The book on Richard Clarke

[Natoma]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4582288/

Most acquaintances do not regard him as a partisan. Clarke was viewed as a hawk and "true believer" by many within the Clinton administration, and Clarke himself says he is an independent who is registered as a Republican.

"You can't accuse him of being passive or too liberal on foreign policy," said Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA official who worked with Clarke in the Reagan years. "He's very abrasive and aggressive and pushes his point of view very hard."

Surprise surprise. A different portrait of the man by people who know him than the portrait being presented by the current administration, which has everything to lose if the views in his book gain traction.

The allegations in Clarke's book getting the most attention center on the current Bush administration, including claims that Bush, Wolfowitz and others urged him to find an Iraqi connection to the terrorist attacks despite a clear lack of evidence. Clarke wrote that "I grew increasingly concerned that too many of my fellow citizens were being misled." Clarke wrote that he "began to feel an obligation to write what I knew."

McClellan dismissed Clarke's criticisms yesterday and said he "conveniently" released his book in the middle of the campaign season. "If Dick Clarke had such grave concerns, why wait so long?" McClellan said. "Why wait until the election?"

Clarke also takes issue with previous administrations. He criticizes the first Bush administration for not taking action in 1991 after Saddam Hussein brutally put down a Shiite uprising in Iraq.

And in 1993, Clarke writes, he wanted the Clinton administration to undertake a much more vigorous bombing campaign in response to the attempted assassination of former president George H.W. Bush, a plot he claims to have called to the attention of the White House.

He discloses how he supervised the response, which ended up being a strike against Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad, but adds that he was "initially disappointed that the retaliation had been so small, that targets had been taken off the list, and that the raid was scheduled in the middle of the night when few Iraqi intelligence officers would be present."

By the press secretary's opinion, the Clinton and first Bush administration should be bitching now as well considering they're being lambasted pretty badly too. Or maybe, just maybe, the timing of Clarke's tell-all book just happened to coincide with his retirement, when he didn't have to care about who's feathers he ruffled and didn't have to worry about his job, or the politically incendiary bomb this would end up being inside an administration for which he was currently employed. Naw, that couldn't be it at all.

 

[Citrous]

Or he's like the other 99% in politics that wants his "cut". His cut is coming from a book in this case. The more the book sales, the larger his cut becomes. I work in a library, people check out fiction about five to ten times as often as non-fiction. It's in human nature to want to believe the absolutely sensational. I would wager that library check out figures correlate fairly well with book sales. I can get exact figures if you want.

 

[Natoma]

As shown in the other thread by the findings of the 9/11 commission, his cut of the profits makes no difference as to the validity of his claims.

 

[epicstruggle]

any chance we can keep clarke confined to 2 threads only. right now i believe there are 4 threads.

later,
epic

 

[Citrous]

yes, please lock this thread!!!

 

[Natoma]

That's fine by me. heh. I thought they were two different threads however. One being a non-partisan report on clarke's shortcomings and attributes. The other thread being about the 9/11 commission.

Granted there is crossover.

 

[epicstruggle]

That's fine by me. heh. I thought they were two different threads however. One being a non-partisan report on clarke's shortcomings and attributes. The other thread being about the 9/11 commission.

Granted there is crossover.

actually there are 3 more. out of 4 you started 3 of them.

later,
epic

 

[epicstruggle]

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11017
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11018
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10945
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10970


a few other threads mention clarke too, but not their major discussion.

later,
epic

 

[John Reynolds]

Since Natoma doesn't seem to mind I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If anyone wants to take a point up from thsi one the other three suffice.