# It's Amazing Just How Badly Bill Clinton Dropped The Ball RE: Bin Laden **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954 "2005-09-04T00:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/21 "2005-09-04T02:10:48Z")
> [@The Tooth](#): > > So you’re blaming Clinton for not launching missiles at members of the royal family of an allied nation in order to kill someone he believed capable of doing bad things, **but hadn’t actually done these bad things** , and wouldn’t until a nine months into the next president’s term. Apparently, he had already done _some_ bad things. > **[Osama bin Laden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden)** > > War on terror > Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden\[a\] (March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011), also transliterated as Usama bin Ladin, was a founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda. The group is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Under bin Laden's leadership, al-Qaeda was responsible for, in addition to the September 11 attacks in the United States, many ot... > [@](#): > > Bin Laden is officially wanted by the United States in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 225 people and injured more than 4000. Since June 1999, bin Laden has been listed as one of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and FBI Most Wanted Terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/22 "2005-09-04T02:10:54Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > (On Page 127, Clarke notes that it’s possible that al-Qaida operatives in the Philippines “taught Terry Nichols how to blow up the Oklahoma Federal Building.” Intelligence places Nichols there on the same days as Ramzi Yousef, and “we do know that Nichols’s bombs did not work before his Philippines stay and were deadly when he returned.”) > : Slight hijack: I’m stunned how much this possible connection has been utterly ignored by the mainstream press. I had no _clue_ that Clarke had written about this. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/23 "2005-09-04T02:21:08Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Gee, you think?? 😛 > > I’ve never seen such a feeding frenzy on this board before…and one driven by emotion instead of fact. I wasn’t going to bother with a piece of shit thread started by someone as fucking stupid as **Stephe96** has proven to be, but this… Don’t start being a dick, **xtisme**. How are the complaints people have raised without fact? Even Bush observed that the results in New Orleans have been poor. The truth is it has been a collosal fuck up. The facts are that FEMA has been ass-fucked by Bush in ways that directly bear on this very disaster. The fact is that the levee system was sacrificed for money for Iraq (or for tax cuts, however you want to look at it). Argue if you want, but suggesting that there are no facts is fucking bullshit. Don’t join the ranks of cunts like **Stephe96**. Please. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/24 "2005-09-04T02:22:07Z")
> [@Frankenstein Monster](#): > > Apparently, he had already done _some_ bad things. > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama\_bin\_Laden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden) Yeah, but that’s not the point. The bad things **Stephe96** referred to hadn’t happened yet, that’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/25 "2005-09-04T02:23:04Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Slight hijack: I’m stunned how much this possible connection has been utterly ignored by the mainstream press. I had no _clue_ that Clarke had written about this. Shit, **Stephe96** , you’d be stunned to learn that the Pope is Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/26 "2005-09-04T02:26:38Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Shit, **Stephe96** , you’d be stunned to learn that the Pope is Catholic. Give me a break. I know the Pope is Catholic. Well, this new one is, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/27 "2005-09-04T02:34:41Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Shit, **Stephe96** , you’d be stunned to learn that the Pope is Catholic. By the way, were you aware of the possible al Qaeda link to the Oklahoma City bombing? When do you suppose Bill Clinton was going to let us know that it could have been an act of war? I understand that he felt it more politically expedient to lie and blame right-wing talk-radio, but don’t you think the American public had/has a right to know what was really going on? Why the cover-up? I remember that day: all the APBs were identifying men of Middle-Eastern descent fleeing the area immediately after the bombing. And then…nothing. It was as if those APBs were never even issued in the first place. Why? Who was covering up for whom? This country was under attack throughout the '90s and Clinton was asleep at the switch. We were at war and didn’t even know it…and our Fearless Leader couldn’t even be bothered to respond. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/28 "2005-09-04T02:39:06Z")
Yep, well before the OKC bombing, Clinton should have known Terry Nichols’ travel plans :wally: He was asleep at the switch, you say? Compared to whom? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/29 "2005-09-04T02:53:05Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Don’t start being a dick, xtisme. How are the complaints people have raised without fact? Even Bush observed that the results in New Orleans have been poor. The truth is it has been a collosal fuck up. The facts are that FEMA has been ass-fucked by Bush in ways that directly bear on this very disaster. The fact is that the levee system was sacrificed for money for Iraq (or for tax cuts, however you want to look at it). Well, you know, I’ll try not to become a dick Hentor. But I’m not seeing all these facts that is driving this frenzy to be perfectly honest with you. I actually started a GQ thread about this in fact and surprisingly enough, I didn’t see a lot of these ‘facts’ presented there. As for FEMA, there is no doubt that Bush lowered the budget on it. So what? His political philosophy kind of goes in that direction…and at least in theory folks knew what they were buying when they voted for the asshole. Its not like he snuck this in under cover or anything…and I didn’t notice a big stink raised about him submitting a budget for lessening the funds to FEMA and the ACoE BEFORE all this happened. In addition, this fuckup hasn’t all been FEMA’s problem by any means. As to the levee system, again, there is no doubt that federal funds were cut to it. Again, so what? What of local funding? I see a lot of blaming of Bush on this board…and to an extent he is probably going to be in for shouldering some of that blame…maybe even a great deal of that blame. But the level of foam towards him on this board is bordering on the ridiculous IMHO. Where are the Pit threads about the Mayor of N.O.? The Senators/Congresscritters from LA? Where is the debate as to why funds