Military strikes were aimed at bin Laden once before. After U.S. embassies were bombed in Africa three years ago, Washington retaliated with a missile attack in August 1998, sending more than 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles into eastern Afghanistan targeting training camps operated by bin Laden.
But they didn't get Bin Laden.
Then in December 2000, Clinton had the opportunity to "try", as he furiously swore he did in a recent interview on Fox News which has the media and bloggers saying he basically lost his cool, to put it mildly.
But then he chose not to even "try".
Officials said the December meeting was the most pointed in a series of discussions over several months. Several officials familiar with the debate said top military and national security officials convened in the White House to discuss the options.
One individual familiar with the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting was prompted by "eyes-on intelligence" about bin Laden's whereabouts — a term used to indicate a human or satellite spotting.
- Military officials presented a possible military strike option, and the pros and cons were debated.
- Among the concerns voiced was whether the intelligence wasn't already stale given bin Laden's tendency to move quickly and go into hiding. There also was discussion of possible collateral damage if such an attack occurred.
- Ultimately, the president and aides decided not to strike. Berger and one other official said military officials never made a formal recommendation to proceed with the attack.
Again, excuses, excuses, excuses... talk about liberal indecisiveness.
Ok, so Billy tried... once, blindly, shooting all over Afghanistan with 70 missiles, but no Bin Laden.
Next chance he had, that time with better information on Bin Laden's likely whereabouts... he did not try.
So Billy was only telling a half-truth in the Fox News interview.
Billy never got Bin Laden. He barely ever made a serious attempt to actually target the bullseye.
So I believe it's time for liberals to quit babbling about how President GW Bush hasn't gotten Bin Laden so far. It's the pot saying the kettle didn't get Bin Laden.
I guess Billy's going to go on TV and scream and spit about "That right winger The Canadian Sentinel!"
Liberals just can't handle the truth, can they?
And now, here's an artist's conceptual illustration of the Clinton Memorial, still unannounced:
