In a letter to the 9/11 commission on Wednesday, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) told panel members that ''Clarke was part of the problem before Sept. 11 because he took too narrow a view of the terrorism threat.''
Shays said that before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a House panel held twenty hearings and two formal briefings on terrorism -- and Richard Clarke ''was of little help in our oversight.''
''When he briefed the subcommittee, his answers were both evasive and derisive,'' Shays said in his March 24, 2004 letter.
Shays noted that ''no truly national strategy to combat terrorism was ever produced during Mr. Clarke's tenure.''
Shays also released a copy of a letter he wrote to Clarke on July 5, 2000, telling Clarke that Shays' subcommittee found the information Clarke had given them ''less than useful,'' and asking him to answer additional questions.
And Shays released a January 22, 2001 letter he wrote to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, complaining that Clarke had not answered the subcommittee's questions. ''During a briefing to this Subcommittee, Mr. Clarke stated that there is no need for a national strategy,'' Shays wrote to Rice.
''This Subcommittee, and others, disagree with Mr. Clarke's assessment that U.S. government agencies do not require a planning and preparation document to respond to terrorist attacks,'' Shays wrote.
That's very interesting.
thanks both for filling me in. Being away and catching up is a bummer. I know I have missed so much. Can't believe how unaware of the complete story people are. CNN is still the big draw. I push Brit Hume and FreeRepublic every opportunity.