“Bill Clinton, September 10, 2001: I could have killed Bin Laden once but called it off because of civilian casualties,” Allahpundit paraphrases:
A time capsule from Australia via MSNBC, captured for posterity at what would have been around 11 p.m. New York time. The hijackers may have been ritually shaving themselves as he said it. Previewing the audio, the host says Clinton “almost brags” about his decision. Of course he does; at the time, it would have been a no-brainer for a politician to congratulate himself for sparing a terrorist in the name of also sparing dozens (or, if you believe Clinton, hundreds) of civilians, even if that terrorist was responsible for the U.S.S. Cole attack. Twenty-four hours later, I guarantee you he wasn’t bragging anymore. In fact, you can draw a straight line from this audio to America’s drone policy today. These 20 seconds or so are precisely why Obama ended up pulling the trigger on Anwar al-Awlaki and why he continues to pull the trigger on Al Qaeda’s bigger fish even if it means incinerating civilians in Waziristan or Yemen in the process. He’s never going to let a statement like this come back to haunt him.
Obligatory Allahpundit-style exit question: MSNBC rarely actually breaks news, and almost never goes after any of its fellow leftists. Are they bringing this up now to get it out of the way early, so that if Hillary’s opposition raises it, Hillary’s spox can shrug and say, “Hey, old news. This made the rounds in 2014. 9/11 was a wake up call for everyone. How dare you politicize it!” Or is this another effort to push Hillary aside for Elizabeth Warren, MSNBC’s preferred socialist presidential candidate?
Oh and one more: Say ABC, how’s that DVD edition of The Path to 9/11 coming?
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