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Audacity of Truth
Flyswatter in Chief:
"He had this fly that was persistently buzzing around him during the interview...he swatted his hand and he said ‘I got the sucker’...it was a, you know, Dirty Harry ‘make my day’ moment."- The NYT's John Harwood, describing Obama's killing of a fly - 6/16/09
FULL VIDEO: Bill Clinton and Chris Wallace
Greg Tinti has it.
He also has a link to an article by Byron York posted at NRO today that dissects Clinton’s responses.
You know what burns me up about the interview? Not the fact that Clinton gets uptight and defensive, but the fact that he says the Bush admin “didn’t try” (that’s who he meant when he referred to the “right wingers” who had several months to get OBL). Bush has never once blamed Bill Clinton for his failure to get OBL. Not once. This is an incredible cheap shot on the part of Clinton. Not entirely unexpected, but a cheap shot all the same.
Clinton will continue the Sunday talk show circuit by appearing on Meet the Press today at 1pm ET (special time due to NBC’s coverage of the Ryder Cup).
Update I 1:25 PM: Allah’s got the video, too, along with a link roundup of commentary on Clinton’s defensive posturing.
Update II 5:43 PM: Jim Geraghty does some fact checking on Clinton’s claims, as does The Corner .
Update III 5:56 PM: Here’s the transcript of the interview.
Prior:
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Its is natural that the rest of the world would want your help but not your domination.
So, in other words, you’ll take our millions of dollars in aid, but won’t help us a bit when we need it, right?
You know, I am just sitting here thinking about what Bubba said the other day. Now correct me if I am wrong but weren’t ALL of the 9/11 hijackers in this country long before President Bush took office??? Didn’t they have 1 of their number in custody prior to Bush taking office, or at least under surveilence??? How long is this fool going to believe that he can fool the American People. Bubba’s legacy is garbage, and he will always be considered one of our worst Presidents right along side Jimmy. – Lorica
Its seems that every republican is full of excuses on how Bush slept at the wheel the first 8 months in office. Clinton at least tried. But I think the biggest coverup is everyone believing Bush could actually read “My Pet Goat”. Have a good day and enjoy Fox News. Hopefully no reading is involved.
And another mindless BDS affected moonbat heard from…
Thanks Kris for adding absolutely nothing to the discussion. So basically you are saying Clinton couldn’t get OBL cuz GW can’t read. But we are the ones who are full of excuses. Sure, Sure, Don’t worry, the adults are here, and we understand. – Lorica
I’m very concerned about the apparent revision of history by members of the Clinton administration. For example, Bill Clinton told the 9/11 Commission that he told Bush during the transition period in January 2001, “I think you will find that by far your biggest threat is Bin Ladin and the al Qaeda.” (p. 199 of the Commission’s report)
However, there appears to be no contemporaneous statements from Clinton or members of his national security team to back up Clinton’s contention. In fact, public statements at the time suggest that they believed Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction was the biggest threat.
On January 8, 2001, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the following while paying a farewell visit to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan:
“The United States will continue to press Iraq to destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition of lifting economic sanctions, even after the end of the Clinton administration January 20.”
Albright made no mention of al Qaeda during that visit.
LINK
On January 9, Albright held a press conference concerning Mideast peace in which a reporter stated that “Iraq was the centerpiece of your foreign policy.” Albright did not take issue with that contention. Instead, she responded, “First of all, I am really sorry that we had the issue of Saddam Hussein on our plate when we arrived, and I am equally sorry to say that we are passing it on.”
Albright’s press conference on Mideast peace included no statements about al Qaeda.
LINK
To hear Team Clinton talk today, the issue of Saddam Hussein was off their plate by January 2001.
On January 11 UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke held a farewell press conference. The press release from the State Department after the press conference had this headline: “Holbrooke: Iraq Will Be a Major UN Issue for Bush Administration.” Holbrooke said the following about Iraq:
“Saddam Hussein’s activities continue to be unacceptable and, in my view, dangerous to the region and, indeed, to the world, not only because he possesses the potential for weapons of mass destruction but because of the very nature of his regime.
“His willingness to be cruel internally is not unique in the world, but the combination of that and his willingness to export his problems makes him a clear and present danger at all times.”
Holbrooke also discussed Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Angola, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Congo. However, he made no comments regarding terrorism and al Qaeda.
LINK
As far as I can tell, the only member of Clinton’s national security team who made any public statements about the USS Cole during the transition period was Secretary of Defense William Cohen. That was on January 9 after Cohen met with Donald Rumsfeld. In addition to the USS Cole, that press conference covered “countries who are developing weapons of mass destruction” North Korea, and national missile defense (NMD).
LINK
Cohen had also appeared at a Senate Armed Services Committee in July 2000 in which he addressed NMD. He made the following statement:
“Chairman Warner, Senator Levin, members of the Committee, I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss with you the US National Missile Defense (NMD) program. I cannot think of a more important issue to address than protecting the American people from the threat posed by states such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq who are seeking to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the long-range missiles to deliver them.”
Further:
“From my perspective, the utility of considering active defenses against missiles from states like North Korea, Iran and Iraq does not depend on a judgment that their leaders are utterly indifferent to the prospect of retaliation. Rather it is based on a recognition that leaders of these isolated states might be prepared to use WMD attacks–and risk retaliation–in circumstances where more traditional, or at least more cautious, leaders would not.”
LINK
There was nothing in Cohen’s January 9 press conference to suggest that al Qaeda had supplanted “the threat posed by states such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq” as the most important issue to address.
If Clinton truly believed al Qaeda was by far the biggest threat facing the U.S. in January 2001, why did their public statements place a much greater emphasis on Iraq?