BUSH REFUSES RESPONSIBILITY FOR 9/11 FAILURES
President Bush has told America many times that he wants to "usher in an era
of personal responsibility" (1). Yet instead of following former
counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke's lead and admitting some
responsibility for overseeing the worst national security failure in
American history, the White House has pushed its allies to unleash a vicious
attack on Clarke. Instead of apologizing to the families as Clarke did (2),
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) said Clarke's apology "was not his
right, his privilege or his responsibility" (3). Meanwhile, a Bush official
said Clarke's apology was "bull" (4).
Similarly, the President has told America he wants a "society in which
people take responsibility for the decisions they make" (5) instead of
"blaming somebody else." Yet the President still refuses to own up to
specific decisions he and his Administration made before 9/11 to
"de-emphasize terrorism" (6) as a priority, terminate a key program to track
Al Qaeda suspects in the United States (7), and "veto a request" (8) to put
more money into counterterrorism after the Bush White House tried to slash
the FBI's counterterrorism budget.
The Administration also refused to take responsibility for rejecting January
2001 recommendations (9) from the U.S. Government's bipartisan Commission on
National Security (10) and instead waited five months to create a
counterterrorism task force (11), which it then never once convened (12).
When asked about this on CBS' Face the Nation, Secretary of State Colin
Powell said only "I--I--I can't answer the specific question" (13).
Sources:
1. "President Bush Discusses Progress in Education in St. Louis",
01/05/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25354.2. "Clarke's apology", Newsday, 03/25/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=253559286.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines.
3. "Frist's Comments on Clarke's Testimony", New York Times, 03/26/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25356position=.
4. "The Truth of the Matter", Time, 03/28/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25357.5. "Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception", 01/29/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25358.6. Freedom of Information Center, 05/27/2002,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25359.7. "In the Months Before 9/11, Justice Department Curtailed Highly
Classified Program to Monitor Al Qaeda Suspects in the U.S.", Yahoo!,
03/21/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25360.8. Freedom of Information Center, 05/27/2002,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25359.9. "We predicted it", Salon, 09/12/2001,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25361.10. US Commission on National Security,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25362.11. Statement by the President, 05/08/2001,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25363.12. Washington Post, 01/19/2002,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25364.13. Face the Nation, 03/28/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1326534&l=25365.Visit Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion. -->
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>>>>>this and the one from the CFAP are worth reading every day