Richard Clarke Slams Cheney, Rice: "The Trauma Of 9/11 Is No Excuse"

Washington Post:

Top officials from the Bush administration have hit upon a revealing new theme as they retrospectively justify their national security policies. Call it the White House 9/11 trauma defense.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[RTIII]

Clarke was FAR too generous to the administration by buying into the myth that the administration didn't know the attacks were coming. They knew. They _wanted_ the attacks to happen. There's a document Rumsfeld actually co-authored (or at least signed) which proclaimed a need for there to be "another Pearl Harbor" and which showed the twin towers in crosshairs... And, former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown was filmed and shown on TV explaining that Condaliza Rice had called him on the evening of September 20th, 2001, to warn him not to get on a flight the next day - a flight that just happened to be one of the "hijacked planes." There is other evidence, including the fact that now the former administration admits that they demolished WTC7 on purpose. Quietly released, that. Not many people know. Question: how'd they know to wire it up so they could claim it was from debris from the felled towers? ...Too many questions to discuss here... And no answers from anyone.
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[RTIII]

Oops! Typo! ...The date Willie Brown says Rice called him was September 10th (not the 20th!) 2001.
.

[nivek]

People who lie in an effort to absolve themselves are the easiest to understand. Like children, caught in the cookie jar. Cowards who instinctively respond to difficult situations and tough questions with deflection and denial. Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Tennant, they have all made statements ducking responsibility and accountability at one time or another. Richard Clarke is, to this day, the only Bush administration official I know of to stand before the American public and say I am sorry for the failures of our intelligence agencies that allowed the September 11th attacks. Clarke exposes the others for what they are obtuse, ineffectual, cowards.

[HyperInfluential]

Indeed!

[charon]

There is no justification for torture. The perps must be brought to justice, tried and punished in accordance with US and international laws. They are criminals, plain and simple, and the US cannot shelter them or else it should face the same treatment given any other regime that shelters those who commit crimes against humanity.

[Gifts]

stupid in fighting, both parties are total failures! Just take a look at the government run market, it really says it all. Remember how we "needed" to take over everything or ELSE. Seems like we got or ELSE anyway.

Stupid side show!

[jimbeaux1961]

The new Repub mantra: "BOTH parties suck1"

[cae]

IMO, this guy is telling the truth and has been since he left government. The "W" people disregarded the warnings of the Clinton administration and Clarke himself that al-Queda threats should be taken seriously, and they didn't. Not smart! Then they over-reacted by going into Iraq so people wouldn't notice they messed up so badly. It rings true to me.

Cheney's out there tring to save his own hide from how badly he did. It extends to all the way BEFORE 9-11 by not doing what they should have to try to prevent it.

[barksalot]

Don't try to rewrite history.

[HyperInfluential]

Mr. Clarke was actually THERE in the room with Cheney and Rice, so I'll take his version of history over yours, thanks.

[sophistwatch]

The MSM should be taken to task for providing Cheney a platform to knowingly and deliberately repeat confirmed falsehoods. There is no room in any informed debate in this country on 9/11, the events leading to, and the events following, which includes Cheney's lies.

Clark has facts Cheney has legal problems.

[takeyourballandgohome]

Please, you must understand, George Bush had a bicycle ride to get in that day. First things first.

[Truelee]

Which he couldn't ride and fell from as well.

[reno1190]

MY PET GOAT

[iRob08]

So the next time we are attacked, will it be because our attackers were traumatized by the GITMO and Abu Ghraib abuses, and the occupation of Iraq as a whole? Cheney, Rice, et al. seem to think that "trauma" goes one way. How many enemies have we created with the trauma of Iraq?

Trauma is a bad excuse for our response to 9-11 because our new enemies can also claim trauma after thousands of 9-11s were done to them by us.

[2sunny]

Your words ring true, here. VERY TRUE.
I tremble in the enormity in what has been done...........

[ThermoChemist]

I've got to add this to my list; but, am not quite sure how to phrase it...

