More on Clarke

Oh, this is juicy!

Below, in my main article on Richard Clarke (the former insider now spilling many a bean about Bush's mishandling of terrorism), you'll find a refutation of the first major attempt to smear his credibility, offered by that estimable journal, FrontPage Magazine. Clarke, a byline-free article contends, "bought into the now-discredited "law enforcement" approach to counter-terrorism: if people are making war on us, arrest them!"

In other words, he eschews military solutions. He's weak. Not an ass-kicker.

Or so we are told.

Ah, what a difference five years make. Look up an A.P. story dated February 7, 1999, titled "U.S. Reserves Right to Bomb Governments That Harbor Terrorists." Here's a key quote:

"The Clinton administration now asserts the right to bomb government facilities in nations that act as safe havens for international terrorists, a significant escalation of U.S. attempts to combat terrorism.

"'We may not just go in a strike against a terrorist facility; we may choose to retaliate against the facilities of the host country, if that host country is a knowing, cooperative sanctuary,' Richard Clarke, President Clinton's coordinator for counterterrorism, told The Associated Press.

"In an interview last week, Clarke described the policy that marks a departure from the tactics employed last August when U.S. cruise missiles struck at alleged terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan and Sudan.

"Now the administration contends it could broaden such an attack to include government buildings and assets in nations that knowingly harbor terrorists."

End quote. There you have it: Clarke and Clinton wanted to chuck bombs at al-Qaida (not named in the article, but obviously the target) and at the leadership of Afghanistan in 1999. If the United States had done so at that time, the World Trade Center attack may never have taken place.

You know who opposed this new doctrine? Conservatives!

They viewed it as part of Bill Clinton's evil Illuminati scheme for world conquest. Check out these usenet responses from rightists:

"There is no one on earth safe from this bastard."

"This is a very scary development! If Clinton is willing to be this arrogant and reckless in his use of raw, naked power against the whole world, he must have horrible plans for conservatives within this country."

""Under Bill Clinton we have now taken the first steps to becoming a world dictator. Today, we bomb governments who allegedly harbor terrorists, even if there is no proof."

I ask you: Who was coddling al-Qaida back in 1999? Was it Richard Clarke? Bill Clinton? Or America's reactionary legions?