Minnesota terror expert broadly agrees with Clarke

[Another Bill C.]

I haven't seen this posted yet.

"The Bush administration was slow to develop a counterterrorism policy, was blinded by its disdain for its predecessors, and could have done more after 9/11 to destroy Al-Qaida if it hadn't been focused on an unnecessary and counterproductive vendetta against Saddam Hussein, according to a former National Security Council official now living in Minnesota."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/4684189.html

[Jane Austin]

1. Wow, that's a dynamite article!

And one I needed to see after watching Bay Buchanan impersonate a rabid dog on Judy Woof Woof's show today.

Thanks for sending it.

[Nlighten1]

2. Sourgrapes!

He has a book! He was out of the loop!

[Bozita]

3. From the headline, I thought it was Colleen Rowley ... It's not!

Great find!

-snip-

In its first months, the Bush national security staff was "so contemptuous of the Clinton administration" that they wanted to reject every policy they had inherited, Maertens said. "They viewed everything they had inherited as tainted by the character flaws of Clinton. They had a feeling that now the adults were back in charge and everything would be fine."

They commissioned a bottom-up review of every policy, including counterterrorism. But their top priority was withdrawing from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty to clear the way for a missile defense system, and the counterterrorism review proceeded without urgency, he said.

-snip-

[Jane Austin]

8. It drives me nuts

that they think of themselves as the "adults".

They've always seemed to me to be a bunch of amateurs who are play-acting at being President & Co.

A pox on all of them.

[riverwalker]

4. he was on local news

Also saw an interview with Tom Maertens on Kare 11. It was a great interview, he agrees 100% with Clarke.

[kera]

5. have you heard about those jokes * made ?

and all those misnammed journalists laughing at the hearthless jokes

[grannylib]

10. Tweety freakin' nailed some buttmunch from Chimpy's campaign on

this issue tonight; it rocked.

[BigBigBear]

6. More corrorboration

Some of us aren't suprised.

[BigBigBear]

7. Between Clarke, Beers and Maertens

these guys have 93 years collective experience, and they all say that Bush and his little club of neocon think-tank dropouts are all imbeciles.

And all the Bushbots have is Condi Rice....

Ouch.

[grannylib]

9. Hey thanks for getting this posted...beat me to it. I am from the same

place as this guy; lotta talk around town today about the Strib article. He was also interviewed on MPR today early afternoon; managed to catch that. Good stuff indeed.