SlowpokeBlog

For what it's worth, I thought I would post an excerpt from former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies, which makes a compelling case that the Pentagon's open hostility towards Clinton, and an overcautious CIA, impeded Clinton's efforts to fight terrorism rather than the other way around. Clarke's book is a gripping read; he has worked under both Republican and Democratic presidents, and is no pacifist. There are many juicy parts to choose from, but here's a bit about the cruise missile attack on bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan:

Our response to two deadly terrorist attacks was an attempt to wipe out al Qaeda leadership, yet it quickly became grist for the right-wing talk radio mill and part of the Get Clinton campaign. That reaction made it more difficult to get approval for follow-up attacks on al Qaeda, such as my later attempts to persuade the Principals to forget about finding bin Laden and just bomb the training camps.

What was particularly frustrating was that Clinton had pulled Joint Staff Chairman Hugh Shelton and me aside after the Cabinet Room meeting, saying to the former Special Forces commander, "Hugh, what I think would scare the shit out of these al Qaeda guys more than any cruise missile... would be the sight of U.S. commandos, Ninja guys in black suits, jumping out of helicopters into their camps, spraying machine guns. Even if we don't get the big guys, it will have a good effect." Shelton looked pained. He explained that the camps were a long way away from anywhere we could launch a helicopter raid. Nonetheless, America's top military officer agreed to "look into it."

I make no pretense of knowing anything about military strategy, but it's an interesting quote given the blather about Clinton being unwilling to put boots on the ground.