[109318] in Cypherpunks
Re: Stephanopoulos Says U.S. Bombing of Sudan Could Have Been
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Stewart)
Thu Mar 18 08:46:46 1999
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:47:46 -0800
To: Jukka E Isosaari <jei@zor.hut.fi>, cypherpunks@toad.com
From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>
Cc: Conspiracy Theory Research List <CTRL@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.10.9903160254320.15137-100000@zor.hut.fi>
Reply-To: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>
While it certainly had the timing for a Wag the Dog, I don't think it was.
It was more like the traditional "Bomb the Usual Suspects" move
that political considerations just about require the US president to make -
Clinton had to either do something Decisive and Presidential,
or else look like a wimp, and any recent president except maybe Carter
would have done the same thing, ignoring any minor details like
Constitutionality, lack of declared war, lack of due process
(if it's just a "police action", Clinton isn't Copper-In-Chief),
or double jeopardy problems (legally, since binLaden has
already been punished for his ostensible crimes, it's not
legal to try him again for them if he does get caught.)
But as Jukka and other people have said, the people Clinton blew up
were just a bunch o' non-European foreigners, so who cares.
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>http://www.foxnews.com/national/031599/george.sml
>NEW YORK=97 Last year's military attacks in Sudan and
>Afghanistan may have been part of a Clinton administration
>"Wag the Dog" scenario, former presidential aide George
>Stephanopoulos says.=20
Thanks!=20
Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
