In light of Sandy Burger's complete lack of judgment in removing and destroying COPIES of classified documents from the National Archives, Republicans have again found comfort in blaming the Clinton administration for terrorism in general and the attacks of 9/11 and the continued freedom of Osama bin Laden specifically. To refresh their memories and to place their shrill accusations in context I'm posting a chronology of what Clinton did do in the arena of anti-terrorism in the period between the two Bushes.
The chronology spans from February 1989 to September 2001.
It's below the fold...
February 9, 1989 George H. W. Bush continues support of Muslim extremist in Afghanistan until the Soviet withdrawal from the country. He then abandoned Afghanistan leaving it to anti-American terrorist groups (i.e. al Qaeda).
None of George H. W. Bush's State of the Union speeches discussed the threat of global terrorism.
February 26, 1993 A bomb was exploded in the public parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. As a result of the explosion, 6 persons were killed, and more than 1,000 injured.
Only thirty-eight days after taking office President Clinton responded by capturing the terrorists responsible within a month of the attack. On May 25, 1994, a judge sentenced each of the four defendants to 240 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On February 7, 1995, the prime fugitive wanted in connection with the bombing, Ramzi Yousef, was arrested by the FBI, the US Diplomatic Security Service, and Pakistani authorities in Pakistan and subsequently rendered to U.S. authorities. This suspected mastermind of the bombing was sentenced to 240 years in prison on January 8, 1998.
The Clinton administration also thwarted Ramzi Yousef's Project Bojinka, which included a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II on January 15, 1995, and a plot to set off bombs on 11 United States-bound airliners on January 21 and 22, 1995. The U.S. government estimated the prospective death toll to be about 4,000 if the plot had been executed.
Clinton and Terrorism
- Passed crime bills containing strong anti-terrorism legislation.
- Tripled FBI counterterrorism budget.
- Doubled overall counterterrorism funding.
- Created a national security post to coordinate all counterterrorism activity.
- Created a national stockpile of drugs and vaccines.
- Sponsored simulations on how local, state and federal agencies could better coordinate their responses to terrorist attacks.
- Created an international network of allies to assist in fighting terrorism.
The Clinton administration also thwarted terrorist attacks on the FBI Headquarters, UN Headquarters, LA and Boston airports, the Israeli embassy in Washington DC, the U.S. embassy in Albania, the George Washington Bridge, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
1995 The year of the Oklahoma City bombing Clinton proposed an expansion of the intelligence agencies' wiretap authority for fighting terrorism. The Republicans rejected the proposal.
1996 Clinton requested an expansion of anti-terrorism funding. Orrin Hatch led the Republican objection to the additional funding.
August 7, 1998 Al Qaeda destroyed the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing over 200 people. Within days of the bombings, the combined efforts of the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency pinned responsibility on bin Laden's organization.
August 20, 1998 U.S. military response included striking targets with Tomahawk missiles. One, near the Afghan town of Khost, was timed to kill bin Laden and his associates in their beds at 10 p.m. local time. It missed, the CIA said afterward, by a few hours. The other demolished a pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan, that the CIA had linked to attempted production of chemical weapons for bin Laden.
Clinton directed a campaign of increasing scope and lethality against bin Laden's network that carried through his final days in office.
In addition to authorizing covert action, Clinton signed three highly classified Memoranda of Notification expanding the available tools. In succession, the president authorized killing instead of capturing Osama bin Laden, then added several of al Qaeda's senior lieutenants, and finally approved the shooting down of private civilian aircraft on which they flew.
The Clinton administration ordered the Navy to maintain two Los Angeles-class attack submarines on permanent station in the nearest available waters, enabling the U.S. military to place Tomahawk cruise missiles on any target in Afghanistan within about six hours of receiving the order.
October 12, 2000 Al Qaeda terrorists attack the USS Cole, killing 17 American sailors.
With just three months left in his presidency, Clinton has Richard Clarke, the anti-terrorism coordinator, devise a comprehensive plan to take out al Qaeda.
December 20, 2000 Clarke proposes an ambitious plan to break up al Qaeda cells, arrest their personnel, attack and freeze the financial support and assets used for terrorists activities, give aid to governments having problems with al Qaeda, scale up covert actions and put Special Forces in Afghanistan, and reach Osama bin Laden.
Rather than implementing the plan only weeks before George W. Bush would take office, it was decided that the plan be turned over to the incoming administration. In hindsight this might not have been the best decision. Clarke's plan would not be used until nine months later, that being after the attacks of 9/11.
National Security Advisor Sandy Berger arranged ten briefings for Condoleeza Rice in order to highlight the priority that needed to be placed on dealing with al Qaeda. Richard Clarke laid out the al Qaeda plan for Rice.
February 2001 Clarke repeats al Qaeda briefing for Dick Cheney.
February 15, 2001 The Hart-Rudman report warns of "mass-casualty terrorism directed against the U.S. homeland was of serious and growing concern" and urged for the creation of "A National Homeland Security Agency."
The report would generate a bill in Congress to establish a National Homeland Security Agency. The report and the bill received little to no action from the Bush administration.
April 30, 2001 Richard Clarke presents a new version of his anti-terrorism plan to the deputies of the major national security principals. The deputies plan a series of four meetings to discuss Clarke's plan.
May 8, 2001 Bush announced the establishment of an anti-terrorism task force to be led by Cheney. The task force never met or developed a plan.
July 10, 2001 Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams submits memo regarding concerns about Middle Eastern students at an Arizona flight school. He suggests they might be al Qaeda operatives.
July 16, 2001 The deputies of the major national security principals meet and approve Clarke's plan. The Principals Committee, Cheney, Rice, Colin Powell, Rumsfeld and George Tenet schedule a meeting to discuss the plan on September 4.
August 3, 2001 George W. Bush signs a plan to cut funding for programs guarding unsecured nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union.
August 6, 2001 CIA Director Tenet submits a report to President Bush entitled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." The report warns that al Qaeda might be planning to hijack airplanes.
August 16, 2001 The INS arrests Zacharis Moussaoui, a flight school student that was only interested in learning to fly the plane, not taking off or landing.
A Minneapolis FBI agent writes a report that a 747 loaded with fuel could be used as a weapon.
August 2001 Acting FBI director, Thomas J. Pickard, meets with Attorney General John Ashcroft to request $58 million from the Justice Department to improve the Bureau's capacity to detect foreign terror threats.
September 4, 2001 The Principal Committee meets to discuss Richard Clarke's plan and decides to advise Bush to phase it in over time. The plan had been first devised on December 20, 2000.
September 9, 2001 Congress proposes to shift $600 million to anti-terrorism programs from the missile defense program, which was estimated at between $158 billion and $238 billion. Donald Rumsfeld threatens a presidential veto.
September 10, 2001 Ashcroft rejects Pickard's request for funding. He submits his budget request to Bush for increasing spending in sixty-eight programs. None of the programs dealt with terrorism.
September 11, 2001 Osama bin Laden attacks the U.S. homeland.