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March 21, 2004

"He's done a terrible job"

Tonight, 60 Minutes is airing an interview with Richard Clarke, who has been the top shaper of anti-terrorism policy since the Reagan administration, retained by Republican and Democratic presidents. The interview, and Clarke's new book, Against All Enemies, should dramatically alter Americans' opinion about President Bush's handling of his war on terror both before and after September 11, 2001.

In addition to blunt statements about the Bush administration's inattention to the increasingly specific terrorist threat through 2001, Clarke states that, after 9/11, President Bush personally confronted him and demanded that he produce a report linking the attacks to Iraq, though Bush knew that experts who'd been on the case for years believed that none existed.

When the White House was evacuated on 9/11, Clarke remained in the White House Situation Room and orchestrated the government's response. He served at the Cabinet level as terrorism czar during the Clinton administration, but President Bush downgraded his position and, despite strong warnings from outgoing Clinton officials and from Clarke's office throughout 2001, did not actually meet with him until after 9/11.

Clarke is an expert, and he's a hawk. If his opinion of President Bush's handling of terrorism doesn't hold weight, no one's does.

"Frankly, 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 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know."

Post cribbed from the CBS story linked above. Just doing my bit to spread this around. Watch 60 Minutes tonight and see the last pillar holding up Bush's claims to deserve reelection kicked away.

Comments

Posted by: jtr at March 31, 2004 8:40 PM