Just was getting ready to post the same article Mrs. Peel...and found you were a time zone or two ahead of me...Wondered if I would be asked to leave the thread, as this article isn't totally kind to Mr. Clinton....(and even mentions a couple things that Mr. Bush could have done in his 8 months...)
History's assessment
The issue of what Clinton did, or did not do, represents more than an exercise in finger-pointing. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are expected to hold hearings to determine what lessons can be learned from the past. History's assessment of Clinton's presidency will depend in part on how he responded to an escalating terrorist threat that exploded soon after he left office — a judgment that could weigh more heavily on his legacy than even his impeachment.
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During Clinton's tenure, officials note, the budget for counterterrorism was tripled, a cross-agency counterterrorism center was established, two anti-terrorism bills were passed and a missile strike was launched.
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Clinton won the White House in 1992 in an election that seemed to prove the limited political benefits of making foreign policy a priority. He denied the first President Bush a second term despite the Persian Gulf War victory over Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
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"Clinton was quite uninterested in foreign policy, which would include intelligence matters as well," says Loch Johnson, a University of Georgia political scientist who worked on an intelligence commission appointed by Clinton in 1994. Johnson says Clinton paid little attention to the commission or its final report, issued in 1996. The commission recommended "evolutionary" changes that would reduce staffing at some of the spy services and give the CIA director more power to referee disputes among agencies over money, power and turf.
"I think Clinton was riveted in on 'the economy, stupid,' and didn't really follow foreign policy unless it hit him over the head," Johnson says. "It took really a crisis and a drumbeat in the media suggesting he better pay attention to these things to get him to do so."
Many years ago, I read this about History: "Those who don't have a good understanding of History, are doomed to repeat it"..... |
