Reading back over the thread, I don't see anyone proclaiming that. What we are saying is that Clinton (and in my post) congress at the time share responsibility. If you feel Clinton does not share the blame, please back that up with some data.
I almost agree. Here's the thing-
The President is the Commander in Chief. And the buck should stop with them if/when an event occurs on their watch. In addition, there are factors, policies, etc. of earlier administrations that could potentially have contributed in some way (direct or indirect) to an event...
But all that said-
C'mon you guys!
9-11 is neither Clinton's nor Bush's fault (nor any other POTUS), IMHO...
I give credit to the small group of absolute wackos inspired by god, jihad and the reward of virgins. It was a well executed plan. They benefited from the presidence set long ago by other hijackers that when a plane is taken it is not part of a suicide mission. They benefited from the fact that it was peacetime here in the US and there were no fighter jets flying around to protect us from air attacks because there has never been one (domestically). All they needed were tickets, boxcutters, flight lessons, Microsoft Flight Simulator and their hate for America...
Clinton could have shut down all the military bases (or doubled the number and size of them) and it wouldn't have changed the outcome of 9-11.
The only thing I believe Bush could have done (and we have the clarity of hindsight) is contact the FAA, airtraffic folks, commerical airlines and let them know that there are possible plans for hijackers with suicidal tendencies based on intelligence reports. But that said-
My understanding is that one of the last planes to be hijacked that day received word in the cockpit via written message about the other hijackings-
and that plane still got taken over...
So what could Bush/Clinton or anyone else really have done. I believe nothing. And as such, I blame no one...
EDIT: Killing Bin Laden ahead of time would not have thwarted these attacks. There are plenty of wackos willing to step forward to lead holy causes.
EDIT PART DEUX: Arming commercial pilots would have done the trick. But unless this was a secret practice I do not believe this was feasible prior to 9-11. There was significant debate about this even AFTER 9-11 and I believe decision makers wouldn't have had the gonads to make it happen...
