It’s always dangerous to made broad accusations when there is a non-partisan participant around to set things straight. Again, Mansoor Ijaz:
Mr. Clarke’s premise that Bush national security officials neither understood nor cared to know anything about al Qaeda is simply untrue. I know because on multiple occasions from June until late August 2001, I personally briefed Stephen J. Hadley, deputy national security adviser to President Bush, and members of his South Asia, Near East and East Africa staff at the National Security Council on precisely what had gone wrong during the Clinton years to unearth the extent of the dangers posed by al Qaeda. Some of the briefings were in the presence of former members of the Clinton administration’s national security team to ensure complete transparency.
Far from being disinterested, the Bush White House was eager to avoid making the same mistakes of the previous administration and wanted creative new inputs for how to combat al Qaeda’s growing threat.
Hmmm….I wonder what White House Clarke was in at the time.
Clarke, I think, fancies himself as the consummate “whistle blower” wanting to set things straight for the good of the country…and his personal economic and egotistical gain.
Problem is he’s blowin’ one of them silent dog whistles that only the whacko’s can hear.
Comment by Wallace — March 24, 2004 @ 10:26 am