Giuliani Slams Bill Clinton on Terrorism

[RamboLiberal]

Source: My Way News/AP

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.

The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.

"Islamic terrorists killed more than 500 Americans before Sept. 11. Many people think the first attack on America was on Sept. 11, 2001. It was not. It was in 1993," said the former New York mayor.

Giuliani argued that Clinton treated the World Trade Center bombing as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack, calling it "a big mistake" that emboldened other strikes on the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya and Tanzania and later on the USS Cole while docked in Yemen in 2000.

"The United States government, then President Clinton, did not respond," Giuliani said. "(Osama) bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it."



Read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070626/D8Q0Q5M01.html

---

Bill, I hope you slam him back!

[madrchsod]

1. he`s so full of shit

is this the best they have?

[aquart]

2. No. The best won't run in 2008 because of the Bush stench.

Normally, a thrice-married adulterer hated by the people who are supposed to adore him would not be considered a good choice.

[MichaelHarris]

3. I may be wrong

but aren't the 1993 bombers in prison for what they did? Where is Osama?

[SKKY]

27. And I suspect that, if Rudy had the stones to ask that to Clinton's face...

...that would be the very response he'd get.

[jpgray]

4. And the GOP railed at Clinton for his missile attack on Bin Laden

??? So what the fuck is Giuliani spewing?

[Make7]

5. The response to the Oct. 23, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing:

President Ronald Reagan called the attack a "despicable act" and pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger said there would be no change in the U.S.'s Lebanon policy. On October 24 French President François Mitterrand visited the French bomb site. It was not an official visit, and he only stayed for a few hours, but he did declare: "We will stay." U.S. Vice President George Bush toured the Marine bombing site on October 26 and said the U.S. "would not be cowed by terrorists."

In retaliation for the attacks, France launched an air strike in the Beqaa Valley against Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions. President Reagan assembled his national security team and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters. But Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger aborted the mission, reportedly because of his concerns that it would harm U.S. relations with other Arab nations.

Besides a few shellings, there was no serious retaliation for the Beirut bombing from the Americans. In December 1983, U.S. aircraft attacked Syrian targets in Lebanon, but this was in response to Syrian missile attacks on planes, not the barracks bombing.

The Marines were moved offshore where they could not be targeted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. This was completed on February 26; the rest of the MNF was withdrawn by April.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing

Was this response also a "a big mistake" that emboldened other strikes? There was virtually no retaliation, and they withdrew the Marines a short time later. What message did that send to the terrorists?

Giuliani needs to crack open a few history books. One would think he would have actually made an effort to learn something about terrorism given what happened to New York City.

- Make7

[tired_old_fireman]

6. What about you Rudy?

If you were so worried about terrorism, why didn't you provide NYC first responders with the equipment they needed? Why didn't you give them the radios they needed? Why did you put the command center in the World Trade Center after the World Trade Center was already attacked once? Why didn't you put the command center somewhere that wasn't a proven target for terrorists like say anywhere else in NYC?

The blood of hundreds of firefighters is on your hands Rudy. Hope you had fun dressing up like a mascot and parading around the city with the Yankees all those years (when you weren't too busy cheating on your wife.) If you claim Clinton wasn't keeping us safe, funny you think going to ball games and stepping out on your wife was the way to pick up his slack?

You're no hero Rudy. There is a special place in hell reserved for you.

[countmyvote4real]

7. Right on.

I hope I'm not too late to welcome you to DU.

[tired_old_fireman]

10. Not too late.

Thanks.

[hatrack]

25. Exactly! I have one word, or rather, one address for Mr. 9/11:

WTC 7.

Or should that be WTF 7?

[FredScuttle]

8. Nice going Rudy.....please bring up the '93 WTC attack

and remind all the sheep that those criminals are rotting in jail. Unlike the perpetrator of the '01 attack. Moran.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Hey Roooootie, the FBI and CIA wouldn't certify Bin Laden on the Cole until January of 2001

* had all of Feb. until Sept. 11th to respond. Did he?

[beachmom]

18. Exactly. Of course, Bill Clinton has NEVER refuted this fine point.

Why didn't he fight back when this lie was first told in 2001?

[blm]

21. Why didn't Clinton team knock down these lies WHEN they came out? Instead, every

Democratic candidate running in 2002 and 2004 had the "Dems are weak on terror" meme hung around their necks.

Wouldn't the most useful thing for Democrats back then be for Clinton to have answered these attacks WHEN they happened? Or at least do so when 9-11 report came out? Why wait SO LONG to let these lies settle into conventional wisdom?

[Kiouni]

11. He's got nothing going for him. n/t

[opihimoimoi]

12. Desperation comments from a desperate man....Rudy is despicable...where is his positive message?

Answer...he doesn't have any.....whatever he sez is all low level crap....mostly denigration/finger pointing...never something positive for the Nation...

And look who is the Rookie??? Him....

Rudy is reduced to GUESSING...thats what them BUSHCO guys are doing.....look at the results....nothing positive is there???

All Excuses/ Lies/Secrecy

[Orsino]

13. Right wing warriors bravely blaming Clinton.

That shit got old a long time ago. When does anything ever get to be their fault?

[still_one]

14. 2 questions for Rudy, Is Bill Clinton running for president, and what does Iraq have to do with 9/11

People are wise to these blow hards

2006 was just a sample of things to come. 2008 it will no longer be close

[LeftishBrit]

15. Why do they all act as though they're running against Bill Clinton?

They seem to be in a time-warp!

