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.

 

Bush administration rapidly losing counterterrorism staffers

The office of Counterterrorism in the National Security Council consists of approxomately 12 people. Rand Beers and Richard Clarke are not the only ones who have left since 9/11 because they are disgusted at Bushes inadequate response to terrorism.

This from Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has faced a steady exodus of counterterrorism officials, many disappointed by a preoccupation with Iraq (news - web sites) they said undermined the U.S. fight against terrorism.

Former counterterrorism officials said at least half a dozen have left the White House Office for Combating Terrorism or related agencies in frustration in the 2 1/2 years since the attacks.

Some also left because they felt President Bush (news - web sites) had sidelined his counterterrorism experts and paid almost exclusive heed to the vice president, the defense secretary and other Cabinet members in planning the "war on terror," former counterterrorism officials said.

"I'm kind of hoping for regime change," one official who quit told Reuters.

The administration's handling of the battle against terrorism is a key issue for the presidency, and could be key to Bush's re-election effort.

Similar charges were made by Bush's former counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, who told the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that the administration ignored the al Qaeda threat beforehand and was fixated on Iraq afterward. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) testifies before the 9/11 panel on Thursday.

"Iraq has been a distraction from the whole counterterrorism effort," said the former official, adding the policy had frustrated many in the White House anti-terrorism office, about two-thirds of whom have left and been replaced since Sept. 11.

The administration vehemently denies the accusations, and says it is making strong progress in the global war on terror.

HIGH TURNOVER

Roger Cressey, who served under Clarke in the White House counterterrorism office, said: "Dick accurately reflects the frustration of many in the counterterrorism community in getting the new administration to take the al Qaeda issue seriously."

Cressey left the office in November 2001, when he became chief of staff of the White House's cybersecurity office until September 2002.

The attrition among all levels of the Office for Combating Terrorism began shortly after the attacks and continued into this year. At least eight officials in the office -- which numbers a dozen people -- have left and been replaced since 9/11. Several of the officials were contacted by Reuters.

The office has been run by four different people since the attacks, and at least three have held the No. 2 slot.
"There has been excessively high turnover in the Office for Combating Terrorism," said Flynt Leverett, who served on the White House National Security Council for about a year until March 2003 and is now a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank.

"If you take the (White House) counterterrorism and Middle East offices, you've got about a dozen people ... who came to this administration wanting to work on these important issues and left after a year or often less because they just don't think that this administration is dealing seriously with the issues that matter," he said.

Rand Beers, a former No. 2 in the office who quit last year over the administration's handling of the war on terrorism, told Reuters the turnover had been "unusually high" since the hijacked airliner attacks in New York and Washington.

"And one of the reasons is frustration with the way counterterrorism policy has been conducted, including the focus on Iraq," said Beers, who now serves as a foreign policy adviser for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), who hopes to unseat Bush in November.

But American counterterrorism people are not the only ones who feel that Bush has and continues to screw up counterterrorism. Clearly the second major scene of battle against terrorism after Afghanistan is Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf had this to say about the attack on Iraq in a recent interview with the
Khaleej Times:

YDNEY - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf complained on Wednesday that the war in Iraq was drawing resources from the battle against Al Qaeda leaders and their supporters hiding in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In an interview to be broadcast on Monday night on Australian public television SBS, Musharraf said his government was receiving ”very minimal” assistance as it tried to pacify tribal areas along the Afghan border where leaders of Al Qaeda and the former Afghan Taleban regime are believed hiding.

Asked if the US-led Iraq war has been a distraction from the battle against Al Qaeda and Taleban remnants by diverting resources from Afghanistan and Pakistan, Musharraf replied: “Yes indeed”.

In the meantime, the Bush admininstration people are screwing up the mistaken war in Iraq as the battles around Fallujah and the battles with al Sadr both clearly show.

Of course, Bush has no hesitation to send U.S. troops to Iraq where at least 600 have now been killed. Bush is the man who does not dare to face the 9/11 Commission alone. He has to have Dick Cheney (the real President??) there to answer for him. I guess they can't get the 9/11 Commissioners to submit their questions in advance so that the speechwriters can prepare adequate and non-incriminating answers for Bush to read.

The cure is to replace Bush with some adult leadership.


posted by Richard at 2:25 PM