A slap for Sandy
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Editorial
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser during the years al-Qaida plotted 9/11, now is a convicted national security criminal.
Mr. Berger's heralded strategy for dealing with the rise of terrorism in the last decade of the 20th century is exemplified by this quotation:
"(It's) a little bit like a Whack-A-Mole game at the circus. They bop up and you whack 'em down, and if they bop up again, you bop them back down again."
There are official crimes, and unofficial ones.
As for the official one, Berger took copies of classified documents from the National Archive while he was preparing in 2003 for questions from the 9/11 commission. Berger's lawyer said 9/11 "weighed heavily" on his client.
Not quite Whack-A-Mole anymore, was it, Sandy? You didn't quite put the fear of Allah in them, did you, Sandy?
At first, Berger said taking the papers was an "honest mistake." He stuffed documents into his pants and jacket.
The government recommended a $10,000 fine for the misdemeanor. The judge fined him $50,000. Berger avoided jail time. He loses security clearance for three years. Why not forever?
It was a slap on the wrist.
As for the unofficial crime, Berger and his former boss will face the verdict of history, the voices of thousands of souls and survivors crying for justice. |
