AP: Sept. 11 plot started in 1996 ...
If true, this is a pretty amazing revelation: ["9/11 Mastermind: Plan Involved 10 Planes"]. So, I guess the rightwingers can stop blaming Clinton for Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. This report insinuates that the attacks had nothing to do with revenge for Clinton bombing a pharmaceutical factory in Afghanistan back in Aug. 1998. The attacks were being planned years before the bombing. The bombing, of course, was Clinton's way of getting his Monica Lewinsky affair off the front page.
In fact, Osama's wrath could be put at the doorstep of Clinton's predecessor - Bush 41. Osama was angered that U.S. troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia after Iraq invaded Kuwait to "liberate" the people of Kuwait. Had the troops never been stationed there, Osama might still be our ally.
FTR, democracy still hasn't been established in Kuwait; the country is still ruled by a king. But we all know from history that the first Gulf War could have been avoided altogether, when Hussein met with U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie in July 1990 to discuss his border quarrels. Instead of trying to diffuse the situation, Glaspie said, "We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait."
Sure, it is a stretch to blame Glaspie and Bush 41 for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 - but it is a hell of lot closer to the truth than blaming Clinton. Had they acted differently, Glaspie and Bush 41 could have prevented the attacks altogether, and the thousands of people who perished on that day might still be alive today.