Against Selected Enemies (Richard Miniter on Clarke)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 1, 2004 | RICHARD MINITER

[neverdem]

A year ago, I thought Richard A. Clarke, President Clinton's counterterror czar, was a hero. He and his small band of officials fought a long battle to focus the bureaucracy on stopping Osama bin Laden long before 9/11. For my own book, I interviewed Mr. Clarke extensively and found him to be blunt and forthright. He remembered whole conversations from inside the Situation Room.

[Eva]

I'm sorry but OxenFla didn't respond to my first attempts to explain and I knew if I insulted him I would get a response. It seems that he may have been answering as I posted it though. I get very upset with posters who are always worried about what other posters are doing.

[cyncooper]

So .. Cheney's statement to Rush, "He was not in the loop", was right on target - as usual.

So Clarke's statements about what we were doing on terror were really UNKNOWN to him.

Yes and yes. Nice summation.

[neverdem]

LOL

[CyberAnt]

I read something about that - that the family (a distant brother - who has lived in the USA for quite a few years) does not support Usama, and they were afraid for their safety. Suspecting his family might be harmed - he called for help and I fully understand why we would give them free passage out of the USA.

If people want to assume this was some conspiracy to whisk away people involved in 9/11 - fine - but I don't believe that.

[Eva]

I've noticed that bumping does no good. It seems that too many posters read only the recent threads.

[windchime]

"And here's another one for ya... BUMP!"

Another bump!

[CyberAnt]

Somebody told me that the reason Clarke is so upset about the ad is that the statement Clarke made which they are using in the ad - has already been debunked. And .. I presume Clarke doesn't want to continually remind people he was caught lying again.

[My2Cents]

Thanks, neverdem. I had printed-out Stephen Hayes' previous articles on the Saddam/al-Qaeda connection, and thought I had them all, but I didn't have the one you linked. Much appreciated.

From the link: "Dana Milbank reported that 'Vice President Cheney . . . in an interview this month with the Rocky Mountain News, recommended as the 'best source of information' an article in The Weekly Standard magazine detailing a relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda based on leaked classified information.'" This is all well and good, but my beef is that Cheney is refering to an article in the Weekly Standard, rather than to a formal report of the Administration. Again, I hope they come out before too long with a decisive official report giving confirmed evidence of this connection. I'm not one to question Bush's strategery, but my sense is that they're taking an unnecessary pounding from the media, the anti-war left, the Democrats, and the late night comedians over the lack of WMDs and the question of Saddam's ties to al-Qaeda; the Adm. is the one who should be doing the pounding.

I think the extensive links between Al Qaeda and Iraq will be advertised in the last week of the campaign, IMHO.

The Dems would scream bloody murder if this came out in the last week of the campaign, but I don't really care. All I want is for the report to come out before the election, and for it to be so conclusive that it shows the Al Frankens, Michael Moores, John Kerrys, and the rest to be the craven and lying fools they truly are.

Again, thanks for the link. I think we can put it this way: The evidence for the link between Saddam and al-Qaeda is available for anyone who is interested in finding it. The left/Dems/media are not so interested.

[CyberAnt]

I have a simpler explanation. Hillary bought him.

Clarke's friendship with Rand Beers, puts him in almost direct continued connection to Hillary. She already knew him from 8 years in the WH. What better shill than someone of his supposed stature to take down the Bush WH and repaint Clinton as the only one who really did anything about terror.

Hillary's book - Simon & Schuster.
Clarke's book - Simon & Schuster = CBS = Viacom (who is Hillary's largest donor).

[My2Cents]

The professional victims among the 9/11 families have co-opted the victimization of all the families, and have set themselves up as the only "legitimate" (or media-recognized) spokespersons of those who lost people on 9/11. Despite their howls of protest over the first Bush ad, it is they who have politicized the loss of their family members. We all feel for their loss, but we are getting sick of their act.

[My2Cents]

MSNBC, perhaps more than any other news outlet, has politicized the 9/11 Commission hearings. It seems that every weasel on the commission who wants face time on TV runs to MSNBC.

[My2Cents]

This raises a question, which admittedly I don't have the answer to: If there is already a congressional investigation into 9/11, why was this Commission established? (I suspect the answer is that the anti-Bush crowd was screaming for it.)

[CyberAnt]

No! I think this small handful of 9/11 families is a disgrace. Another group of over 35 families have written a letter saying they want to see the pictures of 9/11 - they don't want people to ever forget what happened to their loved ones.

[CyberAnt]

Rush had a satelite photo of the 707 on his website for a long time.

[MEG33]

When I saw this had been posted very early this morning,I feared it would be lost.It is a great column.

[MEG33]

Great posts.Thanks!

[MEG33]

More good things have been added.

[CyberAnt]

"within a week - al queda struck"

Yeah, I sensed a connection too. So who told who that the plan was complete and we were ready to enter Afghanistan.

And .. did Clarke know that special ops landed in Afghanistan on 9/12 ..?? I saw it on the History channel. Great story. Brave men!

[MEG33]

I certainly hope so.I don't even remember what he said,it was just outrageous.May he squirm in the foul mess he made.Condi will be on deck on Thursday set your VCR!.

[BushisTheMan]

No, you are not the only one that feel that way.
3,000 families -- 3,000 different viewpoints.

Just like we don't blame all the victims families for the few greedy ones. I don't think all the families feel like the Liberal activist ones.

Besides, I'm sure Kerrey is only taking questions from the activist appeaser families who hate Bush.