Frank Staheli has an interesting article about Clinton administration policies and beliefs about the Al Qaeda-Iraq connection. (Via Common Sense Political Thought).
Through Staheli's post and the comments, one can make the argument that the Clinton administration (and the Bush one that followed) were mistaken in their assumptions about Al Qaeda and Iraq, but it's simply factual to accept that the Clinton administration was the first one to see a connection between the two. As Staheli says in the comments:
What I find most interesting through my interpretation of Richard Warnick's comments is that both the Clinton and Bush administrations had a tendency to assume the worst about terrorism and 'the link' (but I wonder if one can really blame either one for assuming the worst while trying to pro(t)ect the country?
Well, there are obviously people who do because these are the same people unwilling to admit that the idea that Al Qaeda and Iraq were connected didn't start with George W. Bush. It's more important to trash conservatives than stick to the facts.
I've always said that 9/11 should not be blamed on Bill Clinton anymore than I think it should be blamed on George Bush. It was an event that might have been foreseeable in some perfect world, but I'm willing to give all administrations (even ones I disagree with) the benefit of the doubt that they have the nation's best interests at heart. If only our buddies on the left felt the same.
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