Elaine Lee

Elaine Lee . . .hmm . . . I know you are racking your brain, googling the name, and trying to place it. Stop trying; you can't. Elaine Lee gave me my morning chuckle (at least I hope I was supposed to laugh, otherwise we should cry). She wrote a letter to the editor criticizing another letter writer. As part of her critique she stated that Clinton didn't act after the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the embassy bombings in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

Uh, wrong. In fact the investigation of the first WTC bombing actually went pretty well and should be a framework for terror investigations. It was lead by the head of the FBI's counterterrorism task force out of New York. His name was John O'Neill. He died in the second attack on the WTC. He had left the FBI the week before to head the security for the WTC complex. His an interesting story about how the FBI became dysfunctional. However, I would like instead to concentrate on his investigation on the first bombing.

After the first bombing the FBI got a break. They located the axle of the truck used as the bomb, traced it back to the rental place and nabbed the guy who rented it when he went back to get his deposit (he claimed the truck was stolen).

Well, at the end of the day the FBI was able to arrest the people involved in the plot and put them in jail. People were tracked to the Philipines (Ramsi Yousef who was trying to blow up US airliners simultaneously over the Pacific), Pakistan and beyond.

So everyone involved in the first WTC bombing was indicted, captured, and put in jail. The investigation also gave the FBI insight into how the terror cells were organized and financed.

So, Ms. Lee, President Clinton hunted down and captured the terrorists responsible, prosecuted them and put them in jail where they remain today. Has President Bush found any of those responsible for the 9/11 attacks?

After the 1998 bombing of our embassies in Africa, President Clinton ordered attacks on Osama Bin Laden and a chemical factory associated with Al Qaeda. He was criticized at the time for trying to get attention away from his personal and political problems. Seems that
wasn't the case.

In 2000 the Cole investigation started immediately after the attack in October. In fact the head of counterterrorism, Richard Clarke, came up with a comprehensive strategy to take on Al Qaeda that was ready just as President Clinton was preparing to leave office. Newly elected
President Bush decided to ignore Clarke and Al Qaeda, until about 9:15 am on September 11, 2001--after planes had crashed into both towers at the World Trade Center and he finished reading "My Pet Goat" to the 2nd graders in Tampa.

Ms. Lee, get the facts, don't be stupid.

--I also have some concern about editorial page editors who don't check the accuracy of the facts asserted in letters to the editor. Strong opinions are one thing, but when the facts are wrong that is a problem and doesn't add to the diversity of views the letters to the editor are supposed to provide.