Report Ends Much Debate

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Report Ends Much Debate
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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 5:47pm
WOLFOWITZ--STRIKE BIN LADEN HARD
Richard Clarke has gone after Paul Wolfowitz very aggressively as Mr. Iraq who had no interest in bin Laden. But check out page 214, describing a pre-9/11 debate over the Predator. Wolfowitz wanted a robust military option:

"The Defense Department favored strong action. Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz questioned the United States’ ability to deliver Bin Ladin and bring him to justice. He favored going after Bin Ladin as part of a larger air strike, similar to what had been done in the 1986 U.S. strike against Libya. General Myers emphasized the Predator’s value for surveillance, perhaps enabling broader air strikes that would go beyond Bin Ladin to attack al Qaeda’s training infrastructure."
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036402

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:00pm

Clark did think there was an Iraq-Al Queda connnection


“BOOGIE TO BAGHDAD”
Clarke was worried that bin Laden might flee to Baghdad. Hmmm. Curious. Page 134:

"In February 1999,Allen proposed flying a U-2 mission over Afghanistan to build a baseline of intelligence outside the areas where the tribals had coverage. Clarke was nervous about such a mission because he continued to fear that Bin Ladin might leave for someplace less accessible. He wrote Deputy National Security Advisor Donald Kerrick that one reliable source reported Bin Ladin’s having met with Iraqi officials, who 'may have offered him asylum.' Other intelligence sources said that some Taliban leaders, though not Mullah Omar, had urged Bin Ladin to go to Iraq. If Bin Ladin actually moved to Iraq, wrote Clarke, his network would be at Saddam Hussein’s service, and it would be 'virtually impossible” to find him. Better to get Bin Ladin in Afghanistan, Clarke declared.' Berger suggested sending one U-2 flight,but Clarke opposed even this. It would require Pakistani approval, he wrote; and 'Pak intel is in bed with' Bin Ladin and would warn him that the United States was getting ready for a bombing campaign: 'Armed with that knowledge, old wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad.' Though told also by Bruce Riedel of the NSC staff that Saddam Hussein wanted Bin Ladin in Baghdad,Berger conditionally authorized a single U-2 flight.Allen meanwhile had found other ways of getting the information he wanted. So the U-2 flight never occurred.
Posted at 03:23 PM


http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036392




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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:02pm

Clark thought there was an Iraq-Al Queda WMD link:


IT

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:07pm

Pre-emption is necessary:


"So the doctrine of pre-emption has its uses, after all. In a world of conflicting intelligence, uncertain consequences and potential foreign opposition, it is still sometimes necessary for America to attack an adversary before it attacks us.


That, reduced to its essence, is the main conclusion of yesterday's 567-page report from the 9/11 Commission. The September 11 attacks may have been a shock, it says, but they never should have come as a surprise. Our government--and the entire political class--knew enough to act against al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but it did not because of "failures of imagination, policy, capability, and management." Though the bipartisan report can't quite bring itself to use the words, it would seem that the Bush anti-terror doctrine lives."


http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005391

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:21pm

Gorelick

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:24pm

There was an Iraq-al Queda link:


'As for Iraq, the final report retreats from its interim judgment that there was no "collaborative relationship." The Commission now says it found no "collaborative operational relationship" to attack the U.S., but it does record extensive and troubling contacts. This includes the news that Richard Clarke, the former NSC aide, himself believed that Iraq had ties to the chemical plant in Sudan that was linked to al Qaeda and bombed by Bill Clinton. The report quotes Mr. Clarke as speculating to a superior about an "Iraq-al Qida agreement" on the chemical plant. Our readers may recall that Mr. Clarke more recently said there was not a shred of evidence of such ties.'


http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005391

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:31pm

Bush didn't help the Saudis flee the country:


"Pages 329-330 devastate his Saudi post-9/11 flight conspiracy-mongering. A sample: “We found no evidence that anyone at the WH above the level of Richard Clarke participated in a decision on the departure of Saudi nationals.”"


http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036284

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:39pm

It's not only the executive that bears responsibility for lax security:


“In fact, Congress had a distinct tendency to push questions of emerging national security threats off its own plate, leaving them for others to consider. Congress asked outside commissions to do the work that arguably was at the heart of its own oversight responsibilities. Beginning in 1999, the reports of these commissions made scores of recommendations to address terrorism and homeland security but drew little attention from Congress. Most of their impact came after 9/11.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036281

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:44pm

Clinton administration knew DOJ guidelines hindered fight against terrorism but didn't change them:


MORE CLARKE
The report vindicates his contention that “going to battle stations” improved communication within the government, especially with regards to the FBI. So why didn't anyone take on the systemic problem? Instead, we immediately went back to the operating under the old rdiculous rules. Page 180:

“But during the millennium alert, with its direct links into the United States from Hijazi, Deek, and Ressam, FBI officials were briefing in person about ongoing investigations, not relying on the dissemination of written reports. Berger told us that it was hard for FBI officials to hold back information in front of a cabinet-rank group. After the alert, according to Berger and members of the NSC staff, the FBI returned to its normal practice of withholding written reports and saying little about investigations or witness interviews, taking the position that any information related to pending investigations might be presented to a grand jury and hence could not be disclosed under then-prevailing federal law.”


http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036280

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:55pm

The Afghan pipeline was a Clinton thing, not a Bush one:


MICHAEL MOORE'S PIPELINE
Remember his conspiracy theory about the pipeline and the Afghan war? It was a Clinton-era diplomatic initiative. Page 111, picking up the story in 1998:

“In Afghanistan, the State Department tried to end the civil war that had continued since the Soviets’ withdrawal. The South Asia bureau believed it might have a carrot for Afghanistan’s warring factions in a project by the Union Oil Company of California (UNOCAL) to build a pipeline across the country. While there was probably never much chance of the pipeline actually being built, the Afghan desk hoped that the prospect of shared pipeline profits might lure faction leaders to a conference table. U.S. diplomats did not favor the Taliban over the rival factions. Despite growing concerns, U.S. diplomats were willing at the time, as one official said, to ‘give the Taliban a chance.’”
Posted at 12:16 PM
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036279

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Fri, 07-23-2004 - 6:57pm

Clinton administration wasn't responsible for stopping the Millenium Plot:


FOILING THE MILLENNIUM PLOT
Page 179: "Later, when asked what made her decide to ask Ressam to step out of his vehicle, Diana Dean, a Customs inspector who referred Ressam to secondary inspectors, testified that it was her 'training and experience.' It appears that the heightened sense of alert at the national level played no role in Ressam's detention."
Posted at 12:08 PM
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036277

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