Canada6
22-09-2005, 04:32
While reading Against all enemies written by Richard Clarke I've come across the following passages in just the first chapter.
1:00 AM September 12, 2001
Richard Clarke, counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council, and leader and coordinator of all operations in the aftermath of the attacks.
Note that I'm typing all of this as fast as I can while translating into english, so forgive me from any typos. Also note that everything in Italics is mine.
Richard Clarke, after a full day of managing the chaos, on an empty stomach... at this point the CIA director had no doubts that the Al-Qaeda had been involved. The FBI had recognised the names of the Al-Qaeda members that had borded the flights. Everyone that had to know this had allready been briefed.
I agreed to go home so I could shower and change clothes.
(...) one hour later... (...)
I expected to get back [to the whitehouse] to an infinite round of meetings where we would examine, what their [Al-Qaeda's] next possible targets could be, what our weaknesses were, and what we could get done in the next few days.
Instead of that I encountered numerous discussions about Iraq.
At first I couldn't believe the fact that we were discussing something that had nothing to do with eliminating Al-Qaeda. After a while it struck me that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz where going to try take advantage of this national tragedy to promote their agenda for Iraq.
I would like to point out that both Rumsfeld and Wolfowtiz are prominent members of the PNAC. In January 2001 Clarke handed over his National Security Presidential Directive plan, where Al-Qaeda's threat is mentioned in detail, to the Administration, Cheney, Rice, Powell. The president himself never read the plan. Note that it's the Presidential Directive. Presidential as in President.
They [Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz] had been planning this for some time. My friends from the pentagon where saying that a war in Iraq was being scheduled for 2002.
On the morning of Setember 12 they where allready deviating from Al-Qaeda. Tenet [CIA] was saying specifically now that Al-Qaeda was responsible for these attacks, but Paul Wolfowitz, wasn't convinced. He claimed that Iraq must have been helping them out. I recalled that Wolfowitz had made the exact same claim in April, when the administration had finally held it's first meeting dealing with terrorism. During that meeting when I then suggested that action must be taken against Al-Qaeda, Wolfowitz went back to the 1993 WTC bombing, saying that Al-Qaeda could not have done that alone, and that Iraq must have been involved. He basically rejected my statement and the CIA's statement that since 1993 there had been no terrorist attack against the US that involved Iraq in any way. But alas, his line of thought had resurfaced once more.
On Wednesday afternoon, Rumsfeld, was talking about expanding the objectives of our response and about the need to tangle up Iraq in all this. Colin Powell rejected that idea, saying that we should concentrate on Al-Qaeda. I felt relieved for the support I was getting from Powell and I thanked him.
"I thought I was missing something for a moment there. The fact that we were attacked by Al-Qaeda and atacking Iraq, would be like attacking Mexico after having been attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.
Powell shuddered.
Later on that day, Rumsfeld complained that there were no real targets, to bomb in Afghanistan, and that it would be best to bomb Iraq, due to it having better targets. Initially I thought he was joking, but he was actually being serious and the President wasn't writing the idea off. Bush stated that what needed to be done in Iraq was a change of regime, and not just sending over some cruise missiles.
At this point in my reading I've realised that Rumsfeld is a totally full flaming idiot beyond any kind of redemption. Even Bush is better equiped with Inteligence that Rumsfeld.
On the afternoon of Setember 12th, I left the video conference center, and that's when I bumped into the president, rambling alone, in the crisis office. E quickly rushed a few of us aside, and closed the conference room door.
"Look, I know you guys are working hard, and all that,... but... I really need you to look over everything again. See if Saddam is involved in this. See if there is any sort of connection.
I was once again, caught off gauard and I let him know it.
"But Mr. President, Al-Qaeda is resonsible for this"
"I know but... see if Saddam is involved. Confirm that for me. Even the smallest of links..."
"Of course we'll check... again." I was trying to be cordial and understanding. "it's just that we've investigated it several times, if Al-Qaeda was supported by any government and we haven't found any kind of link to Iraq. We've found links to Iran, Paquistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Not Iraq."
"Look in Iraq! Saddam!" Ordered the irritated President as he left the room.
Lisa Gordon-Haggerty's jaw hit the floor. She was stunned.
"Wolfowitz has gone to his head!" she cried in shock.
"No." I said. "He's the president, he hasn't been fighting terrorism for years like we have, he's got every right to ask to look over again. That's what we'll do.
I promptly asked for every single department to look again for anything that would link Al-Qaeda to Iraq, Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein.
The next day all the agencies where together at a meeting and they concluded that there were no links between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. All the agencies agreed.
A memo was sent to the president, but there was never any sign returned that this memo had actually reached the President.
