ok.. no objections
why was saddam touted as the biggest threat throughout the 90's
Stop lying.
I just searched all of clintons State of the Union Speeches, and Terrorism was mentioned every year. And Clinton
predicited that terrorism was the biggest security challenge the United States would face. He only mentioned Iraq in a couple of STOU speeches, and never said they were the greatest threat:
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Clinton’s 2000 State Union Address:
A third challenge we have is to keep this inexorable march of technology from giving
terrorists and potentially hostile nations the means to undermine our defenses. Keep in mind, the same technological advances that have shrunk cell phones to fit in the palms of our hands
can also make weapons of terror easier to conceal and easier to use.
We must meet this threat by making effective
agreements to restrain nuclear and missile programs in North Korea; curbing the flow of lethal technology to Iran; preventing Iraq from threatening its neighbors; increasing our preparedness against chemical and biological attack; protecting our vital computer systems from hackers and criminals; and developing a system to defend against new missile threats -- while working to preserve our ABM missile treaty with Russia. We must do all these things.
I predict to you, when most of us are long gone, but some time in the next 10 to 20 years, the
major security threat this country will face will come from the enemies of the nation state: the narco traffickers
and the terrorists and the organized criminals, who will be organized together, working together, with increasing access to ever-more sophisticated chemical and biological weapons.
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Clinton’s 1999 State Union Address:
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation's security, including increased dangers from outlaw nations
and terrorism. We will defend our security wherever we are threatened, as we did this summer when we struck at
Osama bin Laden's network of terror. The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania reminds us again of the risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world. So let's give them the support they need, the safest possible workplaces, and the resources they must have so America can continue to lead.
We must work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks. We must work to prepare local communities for biological and chemical emergencies, to support research into vaccines and treatments.
We must increase our efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons and missiles, from Korea to India and Pakistan. We must expand our work with Russia, Ukraine and the other former Soviet nations to safeguard nuclear materials and technology so they never fall into the wrong hands.
Our balanced budget will increase funding for these critical efforts by almost two-thirds over the next five years.
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Clinton’s 1998 State Union Address:
America must stand against the poisoned appeals of extreme nationalism. We must combat an unholy axis of new threats from
terrorists, international criminals and drug traffickers. These 21st century predators feed on technology and the free flow of information and ideas and people, and they will be all the more lethal if
weapons of mass destruction fall into their hands.
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Clinton’s 1997 State Union Address
Fifth, we must move strongly against new threats to our security. In the past four years, we agreed to ban -- we led the way to a worldwide agreement to ban nuclear testing. With Russia, we dramatically cut nuclear arsenals and we stopped targeting each others citizens. We are
acting to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands and to rid the world of land mines. We are working with other nations with renewed intensity to fight drug traffickers and to stop
terrorists before they act, and hold them fully accountable if they do.
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Clinton’s 1996 State Union Address:
The threats we face today as Americans respect no nation's borders. Think of them:
terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, organized crime, drug trafficking, ethnic and religious hatred, aggression by rogue states, environmental degradation. If we fail to address these threats today,we will suffer the consequences in all our tomorrows.
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Clinton’s 1995 State of Union Address:
This year I'll submit to Congress comprehensive legislation to strengthen our hand in combating terrorists --whether they strike at home or abroad. As the coward's who bombed the World Trade Center found out, this country will hunt down terrorists and bring them to justice. [/quote]
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clinton
made a big deal out of terrorism, in ALL of his SOTU speeches. The most widely watched and important speeches an american president ever makes.
Until Sept. 11 2001, other presidents
barely mentioned terrorism - even though islamic terrorism has been going on since the 1970s. I don't think George Bush as candidate, or as prez until 9/11 ever really mentioned terrorism.
Poppy bush did mention home grown environmental terrorists once though - that Earth First group, I think.
Presidention SOTU's:
http://janda.org/politxts/State of Union Addresses/preface.html
