No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

The Bush admins' attack is a confused, panicky failure

Claim vs. Fact: Administration Officials Respond to Richard Clarke Interview

March 22, 2004

In the wake of Richard Clarke's well-supported assertions that the Bush
Administration neglected counterterrorism in the face of repeated terror
warnings before 9/11, the Bush Administration has launched a frantic
misinformation campaign - often contradicting itself in the process.

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CLAIM #1: "Richard Clarke had plenty of opportunities to tell us in the
administration that he thought the war on terrorism was moving in the wrong
direction and he chose not to."
- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: Clarke sent a memo to Rice principals on 1/24/01 marked "urgent" asking
for a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with an impending Al Qaeda attack. The White
House acknowledges this, but says "principals did not need to have a formal
meeting to discuss the threat." No meeting occurred until one week before 9/11.
- White House Press Release, 3/21/04

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CLAIM #2: "The president returned to the White House and called me in and said,
I've learned from George Tenet that there is no evidence of a link between
Saddam Hussein and 9/11."
- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: If this is true, then why did the President and Vice President repeatedly
claim Saddam Hussein was directly connected to 9/11? President Bush sent a
letter to Congress on 3/19/03 saying that the Iraq war was permitted
specifically under legislation that authorized force against "nations,
organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the
terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11." Similarly, Vice President
Cheney said on 9/14/03 that "It is not surprising that people make that
connection" between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, and said "we don't know" if there
is a connection.

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CLAIM #3: "[Clarke] was moved out of the counterterrorism business over to the
cybersecurity side of things."
- Vice President Dick Cheney on Rush Limbaugh, 3/22/04

FACT: "Dick Clarke continued, in the Bush Administration, to be the National
Coordinator for Counterterrorism and the President's principle counterterrorism
expert. He was expected to organize and attend all meetings of Principals and
Deputies on terrorism. And he did."
- White House Press Release, 3/21/04

---

CLAIM #4: "In June and July when the threat spikes were so high.we were at
battle stations.The fact of the matter is [that] the administration focused on
this before 9/11."
- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: "Documents indicate that before Sept. 11, Ashcroft did not give terrorism
top billing in his strategic plans for the Justice Department, which includes
the FBI. A draft of Ashcroft's 'Strategic Plan' from Aug. 9, 2001, does not put
fighting terrorism as one of the department's seven goals, ranking it as a
sub-goal beneath gun violence and drugs. By contrast, in April 2000, Ashcroft's
predecessor, Janet Reno, called terrorism 'the most challenging threat in the
criminal justice area.'"
- Washington Post, 3/22/04

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CLAIM #5: "The president launched an aggressive response after 9/11."
- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: "In the early days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Bush White House
cut by nearly two-thirds an emergency request for counterterrorism funds by the
FBI, an internal administration budget document shows. The papers show that
Ashcroft ranked counterterrorism efforts as a lower priority than his
predecessor did, and that he resisted FBI requests for more counterterrorism
funding before and immediately after the attacks."
- Washington Post, 3/22/04

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CLAIM #6: "Well, [Clarke] wasn't in the loop, frankly, on a lot of this stuff."
- Vice President Dick Cheney, 3/22/04

FACT: "The Government's interagency counterterrorism crisis management forum
(the Counterterrorism Security Group, or "CSG") chaired by Dick Clarke met
regularly, often daily, during the high threat period."
- White House Press Release, 3/21/04

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CLAIM #7: "[Bush] wanted a far more effective policy for trying to deal with
[terrorism], and that process was in motion throughout the spring."
- Vice President Dick Cheney on Rush Limbaugh, 3/22/04

FACT: "Bush said [in May of 2001] that Cheney would direct a government-wide
review on managing the consequences of a domestic attack, and 'I will
periodically chair a meeting of the National Security Council to review these
efforts.' Neither Cheney's review nor Bush's took place." By comparison, Cheney
in 2001 formally convened his Energy Task Force at least 10 separate times,
meeting at least 6 times with Enron energy executives.
- Washington Post, 1/20/02 , GAO Report, 8/22/03, AP, 1/8/02

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CLAIM #8: All the chatter [before 9/11] was of an attack, a potential al Qaeda
attack overseas.
- Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, 3/22/04

FACT: Page 204 of the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 noted that "In May
2001, the intelligence community obtained a report that Bin Laden supporters
were planning to infiltrate the United States" to "carry out a terrorist
operation using high explosives." The report "was included in an intelligence
report for senior government officials in August [2001]." In the same month, the
Pentagon "acquired and shared with other elements of the Intelligence Community
information suggesting that seven persons associated with Bin Laden had departed
various locations for Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States."
[Joint Congressional Report, 12/02]


Source

posted by Richard at 11:46 PM