As I currently read this book, I am at a loss for words. Keeping in mind that this is just the basic outline of the first chapter. WTF are those PNAC cronies still doing in the whitehouse? :mad:
1:00 AM September 12, 2001
Richard Clarke, counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council, and leader and coordinator of all operations in the aftermath of the attacks.
Note that I'm typing all of this as fast as I can while translating into english, so forgive me from any typos. Also note that everything in Italics is mine.
Richard Clarke, after a full day of managing the chaos, on an empty stomach... at this point the CIA director had no doubts that the Al-Qaeda had been involved. The FBI had recognised the names of the Al-Qaeda members that had borded the flights. Everyone that had to know this had allready been briefed.
I agreed to go home so I could shower and change clothes.
(...) one hour later... (...)
I expected to get back [to the whitehouse] to an infinite round of meetings where we would examine, what their [Al-Qaeda's] next possible targets could be, what our weaknesses were, and what we could get done in the next few days.
Instead of that I encountered numerous discussions about Iraq.
At first I couldn't believe the fact that we were discussing something that had nothing to do with eliminating Al-Qaeda. After a while it struck me that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz where going to try take advantage of this national tragedy to promote their agenda for Iraq.
I would like to point out that both Rumsfeld and Wolfowtiz are prominent members of the PNAC. In January 2001 Clarke handed over his National Security Presidential Directive plan, where Al-Qaeda's threat is mentioned in detail, to the Administration, Cheney, Rice, Powell. The president himself never read the plan. Note that it's the Presidential Directive. Presidential as in President.
They [Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz] had been planning this for some time. My friends from the pentagon where saying that a war in Iraq was being scheduled for 2002.
On the morning of Setember 12 they where allready deviating from Al-Qaeda. Tenet [CIA] was saying specifically now that Al-Qaeda was responsible for these attacks, but Paul Wolfowitz, wasn't convinced. He claimed that Iraq must have been helping them out. I recalled that Wolfowitz had made the exact same claim in April, when the administration had finally held it's first meeting dealing with terrorism. During that meeting when I then suggested that action must be taken against Al-Qaeda, Wolfowitz went back to the 1993 WTC bombing, saying that Al-Qaeda could not have done that alone, and that Iraq must have been involved. He basically rejected my statement and the CIA's statement that since 1993 there had been no terrorist attack against the US that involved Iraq in any way. But alas, his line of thought had resurfaced once more.
On Wednesday afternoon, Rumsfeld, was talking about expanding the objectives of our response and about the need to tangle up Iraq in all this. Colin Powell rejected that idea, saying that we should concentrate on Al-Qaeda. I felt relieved for the support I was getting from Powell and I thanked him.
"I thought I was missing something for a moment there. The fact that we were attacked by Al-Qaeda and atacking Iraq, would be like attacking Mexico after having been attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.
Powell shuddered.
Later on that day, Rumsfeld complained that there were no real targets, to bomb in Afghanistan, and that it would be best to bomb Iraq, due to it having better targets. Initially I thought he was joking, but he was actually being serious and the President wasn't writing the idea off. Bush stated that what needed to be done in Iraq was a change of regime, and not just sending over some cruise missiles.
At this point in my reading I've realised that Rumsfeld is a totally full flaming idiot beyond any kind of redemption. Even Bush is better equiped with Inteligence that Rumsfeld.
On the afternoon of Setember 12th, I left the video conference center, and that's when I bumped into the president, rambling alone, in the crisis office. E quickly rushed a few of us aside, and closed the conference room door.
"Look, I know you guys are working hard, and all that,... but... I really need you to look over everything again. See if Saddam is involved in this. See if there is any sort of connection.
I was once again, caught off gauard and I let him know it.
"But Mr. President, Al-Qaeda is resonsible for this"
"I know but... see if Saddam is involved. Confirm that for me. Even the smallest of links..."
"Of course we'll check... again." I was trying to be cordial and understanding. "it's just that we've investigated it several times, if Al-Qaeda was supported by any government and we haven't found any kind of link to Iraq. We've found links to Iran, Paquistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Not Iraq."
"Look in Iraq! Saddam!" Ordered the irritated President as he left the room.
Lisa Gordon-Haggerty's jaw hit the floor. She was stunned.
"Wolfowitz has gone to his head!" she cried in shock.
"No." I said. "He's the president, he hasn't been fighting terrorism for years like we have, he's got every right to ask to look over again. That's what we'll do.
I promptly asked for every single department to look again for anything that would link Al-Qaeda to Iraq, Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein.
The next day all the agencies where together at a meeting and they concluded that there were no links between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. All the agencies agreed.
A memo was sent to the president, but there was never any sign returned that this memo had actually reached the President.
As I currently read this book, I am at a loss for words. Keeping in mind that this is just the basic outline of the first chapter. WTF are those PNAC cronies still doing in the whitehouse? :mad: