Reply #26: But wait, I thought Clinton had a "system" in place to prevent future attempts

[TeamsterDem]

Who was it who told me that? Oh that's right, it was you. But now his hands were tied. Can we say "contradiction"?

Under Clinton US targets suffered no less than 5 attacks at the hands of foreign assailants ('93 WTC bombing, '96 Khobar Towers bombing, '98 Kenya/Tanzania embassy bombings, and the USS Cole). Then there was the domestic act carried out by McVeigh in Oklahoma City in 1995. The "system" of which you speak seems to have missed a few things; the "system" you told me "prevented" future attacks.

The reality is that terrorists began their global reach - truly global - in the early 1990s and we were unprepared as a nation for it. Asymmetric warfare is difficult when the military has to engage it, let alone national security apparatuses which are used to either foreign activities (occurring in foreign countries) or domestic criminal types. It takes a long time to retool these outfits to effectively combat it. It can span one or two presidents' terms to complete. And it did.

Bush effed up with the August 6 PDB. Clinton effed up by allowing the terrorists into the country. They both effed up. Only a guy with blinders on fails to see that. I happen to like Clinton 1000% more than Bush, but his record is what it is and, not being a liar, I won't excuse him for the mistakes he made. Sad that you do.