Is President Clinton Serious About Fighting Terrorism?

(Washington, D.C.): Few areas of security policy have seen a more pronounced
disconnect
during President Clinton’s tenure than the fight against terrorism. Notwithstanding years of
public pronouncements and executive orders declaring his Administration’s determination to
combat this scourge, warnings that embassies are at risk of destruction have been systematically
ignored; state sponsors of terrorism have been courted (including a visit this week by Madeleine
Albright to Syrian dictator Hafez Assad); individuals and organizations that have been associated
with or apologists for terrorist activities have been feted in the White House; and perpetrators of
murderous attacks on Americans have been ignored or, at most, subjected to spasmodic and
largely ineffectual retaliation via cruise missiles.

Now comes word that Mr. Clinton is disposed to commute the prison sentences of sixteen
Puerto
Rican members of the F.A.L.N. terrorist organization. Whether, as some have speculated, his
reason for taking such a step over the adamant opposition of the Justice Department, the FBI and
all other law enforcement agencies is to boost his wife’s electoral prospects with Hispanic voters
in New York or not, this action would be a dreadful mistake. As an excellent op.ed. article in
today’s New York Times by Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating — a former FBI
agent and top
Justice Department official — makes clear, such a step would conclusively demonstrate that this
President and his Administration are anything but serious about fighting those who use terror to
advance their political or sadistic purposes. (Emphasis added throughout.)

Where Terrorists Belong

By Frank Keating

OKLAHOMA CITY — On April 23, 1995, President Clinton came to Oklahoma to stand
with us
in the wake of the worst domestic terror bombing in American history. He called that act “a
terrible sin.” He told us justice must be done. And as we buried 168 friends and neighbors and
cared for hundreds who were grievously wounded, we believed him. Today, one of the
Oklahoma City bombers, Timothy McVeigh, is awaiting execution. His co-conspirator, Terry
Nichols, faces life in prison with no possibility of parole. Those sentences are just.

Sadly, President Clinton is now considering offering clemency to 16 other terrorists,
members of
the Puerto Rican group F.A.L.N. This group’s terror cells have been responsible for some 130
bombings in American cities. They killed at least six people and injured more than 70. The
terrorists to whom he has offered clemency were convicted of crimes that directly supported
bombers and killers, from conspiracy and transporting weapons to aiding in an armored car
robbery — acts very similar to those committed by Mr. Nichols in support of Mr. McVeigh. The
F.A.L.N. terrorists deserve to serve the sentences imposed on them by American juries.

Some have suggested that the President’s clemency offer may be political — an effort to help
his
wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her Senate campaign in New York, which has many voters of
Hispanic descent.

This seems hard to believe. I remember that many American law enforcement
officers
endorsed the President in his 1996 re-election campaign, in part because they believed he
had taken a firm stand against terrorism after the bombing in Oklahoma. Eight Federal
law
enforcement officers were among the dead.

Not surprisingly, our Federal law enforcement agencies have unanimously
condemned the
F.A.L.N. clemency proposal.

Richard Pastorella, a retired New York City police officer, agrees with them. Mr. Pastorella
retired because he is blind — the result of an F.A.L.N. bomb. He also said he still has “nightmares
and cold sweats.”

“It never leaves,” he said. “It never goes away.”

Lots of Oklahomans still have nightmares and cold sweats. Some of the victims limp on
prosthetic limbs and face other lifelong physical limitations. The children and grandchildren of
the dead will never benefit from the wisdom of a grandparent who was blown up on April 19,
1995, by the terrorists the President so rightly called “sinners.”

Mr. Clinton has suggested that the 16 F.A.L.N. terrorists could simply promise not to be
violent
anymore in exchange for clemency, despite reports from officials at the Federal Bureau
of
Prisons that the prisoners’ behavior and comments suggest they are likely to resume
criminal and terrorist activities. I would hope that no American President could ever be
that
naïve. I’m sure Timothy McVeigh would now make a similar promise if there was a
chance he
could escape execution for his crimes. Promises should make no difference when
someone
has engaged in mass murder — whether as the man who lit the fuse, like Timothy McVeigh,
or as active supporters of terrorism.

New York’s Police Commissioner, Howard Safir, said this about Mr. Clinton’s clemency
proposal: “This type of action will encourage terrorism worldwide. We should never
make
deals with terrorists.” Precisely. Or, as the President said in Oklahoma City on April
23, 1995,
“Those who trouble their own house shall inherit the wind.”

If he meant that, he’ll reject clemency for the 16 F.A.L.N. terrorists. Leave the ones who are
still
incarcerated in jail where they belong.

Frank Keating, the Republican Governor of Oklahoma, is a former F.B.I.
agent.