Richard Clarke‘s 9/11 coming-out party has dissolved into the same blame game that the world has been playing since that fateful September morning in 2001. America, George W. Bush, Christians, Jews, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice have all been lined-up and tagged as the cause of 9/11. In fact, for three years now, we‘ve had to endure Islamic extremists, liberals, right-wing conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites, and the blame-America-first burnouts who blamed everybody for September 11, except the terrorists who actually planned and carried out those attacks.
The most troubling blame-America-first speech came from none other than former President Bill Clinton. While Americans were still recovering the body parts of their sons and daughter, husbands and wives, Bill Clinton went to Georgetown University and declared that 9/11 was the fault of Christians. As crazy as it sounds he said, “In the first Crusade, Christians took Jerusalem and proceeded to kill every woman and child who was Muslim on the Temple Mount.” An American president, not the French president, mind you, but the American president went on to describe Christians with Muslim blood running up to their knees. And for good measure, Mr. Clinton said America‘s treatment of slaves and Native Americans, as well as current day hate crimes, prove “that terror has a long history.”
You know, those arguments are too sophomoric to even discuss, but they do illustrate how many on the left and the extreme right have ignored the cold, hard fact that we are a nation at war with an evil force who will do all they can do to kill our children, our spouses, and our way of life.
When Condi Rice straps on her helmet and goes to Capitol Hill to testify, like I told you she would do all along, she needs to keep that in mind and tell the commission that it‘s time to stop playing the blame game and start acting like a nation that‘s at war with a deadly enemy. We are and we better start acting like it soon.
Now, on a personal note, about Bill Clinton, while his words in 2001 enraged me and millions of other Americans, it‘s important to note that over the past year, the former president has shown the world a united front with President Bush on most foreign policy issues. That‘s extremely important, especially now.
And I‘m one American who would like to thank an old political foe for doing what‘s in America‘s best interests and staying above the political fray.
Joe Scarborough hosts 'Scarborough Country' on MSNBC TV. The show airs Sunday-Thursday, 10 p.m. ET.
