April 10, 2004

QUOTABLES:

Clarke, the hero of his own book, also comes off very well in Richard Miniter's "Losing bin Laden." Clarke was an important source for Miniter's book, the subtitle of which is "How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror." Miniter writes: "Through sheer force of will, [Clarke] coordinated an alphabet soup of federal agencies. . . . Imagine what he could have accomplished if Clinton had publicly endorsed his efforts." A melancholy -- and familiar -- refrain: Presidents have failed Clarke. -- writes George Will.

In a sense, it came down to two concepts of how a president should operate: the Bush team's view that the chief executive should delegate authority, and the view espoused by Clarke and others that the White House should actively work to ensure that effective action is taken — including "shaking the trees" to move sometimes-hidebound government agencies. -- writes Maura Reynolds, L.A. Times.

''This was a historical [August 6^th,2001] memo. . . . It was not based on new threat information,'' she said. Rice argued that she did not interpret it as a warning that required action on her part. ''This was not a threat report to the president or a threat report to me,'' said Condoleezza Rice.

"He [Bill Clinton] indicated he didn't feel that he had quite enough proof to take action. I think he did have enough proof to take action. That's a difference of opinion." said Commissioner Kerrey.

JUST POLITICS

Getting it right

Editorial column by Roger Wm. Hughes

A majority of Americans now say according to a recent poll that the Bush Administration could have done more to have stopped the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that the cost of the war in Iraq is not worth it. Troubling news for the Republic.

One of the long held views that seems to be true is that democracies, even those tempered by being a Republic, are slow to act and go to war. This is true even when they need to do so to protect themselves. Ironically, this is one of the reasons that the successful completion of democratic institutions in Iraq is so important. We must, as Condoleezza Rice stated, " make up the democracy deficit in our foreign policy."

There is a rush to claim that the Bush Administration in its 233 days leading up to 9/11 could have done more. Richard Clark, the leading critic and defender of the Clinton Administration, has said that it was not a priority in the Bush Administration -- despite the fact that the first Bush foreign policy directive was dealing with al Qaeda. There is Clarke’s admonition that the Bush Administration didn’t get it right because they didn’t have enough principals meetings to shake the tree. Clarke is adamant that it would have made all the difference, even though it never did before.

Clarke (who never gets anything wrong, just ask him) said that is how the millennium bombing of LAX airport was thwarted. However, the facts don’t bear that out. A conscientious female customs agent captured the suspect. She wasn’t acting on any alert or notification. She just did her job, and the suspect was caught.

In fact, another female -- who was an FBI agent in Minnesota -- was also on the trail of the terrorists prior to the 9/11 attacks. In early September, a couple of weeks after arresting suspected Islamic terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui in the Twin Cities, FBI officials and the attorney general’s office in Minneapolis sought approval from headquarters for a special counterintelligence surveillance warrant authorizing them to open Moussaoui’s computer hard drive. The warrant was denied because it was determined that granting the warrant would have violated Moussaui’s civil liberties.

Moussaoui, 33, a French citizen, was arrested Aug. 17 after flight instructors at a training center in Eagan, Minnesota, grew suspicious when Moussaoui said he wanted to learn how to fly a commercial jet, but not how to take off or land. He was arrested for a visa violation.

Rice got it right in her testimony -- there was no silver bullet that would have stopped the hijackers prior to the passage of the Patriot Act.

Clarke got it wrong. As Rice pointed out in her testimony to the 9/11 Commission, the memorandum of ideas by Clarke and the previous Clinton Administration were inadequate and not a plan. She also got it right when she said following Clarke’s idea of aligning with the Northern resistance in Afghanistan would have gotten it wrong.

Rice got it right when she stated that there was a significant need to change the dynamics between Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to get at the Taliban and al Qaeda. She was also right in stating that to change those dynamics required assurances and changes in American foreign policy between the bilateral difficulties of Pakistan and India.

Thank goodness the Bush Administration had acted on this before 9/11, so we could successfully take on Afghanistan after the attacks.

Rice also got it right when she stated that we are in a war with Islamic extremist who want to kill us and destroy our culture and civilization because of who and what we are. The Bush Administration and Rice got it right when they understood that they needed to take a broader and more comprehensive approach than the previous Clinton Administration. They got it right when they chose the second move of invading Iraq. It is true that the war in Iraq is harder than expected -- many things are. However, its importance in the comprehensive strategy of confronting Islamic extremism cannot be overstated. Just ask Iran.

It is unclear whether the American people will come to understand the global strategic aspects of our current War on Terrorism in time to reelect President Bush. However, before a potential President John Kerry sells out our national interest to "old" Europe, President Bush has engaged and confronted Islamic extremism on a global scale. The subsequent result is that no one will be able to ignore this menacing global evil any longer -- not even John Kerry or "old" Europe. The problem is known and driven from its dark den into the light where it will be destroyed.

Democrats’ new tool kit

The Democrat National Committee has developed a new online help center for party activists. The DNC has effectively given its activists the tools they need to counter Sen. Flipflop by providing ten Bush flipflops. So, Republicans can soon find themselves assaulted with Bush flipflops. They have also listed on their revised site the five Bush scandals. Interestingly, one of the great scandals was the putting Henry Kissinger as the first head of the 9/11 Commission.

The DNC sent out the following email:

Your level of online activism has been overwhelming. Now as we draw closer to a Democratic victory on November 2, we are rolling out even more powerful online tools for you to use.

Introducing the Democratic Party's new website:

http://www.democrats.org/

On the brand-new Democrats.org, we've created simple ways for you to take action:

• Visit our Speak Out center to contact your local media and elected officials. Call your Congressman, write a letter to the editor, call a talk radio show and let them know what you think!

• Learn more about the issues that matter to you. Check out our brand-new issues section for research, news, and updates about your issues.

• The Bush record -- exposed! Learn Bush's top 10 lies, his disastrous economic record, and everything you need to know about how President Bush's policies hurt your family and the nation.

We've also added political cartoons and graphs that tell the story of why it's so important to win.

And we've updated and improved current features, like our Action Center, ePatriots online fundraising, eCaptains online organizing, and the DNC blog.

Take Action on the New Democrats.org: Stop the Bush 9/11 Stonewall

Today, we heard the public testimony of Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, in front of the commission investigating the attacks of September 11.

As we've come to expect from this White House, the main themes of Rice's testimony were assigning blame and avoiding responsibility. According to Rice, the administrations of the last 20 years all bear the responsibility of the September 11 attacks, while the Bush administration is in the clear.

But in a shocking revelation, we learned that on August 6, 2001, President Bush received a briefing titled, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States." But Bush spent the month of August on vacation at his ranch.

No wonder this administration has done everything to delay, obstruct, and dismiss the work of the 9/11 commission.

Write a Letter to the Editor

So put our new grassroots tools to use right now. You can help stop the Bush 9/11 stonewall.

 

homepage