weren’t made up locally? All I’ve seen is endless Bush bashing, nearly from the get go…and to be honest a lot of it is pure bullshit. Folks who don’t seem to have a clue what ‘logistics’ is or means are spouting off out their ass about why water wasn’t dropped on the Superdome, and why rescue workers weren’t in N.O. minutes after the event…without bothering to look on a map of the devastation or just a map of the road system in the region. So, while I will try not to be a dick, maybe some of you guys should calm the fuck down, wait until AFTER the crisis is over, and THEN start looking critically at who is to blame…ALL the people to blame, not JUST Bush, and, well, maybe not JUST the Republicans. Here’s a hint…Bush will be on the list of those to blame. But he won’t be the only one on the list, nor will that list JUST include Republicans. If you can’t see whats been going on here (i.e. on this board) as a feeding frenzy of Bush bashing then you have completely lost whatever objectivity you may have once had. I’m sickened by the intellectual dishonesty going on this board about this subject, and the level of partisan politicizing of this event…WHILE ITS FUCKING GOING ON! If all this makes me a ‘dick’…well, so be it. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/30 "2005-09-04T02:56:14Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I wasn’t going to bother with a piece of shit thread started by someone as fucking stupid as **Stephe96** has proven to be, but this… > > Don’t start being a dick, **xtisme**. How are the complaints people have raised without fact? Even Bush observed that the results in New Orleans have been poor. The truth is it has been a collosal fuck up. The facts are that FEMA has been ass-fucked by Bush in ways that directly bear on this very disaster. The fact is that the levee system was sacrificed for money for Iraq (or for tax cuts, however you want to look at it). > > Argue if you want, but suggesting that there are no facts is fucking bullshit. Don’t join the ranks of cunts like **Stephe96**. Please. What the fuck are you talking about, you stupid idiot? Did you even _read_ the thread title? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/31 "2005-09-04T03:03:34Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > What the fuck are you talking about, you stupid idiot? Did you even _read_ the thread title? Had this been directed at both **xtisme** and **Hentor** , I’d be forced to agree. There are approximately 341,084 threads currently going where New Orleans may be discussed. **tomndebb** ’s snide remark was directed at the OP’s desire to get in some equal time Clinton bashing. Me, I’m simply determined that by the end of this thread, **stephe96** will admit that bears shit in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/32 "2005-09-04T03:07:05Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Had this been directed at both xtisme and Hentor, I’d be forced to agree. There are approximately 341,084 threads currently going where New Orleans may be discussed. tomndebb’s snide remark was directed at the OP’s desire to get in some equal time Clinton bashing. Sorry, I didn’t set off to hijack this thread. No excuses…I’ll just bow out, as I said what I had to say about the actual OP. Appologies. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/33 "2005-09-04T03:13:17Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Had this been directed at both **xtisme** and **Hentor** , I’d be forced to agree. There are approximately 341,084 threads currently going where New Orleans may be discussed. **tomndebb** ’s snide remark was directed at the OP’s desire to get in some equal time Clinton bashing. > > Me, I’m simply determined that by the end of this thread, **stephe96** will admit that bears shit in the woods. Why would I direct it at both? **xtisme** was simply responding to another posting in this thread. \*\*Hentor the Barbarian \*\* is the fucking brainiac who apparently cannot read. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/34 "2005-09-04T03:17:10Z")
I read a comment somewhere that said We have satellites that can read the headline on a newspaper on earth, yet they can’t find Osama. DO we have that kind of technology? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/35 "2005-09-04T03:20:04Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Why would I direct it at both? **xtisme** was simply responding to another posting in this thread. \*\*Hentor the Barbarian \*\* is the fucking brainiac who apparently cannot read. You missed that **Hentor** ’s post that you quoted was a reply to **xtisme**? > [@Good Egg](#): > > I read a comment somewhere that said We have satellites that can read the headline on a newspaper on earth, yet they can’t find Osama. DO we have that kind of technology? Yes. The guys down at police HQ amuse themselves by watching you picking your nose in your car. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/36 "2005-09-04T03:24:43Z")
I donot have a car. Nor do I pick my nose. I was mentioning what I had read and asking opinions, you doofus. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/37 "2005-09-04T03:25:06Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > You missed that **Hentor** ’s post that you quoted was a reply to **xtisme**? > . Yes, but at least **xtisme** _mentions_ OBL. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/38 "2005-09-04T03:27:03Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > I read a comment somewhere that said We have satellites that can read the headline on a newspaper on earth, yet they can’t find Osama. DO we have that kind of technology? Well, given that you can go on Google and punch up a satellite picture of any city in the world…with amazingly clear pictures (although I do hear they are time-delayed…what you’re seeing could be years old), I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to assume the CIA could read a paper’s legal notices from outer space. Just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/39 "2005-09-04T03:29:39Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > I donot have a car. Nor do I pick my nose. I was mentioning what I had read and asking opinions, you doofus. 😛 You have to know where to point the camera. To cover every inch of Afghanistan and Pakistan would be an impossible task. Now if they knew about where he was, as they must have to spot him with the spy planes in the past, that would make it easier. Then you still have to have something in range to blast him with. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954/40 "2005-09-04T03:30:24Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > And all the US would have had to do was never support Saddam OR Osama in their past ventures and we wouldn’t be in any of this mess. So what exactly is your point? The point is: "Look at the shiny keys!!! Over here now!!! (jingle jingle jingle!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-amazing-just-how-badly-bill-clinton-dropped-the-ball-re-bin-laden/319954.md?page=3)