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RICHARD CLARKE: Actually, I've got about seven points, let me just go through them quickly. Um, the first point, I think the overall point is, there was no plan on Al Qaeda that was passed from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration. JIM ANGLE: You're saying that the Bush administration did not stop anything that the Clinton administration was doing while it was making these decisions, and by the end of the summer had increased money for covert action five-fold. Is that correct? CLARKE: All of that's correct.

Between 1998 and 2000, the CIA and President Bill Clinton's national security team were caught up in paralyzing policy disputes as they secretly debated the legal permissions for covert operations against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The debates left both White House counterterrorism analysts and CIA career operators frustrated and at times confused about what kinds of operations could be carried out, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and lawyers who were directly involved. [Excerpted] It was common in Clinton's cabinet and among his National Security Council aides to see the CIA as too cautious, paralyzed by...

The liberal website Thinkprogress has published a rough transcript of Bill Clinton's interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace, and it appears to be even more contentious than the brief clip that has been released shows.  Here are some excerpts from Clinton's angry defense of his conduct of the war on terrorism, beginning when Wallace asked him "Why didn't you do more, connect the dots and put [al Qaeda] out of business?"I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I’m being asked this on the Fox network…[note...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

Check it out (video stream above per link). Bill Clinton going bonkers over his failure to prevent 9-11 and get Bin Laden--historic fact which is just starting to emerge in the public square of debate in the USA. Which is the topic of other threads today....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- An audiotape, supposedly of Bin Clinton, in which the suspected liberal mastermind hails recent attacks around the country and threatens the US and its allies was aired on the Al Jizzera Network last night. Bin Clinton, who dropped completely out of sight after the Nov. 5th elections, was previously assumed mortally wounded in the assault at Tora Bubba. The last authenticated communication from bin Clinton was a satellite pick-up of the fugitive democrat mastermind screaming into his sink “come on you dirty RAT”. Authorities are examining the tape for DNA and other forensic evidence.