What would have Clinton done if he was the President on 9/11?

Question

would he have invaded Iraq instead of catching Bin Laden? Would he have ignored the UN? would he have manipulated intelligence reports to deceive Congress and illegally invade Iraq? Would he have ignored the Preamble of OUR CONSTITUTION?

Answer 1

It's impossible to know of course, but I do believe he would have concentrated on obliterating Al Queda. I understand that he didn't respond militarily to Al Queda before 9/11 when they committed terrorist acts, but 9/11 would have broke that camel's back. I think he would have first solved our intelligence gaps by quickly addressing the fact that our intel agencies hide matters from each other and from the White House. Then commenced to going after Al Queda in every way he was able. I don't think he would have attacked Iraq, at least not at the time Bush did, and I think he would have required a real reason to do so, instead of manipulating intelligence. Bush obviously had personal issues with Iraq and Clinton didn't. There's one thing I do know - he would not have deliberately misled the people of this country by attempting to link Iraq and 9/11.

Answer 2

Clinton would have responded the same way he did to Somalia, to our Embassies, and to the Cole. He would have lobbed a couple of missles at Kabul, then sat down and gotten a Lewinsky. We would have been hit with more and more and more attacks, like we were during his Presidency.

Ignored the UN......how many UN "or else" rules did Saddam ignore and violate? Bush did not manipulate intellegence, because he relied on the same intelligence that Clinton used when Clinton cited WMD's in Iraq. And what the hell is an illegal war anyway? Was it illegal to attack Italian targets in ww2, even though Italy never declared war (japan and germany did but italy never did declare war on us)? Pick up a history book or take memory enhancing pills.

Answer 3

That question can never be accurately answered. Do to the fact that the question is a great big IF. But from what i remember about Clinton is this. He was a humanitarian, he was very, very, intelligent. He would never sacrifice any more lies than were absolutely necessary. I doubt if Clinton would invade Iraq, because that was not front, and foremost. Osama and his crew would have been. Let's face it, Clinton is one of the most intelligent People on the planet. Bush is less than average in brain power. Clinton would have focused on the real attacker, osama. Not to say Saddam was not a bad man. Clinton just likes the ladies, not a problem for me.

Answer 4

Ask him:


William Jefferson Clinton
c/o William J. Clinton Foundation
55 W 125th St
New York, NY 10027

[phone]

Answer 5

Feel free to poo-poo this since I don't have a cite, but I remember hearing it reported that Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert opined that Clinton would have gone into Iraq after 9/11 also.

Clinton "ignored the UN" by going into Bosnia and Kosovo.

Clinton's intelligence reports said the same thing Bush's did. "Regime change" was US policy since 1998.

Your citation to the Constitiution, and the implication that it has been violated, are pure doggerel.

I am one who does NOT fault Clinton as much as many others for not "getting bin Laden when he had the chance" precisely because we were ALL somewhat asleep at the switch before 9/11.

PS One could just as easily have asked "what would Bush have done if offered Osama on a silver platter?" and I would have answered "THE SAME AS CLINTON, IF BEFORE 9/11."

Also, it's interesting how many blame all our problems in the 90s (and Clinton's lack of a response) with respect to Iraq on Bush 41 "not finishing the job."

Answer 6

No one can tell you. Why?

1. No one knows what was in the mind of GW - how can anyone know what would have been in the mind of WJ?

2. I might not have happened due to the lack of Bush connection. On more than one occasion, terrorists have been known to do things as a slap in the face of a certain leader or party (I direct you to the release of the hostages in Iran in the 80's).

So basically, I could sit here and spout whatever rhetoric I chose to, and you couldn't prove it right or wrong. So what is the point of asking a "What would" question?

Answer 7

If Clinton had been president on 9/11 it would have been just like any other day. He would have been listening to Clarke and his other advisors. He would not have been coming off an extended vacation and reading "My Pet Goat" to elementary school children.
If, by some chance, there had been a sucessful attack he would have concentrated on the perps and continued to go after bin Laden. He would have brought the surviving perps to justice, as he did after the first Trade Center attack.

Answer 8

well, if President Clinton were in office on 911, then 911 wouldn't have occurred. Clinton fought al-qaeda for several years and esembled a great counter terrorism team, led by richard clarke, to squash al-qaeda. During the 90s the Clinton adminstration removed al-qaeda from Bosnia, destrooyed many terrorist cells, stopped many Millenium al-qaeda attacks and achieved UN sanctions on Afghanistan for harboring al-qaeda. Clinton would have realized the urgent signs of al-qaeda wanting to attack in the US and developed a strategic plan to prevent the attackers from carrying out their plans.

Answer 9

I think just about any president would have invaded Afghanistan, as it was the right course of action. I think that is where our invading would've stopped though, but with greater success in destroying the Al Qaeda infrastructure there... unless Monica scraped with the teeth... then who knows what he would've done...

Answer 10

the only way to even closely guess is to look at what he did "every other time we were attacked" while he was in office. heres what he did.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six and injured 1,000; President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel; Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel; Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000; Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors; Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

Maybe if Clinton had kept his promise, accepting Bin Laden when offered by the Sudan in 1996 for example, an estimated 6,000 people in New York and Washington, D.C. that are now injured or dead would be alive today.