President Clinton primarily elected to treat the 1993 World Trade
Center attack as a law-enforcement matter rather than viewing it as
the start of a "war" with radical Islamists. The Joint Terrorism Task
Force led an investigation into the bombing that resulted in the
arrest of four individuals who were found culpable. "The suspects
went on trial on September 13, 1993. The trial lasted 6 months with
the presentation of 204 witnesses and more than 1,000 pieces of
evidence. A jury convicted the four defendants on March 4, 1994, in
federal court on all 38 counts against them. On May 25, 1994, a judge
sentenced each of the four defendants to 240 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. On February 7, 1995, authorities in Pakistan arrested
the prime fugitive wanted in connection with the bombing and
subsequently rendered him to U.S. authorities. This suspect, the
mastermind behind the bombing, was sentenced to 240 years in prison on
January 8, 1998." "The World Trade Center Bombing" Anti-Defamation
League (2005) http://www.adl.org/learn/jttf/wtcb_jttf.asp
Some individuals claim that President Clinton's cruise missile attack
on Iraqi intelligent headquarters on June 26, 1993 "...was made in
part because he believed Iraq had been involved in the first World
Trade Center bombing four months earlier." "Mylroie: Clinton's 1993
Iraq Attack Tied to First WTC Bombing" NewsMax.com (October 18, 2002)
http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/mylroie.htm According to this
source, Clinton hoped that the attack would dissuade Saddam Hussein
from existing additional terrorist attacks against the United States.
The Clinton administration sought to re-task its intelligence
collection efforts towards terrorism, even seeking to partner with the
Russian intelligence service to share information. Agents were
transferred out of counterintelligence to other duties, including
counterterrorism, and funding spent on gathering intelligence on
Russia decreased dramatically. An effort was made to recruit
additional human intelligence operatives with new skills to address
the changing nature of the threat. "A New World for Spies" by Bruce
W. Nelan, Time (July 5, 1993)
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,978793,00.html
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was enacted
by Congress and signed by President Clinton partially in response to
the 1993 World Trade Center attack. The law expanded application of
the Federal death penalty to "...acts of terrorism or the use of
weapons of mass distraction which result in death." "Violent Crime
Control and Lock Enforcement Act" Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act.
The Oklahoma City Bombing did not occur until several months after
the law became effective.
While the Clinton administration was successful in capturing the
hands-on perpetrators of the bombing, its actions had little deterrent
effect as was evidenced by the continued terrorist attacks against the
United States and its interests during his term and subsequently.
Furthermore, the failure to aggressively respond to Al Qaeda once its
role in terrorist attacks was uncovered left the United States
vulnerable to a dramatic terrorist attack such as the one on 9/11.
Sincerely,
Wonko |
