In June 2001 prior to 911, The New York Times wrote that acts of appeasement by Bill Clinton did nothing to save United States Citizens "all quotes"

Terrorism and Iran: Washington's Policy Performs a Gingerly Balancing Act - New York Times

The following except the headlines are all quotes from the June 2001 New York Times article except the bold and italicised emphasis text.


"The Clinton administration was widely criticized for its failure to pursue evidence that Iran was behind the bombing, but now, the Bush administration has shown that same reluctance. Prosecutors did not cite Iranian officials by name despite what some officials said was the hope of Louis J. Freeh, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that Iranian officials would be charged. Mr. Freeh, who had taken a personal interest in the case, said on Thursday that it would remain open, and Mr. Ashcroft made it clear that the United States would be willing to pursue charges against Iranian officials if more evidence emerged. "

"The Bush administration did at least acknowledge the problem, and charge someone"

"Attorney General John Ashcroft charged that Iranian officials ''inspired, supported and supervised members of Saudi Hezbollah'' in the attack. But prosecutors stopped short of bringing charges against any individual Iranian officials. "

''We chose law enforcement retaliation versus military retaliation,'' the former Clinton administration official said. The Khobar investigation, however, bogged down in turf battles between the F.B.I. and the Saudis. The bureau complained of a lack of cooperation from the Saudi authorities, while the Saudis privately began to complain that the Clinton administration did not seem interested in hearing about evidence that Iran was behind the attack. "

Appeasement did not work during the Clinton Administration

By 1999, the evidence linking Iran to the bombing was strong enough so that President Clinton sent a secret letter to Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, asking for help in solving the Khobar case. The letter was sent after the United States obtained convincing information that Iranian officials were behind the attack. The letter came in the midst of Mr. Clinton's broader efforts to reach out to Mr. Khatami and engage the reformist forces in Iran.
But the Iranians refused to help on the case. Mr. Freeh reportedly concluded that the Clinton administration was not serious about solving the case, and he is said to have waited until Mr. Clinton left office in order to try to bring charges in the matter. The indictment came in Mr. Freeh's last week in office as F.B.I. director.