最近一段時間，一些共和黨人批評克林頓當年未對拉登和他的恐怖組織足夠重視，成為9·11悲劇的一個原因，這讓退休后聲望不減的克林頓忍無可忍。“至少我嘗試過抓住本·拉登，這是我與那些攻擊我的人不同的地方。” 一頭白發的前美國總統克林頓，在做客福克斯電視臺的周日新聞節目時情緒非常激動。當資深節目主持人華萊士質問他為什么在他執政時期沒有搞垮拉登和“基地”組織的時候，克林頓滿臉憤怒。這位美國前總統譴責說，共和黨人攻擊他的政府放走拉登的做法“是一場假信息宣傳”，根本是轉嫁責任，為了中期選舉贏得選票。

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton listens to progress reports at the conclusion of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York September 22, 2006.[Reuters] In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday," former President Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, saying he tried to have bin Laden killed and was attacked for his efforts by the same people who now criticize him for not doing enough.  "That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said in the interview. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try." Clinton accused host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job" and asked: "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do anything about the Cole?' I want to know how many people you asked, 'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'" Wallace said Sunday he was surprised by Clinton's "conspiratorial view" of "a very non-confrontational question, 'Did you do enough to connect the dots and go after Al Qaida?'" "All I did was ask him a question, and I think it was a legitimate news question. I was surprised that he would conjure up that this was a hit job," Wallace said in a telephone interview. Clinton said he "worked hard" to try to kill bin Laden. "We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody's gotten since," he said. He told Wallace, "And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I responsibly could." The interview was taped Friday during Clinton's three-day Global Initiative conference. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

Cole: 指USS Cole（美國第五艦隊的“科爾號”驅逐艦），2000年在也門海灣被炸 （英語點津陳蓓編輯）