The 9/11 Defense: "Our responsibility was so great we must have experienced mental trauma
(for months/years after)."

..to go along with...

Eichmann Defense: "...just following orders"
Nixon Defense: "When the president does it that means that it is not illegal"
Reagan Defense: "I do not recall [...fill in the blank]"

Johnny Cochrane Defense: 'If it doesn't fit; you must acquit"
Chewbacca Defense: A technique so advanced nobody understands it.
Clinton Defense: "...depends on what your definition of "is" is..."

Rumsfeld Defense: "...stuff happens...", "known knowns; unknown knowns, etc."
Bush Defense: "I'm a War President", "I'm the Decider", "Lawyers said it was ok" [I was on vacation?]
Rice Defense: "...legal by definition if it was authorized by the president..."
Cheney Defense: "If the President does it during wartime, it’s legal"

Barry Bonds Defense: "I didn't know.." [Saying he never "knowingly" took steroids]

Carrie Prejean Defense: A version of the "Flip Wilson Defense" -- "The Devil Made Me Do It"..!
Levi Johnston Defense: "Her pregnancy must have resulted from some sort of 'wardrobe malfunction' "

John McCain Defense: "[Noun] plus [Verb] plus POW"
Rudy Giuliani Defense: "[Noun] plus [Verb] plus 9/11"

[sviolette]

Great post.

[letsmakesense]

Summed it up.

[CivilGargoyle1]

One would think that the liars would have drowned in their sea of lies by now.

[nivek]

Don't forget the all encompassing,"Twinkie" defense.

[barksalot]

Liberal defence for electing an incompetent.....None!

[111]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

No one in the White House was traumatized. 9/11 was an updated Operation Northwoods and Operation Mongoose developed by US Intelligence and the military.

Northwoods was the plan to allow us to attack Cuba. "The plan called for CIA or other operatives to commit apparent acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Castro-led Cuba. One plan was to "develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington".
This operation is especially notable in that it included plans for hijackings and bombings followed by the use of phony evidence that would blame the terrorist acts on a foreign government, namely Cuba."

Sorry, but the people at the top either knew what was going to happen and did nothing or they arranged the whole thing.

[kimleehan]

Right-wing extremists.

[letsmakesense]

No Obama also lying

[CivilGargoyle1]

Which lies were they?

[Ed438]

Oh please!

I simply don't believe the story that Cheney and Condi were so horrified that they overreacted, They both had ample time and many intelligence reports ("Bin Laden determined to strike in the U.S.", for example, and suspicious people taking flying lessons in Florida.) to have stopped the 9/11 plot and they chose not to do so.

And were they so hysterical that instead of staying in Afghanistan and attempting to capture and kill Bin Laden and others in the Al Qaeda organization, they got us into a war, expensive both in money and American lives in a country they surely knew had nothing to do with 9/11.

And the reasons they invaded Iraq? Money and oil! Not patriotism or love of country but money, pure and simple.

Why is Barack so unwilling to follow up on this?

[apduncan1]

"Why is Barack so unwilling to follow up on this?"

I wonder about that myself.

[letsmakesense]

Simple.
Because Obama (i.e. his handler) is on the same side of the lies as above liars.

[Stonybrooke2]

Clark was and is batsh!t cr@zy.

[Gasparilla]

He told the truth. The Bush administration, from Shrub on down, turned a blind eye to the threat of terrorism before 9-11.

[disgusted48]

takes one to know one.

[marco01]

Another stunningly intelligent post from Stonehead!

SNARK!

[rhondadavis28]

http://www.republicanoffenders.com/index.html
AMERICAN SCHANDENFREUDE
Cheney’s shot heard round the world

[rhondadavis28]

Cheney and Condoleezza Rice surprised by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001
-- because they had not listened and they dismissed any warnings that Bill Clinton's team had given them during the tranfer of administrations.

Mr. Clarke - great article

[cae]

Agree.