Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[seabass]

>>>Clinton was the catalyst. I however don't blame America, so I don't fault Clinton for the bombings, only for the incompetent way they were carried out.<<<


Sounds like you think Clinton had the right idea attacking Afghanistan but was let down by poor execution which in turn may have emboldened Al Qaeda. So who do you blame for a poorly executed attack or the lack of outright war with Afghanistan? The CIC, the CIA, politics or public opinion?


"But Democrats and Republicans alike told a bipartisan commission Tuesday that neither U.S. nor world opinion would have stood for such aggression before the fall of 2001. It was only after the Sept. 11 attacks that public opinion here and abroad changed enough to make an invasion politically possible.

U.S. popular opinion would not have supported an Afghan war. Clinton had been harshly criticized for sending cruise missiles into Afghanistan and Sudan after al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. The strikes came soon after Clinton's admission that he had lied about his relationship with a White House intern, and political opponents accused him of trying to divert public attention from the scandal. Clinton faced similar charges in December 1998 when the United States bombed Iraq and was also criticized for the air war against Serbia in 1999 that was intended to stop ethnic killings in the province of Kosovo."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-03-23-war-analysis_x.htm