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Clarke On Tape: Bush Administration Planned to Eliminate al Qaida

In addition to Richard Clarke's praise of President Bush in Clarke's own resignation letter, the former counter-terror czar contradicts himself, while speaking on tape to reporters in 2002, and actually defends the Bush administration.

He details how the new administration changed existing plans on how to deal with al Qaida and increased covert operations funding "five-fold."

Clarke told reporters, including Fox News' Jim Angle, who posted a transcript of the tape on foxnews.com, back in 2002:

"There was no plan on al Qaida that was passed from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration."

The Bush administration was briefed on the existing plans and strategy regarding Afghanistan, among other things, that the Clinton administration had in place.

The Bush administration decided to "increase CIA resources, for example, for covert action, five-fold, to go after al Qaida."

Once the administration was fully in place, in March or April - because of the election debacle - the new administration, "then changed the strategy from one of rollback with al Qaida over the course [of] five years, which it had been, to a new strategy that called for the rapid elimination of al Qaida."
The 9-11 commision hearings have unfortunately beciome the 'beat witnesses over the head with Richard Clarke's book' hearings, but now at least this new evidence suggests that Mr. Clarke may simply be wrong in his recollections for his book