[Born Free]

16. coworkers the same way

they hate him personally, can't say a good word about him, or his wife, the right wing nuts on the airwaves sure did a great job on those people, the personal hatred will never go away

[endarkenment]

17. Everyone involved in the 93 WTC attack was arrested, tried, and convicted.

It was dealt with as a criminal matter because it was a crime. The perpetrators of the 2001 WTC attack, those who did not die in the attack itself, have never been brought to justice. On the other hand, we made a huge mess of the world, have killed hundreds of thousands of people who had nothing at all to do with the 2001 WTC attack, and have lost more of our own people in the subsequent mess we made than were lost in the original attack.

Oh, and the one person captured who is considered to be associated with the attack, Khalid Sheik Mohammad, was captured in pakistan using standard police techniques. He has not however, and probably never will, be brought to justice.

[underpants]

19. Hold it hold it hold it-Falwell and Robertson blamed lesbians pagans and the like

oh that's right they are full of shit I need to remember that.

[Cass]

20. Too bad Guiliani never bothered to show up to the Iraq study group meetings.

If he had he could have shared his brilliance on terrorism with those who were working on the problem.

[triguy46]

22. Is Bill back in the race? Have I missed something Rudy??

Or is this tilting at windmills. Not sure that reaching back 14 years is quite relevant. It would seem to invite a look back a Rudy 14 years ago.

[LynnTheDem]

23. Giulini; the man who knows too nothing whatsofuckingever.

Truly a stupid man.

[Crowman1979]

24. What is Giulani gonna do next?

Blame Clinton for his divorce? Oh wait, it doesn't stop there! Rush will blame clinton for all of the Oxycotin that he's been getting. Michael Savage will blame Clinton for making prank calls. And then Ted Haggard will blame Clinton for shoving that male prostitutes D*** up his A**! This would make into a great board game! :D

[DinahMoeHum]

26. Giuliani couln't kick a duck in the ass unless he stood on a brick

and even then he misses the mark more than half the time.

:evilfrown:

[missTheBigDog]

28. Please...

Just like Chimp didn't respond when he was on his August long vacation to the memo:

Bin Laden determined to attack the United States?

[BigDDem]

29. Rudy, Rudy, Rudy...

Blaming Bill is soooo 2004, dont you know everything is now
Hillary's fault?

Stick around DU, you'll see.

[rocktivity]

30. Uh, Rudy...are you aware

that Clinton CAPTURED, PUBLICLY TRIED and IMPRISIONED the people who did the first WTC attack?

:eyes:
rocknation

[CBHagman]

31. The GOP always forgets 1983 Beirut.

Back in the '80s, people who bought into the Reagan mystique that no one would mess with us because Reagan was so tough. :eyes: This was in the midst of hostage-taking -- and killing -- terrorist attacks, and hijackings. True, I'm not speaking of attacks on American soil, but at any rate Westerners, including Americans, were subject to abduction, torture, and death in some cases.

Meanwhile, the Reagan administration was somehow playing both sides of the Iran-Iraq war, and backing brutal military violence against civilians in Central America.

http://www.counterpunch.org/bovard10082003.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A52241-2002Dec29

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/peopleevents/pande08.html

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/enemiesofwar/elsalvador2.html

All GOP presidential candidates invoke Reagan's name with a reverence that surely falls into blasphemy and idolatry. But his administration laid the groundwork for decades of disaster...

[BklnDem75]

32. Changing his tune?

FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Bill Clinton on Wednesday over the former president's counterterrorism efforts, saying recent criticism on preventing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is wrong.

Political bickering over which president — Clinton or George W. Bush — missed more opportunities to prevent the attacks has been escalating since Clinton gave a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday" in which he defended his efforts to kill Osama bin Laden.

"The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it," Giuliani said in response to a question after an appearance with fellow Republican Charlie Crist, who is running for governor. "I don't think President Bush deserves it. The people who deserve blame for Sept. 11, I think we should remind ourselves, are the terrorists, the Islamic fanatics, who came here and killed us and want to come here again and do it."


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-28-giuliani-clinton_x.htm?csp=34


The many faces of Rudy.

[Mister Ed]

33. That goddamn Clinton. It's his fault my transmission went out last month, too.

Cost me big bucks, lemme tell ya. I'm still pissed off at him about it.

:sarcasm:

[susanna]

34. Giuliani can kiss off.

He's made more money/fame/notoreity off of 911 than anyone else in the world, except maybe a certain terrorist. He's the last person I'd trust, especially after his good friend and lieutenant (Bernard K.? Sorry, can't pull it out the old gray matter this late) turned out to be a huge, gigantic fraud. But that's how cronyism thrives! Yay capitalism.

I always tell conservatives, mostly to irritate them: Bill Clinton showed up at Ground Zero THAT VERY DAY, though he didn't have to, and regardless of any danger to himself. Our favorite happy-campy leader Bushter did not show up until much later. I wish Giuliani would address that anomaly...but he won't. We all know why. GOP money rocks (if you're a GOP money person).

I'd vote for Giuliani...uh...never. Self-serving POS, I'd say. But then I'm a "straight shooter" according to folks I know and love. I'm sure all the Bush lovers out there would understand how I like someone to me more like "jus' folks." :-)