Thanks, Slick Willie

[SuperScout]

Pulitzer Winner: Bill Clinton Decimated the CIA

Author James Risen won the Pulitzer Prize on Tuesday for his much ballyhooed New York Times report last December that revealed President Bush's previously secret terrorist surveillance program - a revelation he uncovered while researching his book "State of War."

In the same book, however, Risen makes an equally explosive claim about President Clinton's relationship with the CIA - which his editors at the Times have so far declined to cover.

Upon taking power in 1993, Risen reports, the Clinton administration "began slashing the intelligence budget in search of a peace dividend, and Bill Clinton showed almost no interest in intelligence matters."

The agency cutbacks combined with presidential disinterest took their toll almost immediately.

"Over a three-or-four-year period in the early-to-mid 1990s," reports Risen, "virtually an entire generation of CIA officers - the people who had won the Cold War - quit or retired. One CIA veteran compared the agency to an airline that had lost all of is senior pilots . . . "

After Clinton CIA Director John Deutch cashiered several senior officers over a scandal in Guatamala, the situation got even worse.

"Morale [at the CIA] plunged to new lows, and the agency became paralyzed by an aversion to high-risk espionage operations for fear they would lead to political flaps. Less willing to take big risks, the CIA was less able to recruit spies in dangerous places such as Iraq."

The Clinton era of risk aversion also hobbled CIA efforts to get Osama bin Laden. In early 1998, Risen says, the agency was prepared to launch a special operation to kidnap the al Qaeda chief in Afghanistan.

"To be sure the operation was high risk, and there was a strong possibility that it would be so messy that bin Laden would be killed rather than captured. [CIA Director George] Tenet and the CIA's lawyers worried deeply about that issue; they believed the covert action finding on al Qaeda that President Clinton had signed authorized only bin Laden's capture, not his death." [See what happens when the situation is only viewed from the lawyers' paradigm?]

Frustrated by restrictions that made dealing with the big challenges too difficult, the agency turned its energy to lesser problems.

Reports Risen: "Thanks to Vice President Al Gore, for example, the CIA briefly made the global environment one of is priorities." [Gosh, I never knew that bovine flatulence was such a threat to mankind! Thanks Algore, for protecting us!]

[Seascamp]

I?m not sure this is all new news. I recall that during the bombing of Belgrade the PRC Embassy was hit in due to a CIA targeting error. The CIA externalization given at the time was that their resources were so severely cut back that they were reduced to using a Belgrade phone book to locate targets.

Evidently the book was out of revision because the PRC Embassy had moved to a new location about a year earlier, but, unfortunately, had moved to a location that was supposedly on the list of things to whack.
Not a good story there, so things could well have been mighty thin, shabby and about mooching dimes.

Scamp

[SuperScout]

The PRC bombing was yet another sterling example of the finest points of Slick Willie's administration, duly noted and reported. What the most current double-edged sword is the reporting of James Risen being awarded the Pultizer Prize for telling the entire world how inept Clinto was with the CIA, while at the same time, giving the world a much too clear of what fun and games the NSA was up to. First time in recorded history that instead of someone being arrested for treason, he's given the PP.

[Seascamp]

The Clintonian Camp, and the rest of us as well, had best hope there aren?t any more terrorists like Mohammed Atta hanging out in the US to make their mark or splat spot. As part of the Clinton-Arafat belly rub, Atta was cut loose from an Israeli prison, and at the time was identified as a known terrorist and murderer.

At least the German and Czechs security people had Atta watched so it?s not like he was a mystery person operating in the shadows. Zo, the US gives Atta a Student Visa, the Justice Department bars any inter-Agency communication about Atta or anyone like him. Then Atta learns to fly a 767, openly rents small aircraft to hone his flying skills, all then culminating in 9/11.

The Atta string runs through the then Clintonian State Department, Justice Department, CIA, FBI, etc., and Atta was a known and identified international terrorist. No small wonder the Dems put up a screen of smoke, fluff and feathers at the mere mention of the name, ?Atta?.

It is as if Atta had a guided tour and open invitation to create havoc and murder in the US. But silly me, I forget, the earth and all history was created after January of 2001, so there could be no such thing as a Mohammed Atta, right.

