Why do people still blame Clinton for 9-11?

Question

if i recall, bush has been in office for 8 months before it happened (not that i'm blaming bush...im one of the few people who say that nobody is to blame but the terrorists, not bush or clinton or anybody else.) dont you think its ironic that nobody blamed george bush sr. for the first world trade center attacks, and clinton had only been in office 38 days when it happened. why are people so quick to blame clinton now, and not bush sr. years ago?

Answer 1

Hing sight is 20-20. I agree with you, one cannot blame anyone, they all did the best they could with the information in front of them. Although it is good to learn from history, to question motives of those in charge and blame them for things terrible people did against our country is childish and more politically driven than intellectually.

Answer 2

I don't think Clinton is only to blame. But he didn't do anything after the first WTC attacks, the the bombings in Africa, or the USS Cole, the terrorists kept putting their toe across the line, a little more each time waiting to see what we would do. We did little or nothing. This again doesn't mean Clinton is responsible or should be blamed. If he had a more swift response to these actions he may have not allowed this to happen. We will never know. I also can't blame Bush, no matter what he did to try to prevent terrorism before 9/11 it wouldn't have stopped what happened. These terroists did nothing illegal before 9/11 they did nothing that would be considered out of the ordinary. Just people from other countries trying to make it in America. I know some of their visas expired, but for years before Bush and even now we have can't kick everyone out with an expired visa, there are just too many, and not enough people to enforce it.

Ultimately the terrorists were responsible, and possibly if things broke right and Clinton took swifter action in the 90's maybe it would've turned out different, unfortunately we will never know.

Answer 3

I think that lack of action by Clinton when terrorist hit the USS Cole, The Marine barracks, and two embassies made the terrorist feel like they could strike without fear so it may have embolden them. Clinton also did not allow the FBI to make any references to religions or nationalities of people they felt to be a threat due to his need to be PC. FBI agents from his time in office say in interviews that they were often scared to bring up issues that may appear to single out a certain group due to fears of loosing their jobs for appearing to profile people.
I don't blame Clinton alone as the security of the nation has not been taken seriously enough for a long time. There are still tons of problems and they can't be blamed only on Bill. Our porous borders, air port security, port security are all still not working very well but they are at least slowly improving.

Answer 4

The only blame that can be placed on Clinton is his cutting back on informants.It is very nice to be able to take the high moral ground and say we will use satellite surveillance, and not have to get involved with informants, they are criminals, terrorists themselves and we are not going to pay them or information. A very noble sentiment but not a realistic one. The Clinton administration dismantled the intelligence gathering operation on the ground, the informants within the terrorist groups were discarded. And the most valuable source of information was destroyed. The satellites could show who went where but not what was said. and valuable information was lost.

Answer 5

You are right about one thing. Terrorists are to blame. However, we can't forget the fact that Osama was handed over to Clinton on at least 2 occasions but he didn't want him. Clinton did nothing after the attack on the USS Cole and the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It makes me wonder if 9/11 would have happened in the first place if Billy boy would have done his job in the first place.

Answer 6

The only thing Bush can be blamed for is if what he should have done after the attack. I don't want to call it inevitable, but I'm at a loss for a better word for the time being.

Answer 7

Well, there is a general belief (not unfounded) that his failure to have done anything to improve national security, to improve the US intelligence services, or to hamper international terrorism after: the 1st WTC bombing, Khobar Towers bombing, US Embassy Bombings in Kenya & Tanzania or the USS Cole bombing had a significant impact on our preparedness and capability to detect, locate and stop terrorist attacks.

And each time we were attacked successfully, with no retaliatory action, was a victory for the terrorists and resulted in increased recruiting for them and also emboldened them to increase the frequency and scope of their attacks.

So, no, he is no more to blame than Bush, but people should agree that in the face of multiple terrorist attacks, he did nothing to make them any less likely or make the US any safer.

Answer 8

I don't blame Clinton.

We were ALL somewhat asleep at the switch.

True, Clinton passed on Osama when he had the chance to take him, but truth be told we don't know if a Republican would have done any differently.

Hindsight is 20-20.

Answer 9

When confronted with the fact that the person you have been supporting is viewed upon as a bumbling idiot,by the majority, one often turns to blame diversion ,rather than admit self incrimination

Answer 10

It is Bush's fault. He:

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 Tennant, Paul Bremer, and Richard Clarke about the urgency of terrorist threats.

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