It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


 
Richard Clarke, a Reagan appointee who was the top official of counter-terrorism activities for the Bush Administration at the time of September 11, 2001, has revealed that he, CIA director George Tenet, and other intelligence officials warned George W. Bush that an attack by Osama Bin Laden's Al Quaida terrorist organization was likely imminent. According to Clarke, Bush failed to order counter-terrorist units to battle stations, the action that is the standard reaction to an imminent terrorist attack.

Clarke reveals that Bush was soft on Al Quaida, and did not do what his counter-terrorism officials recommended to stop September 11 from happening.

Clarke explains that he has decided to reveal George W. Bush's terrible mistakes in combatting terrorism that he is outraged that Bush has the audacity to campaign on the basis of his reaction to September 11, 2001. He says, "I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop September 11." Clarke revealed that just days after George W. Bush came into office, he sent a memo labeled "urgent" to National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, asking for a cabinet-level meeting to discuss the serious danger that Al Quaida posed to the United States. Bush Administration officials did not bother holding such a meeting until one week before September 11, 2001.

Clarke further comments that George W. Bush pressured him and other intelligence officials to create an official report linking Iraq and Al Quaida. When Clarke's report clearly stated that Iraq had no relationship with Al Quaida, he was told that his report had the "wrong answer" and that he should come back with a new report. Clarke says that all the intelligence Bush had told him that Iraq "did nothing to threaten us."

Richard Clarke's assessment of George W. Bush's record on national security? He says that George W. Bush "has made us less safe."

Clarke's ultimate assessment of George W. Bush's record on defending America from terrorism: "I think he's done a terrible job on the war on terrorism."

For the record, Richard Clarke was never fired. He worked in counter terrorism for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He chose to resign from the White House of George W. Bush in 2003. There are no sour grapes here, just a leader with experience who is finally willing to tell the truth about George W. Bush's weakness in the face of terrorism.

Posted by J. Clifford Cook at 7:32 PM. # (permalink)  




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