Scamp

[Advisor]

The Clinton administration will go down in history as one of the greatest in US history according to 425 unbiased historians.

[Gimpy]

you finally got one right for a change !.....................

[Advisor]

Irony, Gimpy, pure irony.

[Seascamp]

The true irony is that the four hundred plus ?historians? and the funding source for the ?research? is unidentified and only seem to be cognizant of a world that began in January 2001. And apparently, are in total denial about the years of mismanagement and non-management leading directly to the 9/11 disaster. But then, they are probably the same bunch that, in a moment of quasi-lucid incense induced thought, hung the Rhonda slaughter on the Bush Administration, right here at PF.
But what the heck, April 1994 or January 2001, no big deal when the thought plain is on some cosmic macro-prophecy trip and adventure. Braham and Bailey had it right?

I wonder if each of the four hundred plus ?historians? were the same obese guy slamming down cheese burgers whilst rockin n?rollin with all past, present and future events mish-mashed into a digestively processed and plopped-out dozen or so cheeseburgers. Therein and as Oracle Jones once said, ?I see it now?.

But alas, I went to war when Johnson and Mac plus his mob of Phi Beta Kappa numb nuts thought they could outsmart or intimidate VC or NVA cadres with cute micro- managed gismos and gimmicks; no frigging way. Whilst at the same time we had the MSM pissing in our back pocket and the beltway politicos looking for a clean and safe way to run their stilettos into our backs.
But I don?t suppose ?historians? like Douglass Brinkley want to deal with mundane shit like that, but rather, a Kerry and the Pyrites saga?s and up-river with the CIA to Cambodia is his style. Oh my, tiz a mind searing, heart pumping adventure, at its very best, goodness, oh thumpity thump-thump, eh. Maybe they passed Martin Sheen and Marlin Brando on the way and did the stranded Bunnies, for a consideration, of course.

But among some sort of redeeming quality, Brinkley refused to lie for Kerry any further so maybe they don?t exchange Christmas Cards anymore and he?s is off the Kerry payroll, for keeps. Dat?s a step in the right direction, maybe. I guess there is a quality to rebellious Ho?s that I really respect, for in that crucible of knowledge, the truth of the ages is found.

Scamp

[reconeil]

It should surprise no one that: "Slick Willie" is and will always be adored by fanatical political leaders and their quite similarly fanatical followers and/or exceptionally echoing and obedient flock.

Still, that even some Honorable Veterans perpetually defend such a President and/or Commander-In-Chief abomination,...is absolutely amazing! But then, and 60 years later, some fools still believe that even Hitler was a great man? Go figure?

Don't such fools realize that when Clinton and political cohorts so pridefully claimed their administration cut 250,000 (A QUARTER MILLION) government jobs,...that such was absolute political bull perpetrated on: "We The People". If differently honest, no Administration in history ever actually cut government jobs.
Quite the opposite and/or beaurocracies are ever increased (the norm).

What actually occured under the: "I don't recall", "I despise The Military" or Somalia Debacle Regime,...was that The QUARTER MILLION JOBS were lost from The U.S. Military and The U.S. Intelligence Community and/or Intelligence Services. Big government just continued getting bigger and more bloated as usual,...while The Military and Intelligence Agencies were gutted of MANY key personnel.

Thus, it's no wonder we're-in-a-pickle (Damned whatever we do or Damned whatever we don't) such as we're in now?
The Military had to be built up since war declared on us: "9/11".
Plus, MANY NEEDED overseas intelligence assets no longer exist since left out on a limb to wither away and die, by Old Slick & Cohorts.

Therefore, it could easily be justified saying that The Clinton Era was great for Osama, Sadam, Syria and Iran, and even for Mexico.
Though, and in fairness, President Bush seems just as patronizing and capitulating to Mexico. Vincente must have something on both Bill and George,....to keep continually calling-the-shots for The American Border?

Regardless and who has tapes exposing some shennanigans in Mexico (or not?),...Bill Clinton & Crowd were unarguably the worst thing ever happening for America. It's still unknown just how truly bad.

Neil

[Advisor]

425 unbiased (unpaid?) historians violently disagree with you. What do you know? Do YOU have a PhD? If not, sorry to tell ya, you ain't even a whitehead ona camel's arse in the ideas of these 425 unbiased academics. They KNOW!