"Bush, Clarke and A Shred of Doubt"
Good editorial piece on the Bush administration's recent response to the accusations of Richard Clarke, former head of counterterrorism in the Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II administrations.
While I've wondered why Clarke has waited so long to come forward with his claims, he seems to have too much credibility for simple political or economic gain as the explanation. Perhaps he wanted to first make sure Iraq was in fact WMD free before blaming the Bush administration's on its incessant focus....
Excerpt:
The White House has opened its guns on Clarke. He is being contradicted and soon, as with poor [Treasury secretary] O'Neill, his sanity and probity will be questioned. It's getting to be downright amazing how former White House aides tell the same tale -- a case, the White House wants us to believe, of hysteria or unaccountable betrayal. I'd like to believe my president, but as Clarke quotes him in a different context, "I'm looking for any shred."
While I've wondered why Clarke has waited so long to come forward with his claims, he seems to have too much credibility for simple political or economic gain as the explanation. Perhaps he wanted to first make sure Iraq was in fact WMD free before blaming the Bush administration's on its incessant focus....
Excerpt:
The White House has opened its guns on Clarke. He is being contradicted and soon, as with poor [Treasury secretary] O'Neill, his sanity and probity will be questioned. It's getting to be downright amazing how former White House aides tell the same tale -- a case, the White House wants us to believe, of hysteria or unaccountable betrayal. I'd like to believe my president, but as Clarke quotes him in a different context, "I'm looking for any shred."
// 3/22/2004 
