If Clarke was as incompetent as the WH now contends............

[alcuno]

WHY KEEP HIM ON? I'm listening to someone go on and on about the bombing in Saudi Arabia, the bombing in 1993, and the bombing of the USS Cole and how Clarke did NOTHING to counter terrorism. It just begs the question, if some media hack would ask it, why keep him on for 2 years?

[rinsd]

1. Clarke? How about Tenet? (nt)

[alcuno]

4. You're right. But I don't hear them trying to discredit Tenet.

[Zinfandel]

24. Because Tenet is playing ball, being vague-not pointing the finger at Bush

and his agency (CIA) is receiving billions of dollars in return.

What is the CIA purpose these days...to make more money for American corporations. Over throwing legitimate governments for corporate profits...no wonder why Kennedy wanted to dismantle it.

[linazelle]

2. Exactly....they say he did nothing as far back as ten years ago to fight

terror. Neither Mcclellan nor Cheney could pinpoint today why they let him stay on board, and more importantly, WHO let him stay and they all but blamed the 93 WTC bombing on him as well as 9/11.

Also funny, Cheney said he was a low level employee but my news station just showed footage of a meeting where the camera panned a room with him at a meeting where Rice and Powell were in attendance. They must be "low level" too.

[librechik]

3. well, they did demote him

I'm just telling you what they say--they are flat out of all the good excuses on this one!

I bet they "demoted" him becasue he wouldn't shut up aboout Al Q when they had a war to concoct with Iraq!

[alcuno]

6. When did he get assigned to "cyber security?"

I know his cabinet position was removed in January 2001, but he was still the head of counter terrorism, right? It just was no longer a cabinet level position which was why he had to ask for a cabinet meeting. Or am I missing something?

[librechik]

15. sometime after 9/11 n/t

[brook]

21. The impression...

I have from his TV interview - and his book, which I just started to read today, is that he asked for the new assignment to cyber security. He certainly was in the thick of it on 9/11 and the immediate aftermath. His account of the WH on 9/11 is chilling, to put it mildly. Lynne Cheney was giving opinions, for gawd's sake.

[Cat Atomic]

5. How about O'Neil?

They said the same thing about him.

I've heard Bush supporters argue many times that Bush's questionable intellect is not a problem because he surrounds himself with such expert advisors.

Well? Which is it? Are Bush's advisors right in calling him a fool, or is Bush's stupidity actually a problem since his advisors are incompetent? Which one is it, Bushies?

[kskiska]

7. Exactly. I'm waiting for someone in the media to press this point.

This act is getting tired. Everyone who leaves this administration, either voluntarily or not, is painted as incompetent. How can these idiots have held onto their jobs for so long, or for that matter, why were they hired in the first place?

[wtmusic]

8. There's a limit

to how many obviously bright, dedicated people they can attempt to discredit. This is delicious!

[Sugarbleus]

11. Exactly..........I mentioned in another thread that

Lest we forget, there was O'Neil, Kay, Clarke, a female Officer in the Office of Special Plans revealing the EMPHASIS on Iraq before and after 9-11. There are others that don't come to mind just now, but Hey, how many whistleblowers does it take to convince the public that this administration is CORRUPT and inept?

It's interesting that many of the revealers have been Republicans. Ha

[kskiska]

14. AND DiIulio

except they got him to declare that everything he had said was unfounded.

[Sugarbleus]

16. RightO.... and more... n/t

[Vickers]

9. I had a similar question:

McClellan kept saying "he was told to come to these meetings, and he never showed up."

:wtf:

If an employee of mine missed a meeting (or rather, meetingS) for no good reason, they would be looking for a new job.

All of their excuses and explanations on this are so boneheaded!

[buycitgo]

20. gee.........who does that bring to mind?

somebody who was 'told' to come to his Air National Guard meetings, but didn't

why should it make a difference, right?

[Trajan]

10. These are ALL irrelevent ...

What happened in 9-11 happened on BUSH's watch ...

HE wanted to be president .... He got that job: and it is incumbent on the PRESIDENT to protect the Nation: not the PREVIOUS president ...

Clarke wasnt powerful enough to avoid being ROLLED OVER by the PNAC ... LIKE the CIA was ... LIKE the DIA was ... LIKE the State Department was ....

Talking about Clinton is all about misdirection .....

[robbedvoter]

12. remember Cheney anti-terra task force? formed on May 2001.

Number of meetings: 0
I wonder if they 'formed' it to sut the mouths of people like Clarke, graham Rudman and others who isisted we needed something.

[alcuno]

19. Then what "loop" was Cheney talking about?

When he said that Clarke was "out of the loop?"

[sadiesworld]

13. 9/11 was the first MAJOR attack on American soil by Islamic extremists....

nothing else is remotely comparable. The attacks on foreign soil which occurred during the Clinton years are only comparable to the terrorists attacks during the prior administrations. The ATTEMPTS on American soil ARE a reasonable basis of comparison. The Clinton administration FOILED a major attack. Getting frustrated here.

[Sugarbleus]

18. Does anyone have a link or the direct info on

What happened during the Clinton years regarding terrorists?

I seem to remember something about his having to "fight" with congress over money or consent or something ... in other words, the neocons threw up barriers to Clintons attempt to GET SERIOUS with the known Terror groups. He was able to shoot a missle here and there and kept abreast of the activities enough to pass along the info to the incoming Bushistas who dismissed...... I'd like to form a time line of events to use as a rebuttal to others who are challenging all the whistleblowers coming out now.

[Nevernose]

17. An attack on Clarke is an attack on REAGAN

That's "Saint Reagan" for all of you lurking freeper-types. It was HIS administration that gave him the job, Bush's FATHER who let him keep it. CLinton was just following Reagan's lead with this guy...

[arewethereyet]

22. its a government thing

painfully common

[robbedvoter]

23. Wes Clark is enlightening Judy Dandruff

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/22/asb.00.html
WOODRUFF: When you say we should ignore the personal but today none other than the Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney came out and said Clarke wasn't in the loop and he may have had a grudge to bear because he didn't get some promotion that he wanted. Could that be behind it?

CLARK: Judy, you can't have it both ways. I mean he either was the counterterrorism czar and was responsible and knew what was going on or the administration gave him a title and didn't put any emphasis on terrorism and that's why he wasn't in the loop and the administration is criticizing him from both sides on this.