Why didn't we fight the terrorists sooner?

It has been my practice here not to just link to something and go on. I have preferred either an extensive commentary of my own or a pair of links that I think go well together. The most common single links without comment fall into two catagories, either they relate to something which I have posted in my prefered fashion earlier and they are yet another link in the conversation, or its an indulgence, for example links to my brother's site.

Two links came up on Instapundit this morning and last night. One, the more recent, on Clinton's speech before a group of Mideast thinkers in the Washington Post, the other an analysis of why, despite having anti-terrorist special forces, we did not use them before 9-11. Read them together. They inform one another. They both speak to Clinton's strengths and weaknesses, to the errors in American foriegn policy between Iran-Contra and 9-11, and to the supposed radicalism of George Bush.

On this last point, W's radicalism, I think what is based in is a rejection of the bad direction in policy that Richard H. Shultz describes in the Weekly Standard. He does cast aside a dozen years of thinking on terrorism. What is interesting is how Clinton did as well, but for a variety of reasons was unable and unwilling to do so himself. Shultz' final 'graph is telling: "For now, it appears that the most powerful defense secretary ever has failed in his attempt to do this." Rumsfeld knows what changes must take place, and unlike Clinton is willing to do it, but its hard. Shultz refers to the famous October 16, 2003, memo. If one such as Rummy is having difficulty changing and uprooting the bad policy, with W's support, after 9-11, imagine how hard it would have been for Clinton, prior to 9-11, hindered by his relationship with the military, and hindered by his own tendency to contemplate much and act little. He could see what needed to be done, but had a harder time acting. Now we have a presedent who can see what needs to be done, aided by Clinton's own work, by 9-11, and by people like Rumsfeld and Rice. Still the work meets resistance and hostility. There are no easy answers, even when you know what must be done.