In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Clarke Testifies, Slams Bush On Counterterrorism
WASHINGTON -- In perhaps the most anticipated testimony before the 9/11 panel, Richard Clarke opened his testimony Wednesday by saying his frustration with the Bush administration's approach to the al-Qaida threat led him to ask to be reassigned.
Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser for presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, repeated his assertion from recent days that the Bush administration didn't see the al-Qaida threat as an "urgent problem."
The federal panel's first question asked how urgently the two administrations approached the threat from al-Qaida.
"I would say fighting Osama bin Laden ... was given an extraordinarily high priority in the Clinton administration," Clarke said. "I believe the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue but not an urgent issue."
He said he and CIA Director George Tenet tried to create "a sense of urgency."
Clarke said his concerns to the new administration were outlined in a Jan. 25, 2001 memo to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, including such advice as sending aid to the Northern Alliance, which was fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Listened to Clarke today on NPR briefly. He is articulate, intelligent, and devastating in his attacks against the Bush administration. This plus O'Neil's revelations have got to have hurt Bush.
Kerry has got to watch out. The only way Bush can win now is if Kerry is caught with a dead girl or a live boy, and Rove knows it. Kerry should hire Vance International away from Bush.
- rob 4:33 PM - [PermaLink] -
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