the now infamous clinton interview
A lot of buzzing has been going around my bipartisan apartment regarding the recent Chris Wallace interview of Bill Clinton on Fox. And here I am trying to figure out if Clinton was justified in his, as the media keep calling, "finger-wagging" response. And I'm not sure because at this point, I don't know enough about how the Clinton administration actually responded (or how much they should have considering the time period) to Osama Bin Laden. Of course, we know now a lot more than we did at the time exactly what terrorist activities al-Qaida can be linked with. But I did find some interesting articles that analyze the whole thing that I think are worth looking at. I am still searching for some more sources that can be considered more conservative (or at least not be accused of a specific partisan bias either way). But here's what I have thus far:http://www.washingtonpost.com
Wallace said Clinton had agreed to a 15-minute interview, half on his philanthropy efforts and half on any issue Fox wanted. As the interview began, Wallace asked about why Clinton is trying to help save lives in developing countries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
"It set me off on such a tear because you didn't formulate it in an honest way and you people ask me questions you don't ask the other side," Clinton said.
"Sir, that is not true," Wallace replied.
Asked about Clinton's complaint, a Fox spokeswoman pointed to Wallace's interview two weeks ago with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Wallace pressed her about the lack of prewar ties between Osama bin Laden and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but he did not ask about U.S. efforts against bin Laden before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Carson noted that the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole was officially linked to al-Qaeda after Bush took office.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline
Rice Challenges Clinton on 9/11 Comments
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged former President Clinton's claim that he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue Osama bin Laden, and she accused President Bush's predecessor of leaving no comprehensive plan to fight al-Qaida.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id
- Clinton loses his cool
Clinton said, thrusting his face into the mild-mannered Wallace's. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try."For the record, that is mostly true. Clinton and his national security advisor, Sandy Berger, who is ridiculed in the ABC mini-series for allegedly shrinking from efforts to assassinate bin Laden, regularly discussed the Al Qaeda problem and repeatedly pressed the U.S. military for more options against bin Laden. It was mainly the military, which feared another Desert One debacle, when eight U.S. commandoes died in a botched effort to rescue the American hostages in Tehran, that shrank from taking more aggressive action than cruise missile strikes.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0
Clinton: Play it as it Lies
posted by Whitney Shefte @ 9:57 AM
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