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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Gregg Easterbrook:

• During yesterday's hearing of the Kean commission on 9/11, two important points--overlooked in the coverage--came from former Defense Secretary William Cohen, a Republican who worked for a Democrat.
  
  First, Cohen noted, for all the 20-20 hindsight now being focused on Al Qaeda, when Bill Clinton actually tried doing something about bin Laden's organization--the August 1998 cruise missile attacks on camps in Afghanistan--there was general anger. Commentators denounced Clinton as a warmonger; editorialists wrung their hands about firing ordnance into a neutral country; opponents said Clinton was engaged in a "wag the dog" exercise--the movie of that name coming out about the same time. Set aside that the 1998 strike against Al Qaeda camps was a letdown from a military standpoint. What should be remembered is that when a president attempted preemptive action against the worst terror threat to the Western world, the response was condemnation--much coming from the lefty types who now taunt George W. Bush by saying he should focus more on bin Laden.
  
  Second, Cohen noted, when Saddam Hussein threw out U.N. inspectors, leading to the December 1998 joint U.S.-U.K. air assault on Iraqi weapons facilities and Republican Guard positions, there was fury. Hollywood types were particularly anti-Clinton regarding the December 1998 Iraq strikes, but the worst criticism came from the right, which charged that Clinton was inventing a war in order to distract public attention from the Monica impeachment hearings. Many of the same Republicans and conservatives who now depict Saddam as such a threat to U.S. national interests that invasion was justified then depicted Iraq as such a minor concern that the air strikes were just wagging the dog. Now bear in mind that unlike the failed 1998 raid against Al Qaeda, the 1998 bombing of Iraq was extremely successful. As yours truly noted last October, David Kay's report found that Iraq's banned-weapons programs pretty much was kaput after 1998: The bombing was highly accurate and benefited from the reports of the U.N. inspectors, who provided details on exactly what and where to hit.
  
  So as you continue to listen to the outpouring of hindsight, just remember that people protested when Bill Clinton tried to stop bin Laden early, and remember that many of the same people today defending the invasion of Iraq roundly criticized prior action against the same country.