blame G.H.W. Bush administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred a mere 38 days after they had left office.