(U-WIRE) - Former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Dick Clarke's name should be added to the list of individuals who create controversy for free publicity and the sole purpose of selling their books.
Clarke served in both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations as a terrorism expert. He recently bashed Bush's terrorism policies against al-Qaida and the alleged mishandlings in the administration leading up to the Sept. 11 attack. Clarke's accusations could not have come at a worse time for the Bush administration.
Bush has been under a flurry of negative attacks regarding U.S. foreign policy and Clarke is taking full advantage of the situation. The Drudge Report estimates that Clarke will make up to $1 million for his book Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror.
Before last week, most Americans had never even heard of Richard Clarke. A virtual nobody when it comes to the political heavyweights in Washington, D.C., Clarke may have single-handedly delivered the harshest blow to Bush's re-election bid.
The Sept. 11 attack will always be remembered as the most terrifying event to ever occur on U.S. soil. Only time will tell what steps the U.S. government could have taken to prevent the attack. When speaking of President Bush on CBS's 60 Minutes, Clarke said, 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.
As of right now, I do not think it is fair for Clarke to insinuate that the Sept. 11 attack happened because of flaws in Bush's counterterrorism programs. An attack of Sept. 11's magnitude takes a long time to plan and some, if not all, of the blame should rest upon the Clinton administration's shoulders.
Clinton and Gore's peace and prosperity approach did little to combat terrorism. U.S. embassies in Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania were bombed during Clinton and Clarke's watch. The Clinton administration had eight years to find Osama Bin Laden. How was it that Bush was supposed to have a solution for finding Bin Laden and al-Qaida in the eight months leading up to Sept. 11?
Clarke clearly has ulterior motives in his criticisms of Bush. Clarke is a Republican, but admitted to voting for Gore in 2000. Clarke was also reportedly upset when Bush chose former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge instead of him as the head of Homeland Security.
Americans should not tolerate Clarke's antics. He is the common factor in the counterterrorism failures for both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Now that he has a book coming out, he wants to point the finger. Clarke's comments have helped push partisan nonsense over common sense once again in American politics. Republicans say he is a liar and Democrats think he is a hero.
One fact is for certain: the Sept. 11 Commission wants to know the truth and the American people want to know how Sept. 11 happened. Someone obviously messed up, and finding who messed up is not going to erase what happened Sept. 11.
The best solution for this country would be for the Clinton and Bush administrations to apologize for their intelligence failures. They should explain why those intelligence failures occurred and make sure nothing of this magnitude ever happens again. 17
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Brandon Cobb
