(Richard) Clarke Urges More Subway Searches

ap on Yahoo ^ | 11/07/05 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK - Former White House counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke says the random search by police of bags on New York subways is a program that should be copied in other cities.

Terrorists who plan attacks with multiple bombs set to go off at the same time rely on the knowledge that they will not encounter surprises by police, Clarke said last week in a deposition for a federal court case challenging the search program.

"They rehearse that, they train it, they do dry runs," Clarke said in response to questions posed by New York Civil Liberties Union Legal Director Christopher Dunn.

Clarke said he believes most U.S. mass transit systems are underprotected.

Clarke, a counterterrorism adviser to former presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, has written a book strongly criticizing the current administration for underestimating warnings about al-Qaida before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The NYCLU sued the city on behalf of several subway riders who were searched after the city instituted the new policy in following the deadly terrorist bombings in London's subway system.

The lawsuit claims the policy violates the constitutional right of people not to be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure.

Clarke's testimony was entered into the court record as U.S. District Judge Richard A. Berman conducted a two-day trial. Berman was expected to rule later this year.

Clarke said he recently told key legislators from 36 states a series of specific things they could do to enhance homeland security, including instituting a random passenger search on any subway or light rail system.

There are about 19 subway or light rail systems in the United States, Clarke said. Besides New York, he said Boston and Atlanta had occasionally tried similar searches during similar events.

[NormsRevenge]

Former U.S. counter terrorism official Richard Clarke testifies on Capitol Hill before the national commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks, in this file photograph taken March 24, 2004. Clarke ended a 30-year Washington career in 2003 with a much-publicized critique of the Bush administration over its failure to heed warnings about the danger of al Qaeda. His tell-all nonfiction book on the subject became a best seller. In his new novel released this week, 'The Scorpion's Gate,' Clarke writes about a world pushed to the brink of a nuclear war as a corrupt U.S. Secretary of State tries to restore the deposed Saudi royal family to power. To accompany feature ARTS CLARKE REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

[dighton]

I'll be damned, he got something right.

[NormsRevenge]

Bay Area Rapid Transit officers Sgt. John Austin, left, Michael Zendejas, K-9 Tim, and Michael Maes ride a BART train during a public transit inspection on the anniversary of September 11, in Oakland, Calif., in this Sept. 11, 2005, file photo. California's mass transit agencies are throwing too much of their scarce federal funding toward preventing a hard-to-stop terrorist attack and too little preparing for an attack's aftermath, according to security experts who studied the spending patterns for The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jakub Mosur)

[A CA Guy]

Clarke Urges More Subway Searches

I hear in San Francisco, they are urging many more male body cavity searches in addition!

[ncountylee]

Richard Clarke has a great track record. LOL

[Lloyd227]

Clarke had his chance to make a difference. He blew it... he's a failure.

Whether he is right or wrong in this instance is now not relevant and he should learn when to move off the stage.

[kublia khan]

You can learn something from every man, if you fail to learn it says more about you than them. Clark is correct today let us congratulate him and join him in calling for a more intelligent use of funds in protecting our mass transit systems. We could start by introducing a useful profile that includes national origin and race.

[CommieCutter]

Aren't you the one who told the American people : we failed you?
STFU failure!