Bush ignored warnings

President Clinton warned Dubya about the threat of al Qaeda during the transition but in typical Bush cowboy fashion he didn't want to listen to "the enemy." We all found out eight months later who the real enemy was. Bush's advisors had told him that Iraq was a threat to world peace because they already had a plan to take over that country. They could go in and use their multimillion dollar toys to blow up things. It was a lot simpler to invade Iraq and declare "Mission Accomplished" than to defeat an oscure entity like al Qaeda.

Clinton warned Bush of bin Laden threat
Thu 16 October, 2003 03:27 BST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton says he warned President George W. Bush before he left office in 2001 that Osama bin Laden was the biggest security threat the United States faced.

Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by the History Channel on Wednesday, Clinton said he discussed security issues with Bush in his "exit interview," a formal and often candid meeting between a sitting president and the president-elect.

"In his campaign, Bush had said he thought the biggest security issue was Iraq and a national missile defence," Clinton said. "I told him that in my opinion, the biggest security problem was Osama bin Laden."

The U.S. government has blamed bin Laden's Al Qaeda network for the September 11 attacks.

Time magazine reported last year that a plan for the United States to launch attacks against the al-Qaeda network languished for eight months because of the change in presidents and was approved only a week before the September 11 attacks. (more)