The Worst Kind of Traitor

During a luncheon last week at the National Press Club, Mr. Cheney discussed a variety of topics, including gay marriage (of which he is surprisingly in favor), the bankruptcy of General Motors and President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Ironically, the event was honoring the recipients of the Gerald R. Ford annual awards for distinguished reporting on national defense and the White House. A portion of Cheney's comments focused on Richard Clarke's recent remarks in "The Washington Post". Serving as the chief counterterrorism advisor to both President Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush, Clarke had this to say regarding the former administration: "Cheney's admission that 9/11 caused him to re-assess the threats to the nation only underscores how, for months, top officials had ignored warnings from the CIA and the NSC staff that urgent action was needed to preempt a major al-Qaeda attack...Yes, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice may have been surprised by the attacks of September 11, 2001 -- but it was because they had not listened."

Before specifically responding to Clarke's editorial, Cheney invoked images of the ashes of the World Trade Center and the individuals jumping from the North Tower, the smoking Pentagon and Flight 93. After he had finished tugging at the heart strings, Cheney then commenced to subtly drop possibly the biggest lie ever since that horrible day occurred in September more than seven years ago: "You know, Dick Clarke. Dick Clarke, who was the head of the counterterrorism program in the run-up to 9/11, he obviously missed it."

Why is it such a lie? Let's take a look at the evidence. First, on January 25, 2001 (five days after Mr. Bush took office), Clarke sent a memo to Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor at the time, which recommended an immediate review of the al-Qaeda network and stated that "We would make a major error if we underestimated the challenge al Qida [sic] poses or overestimated the stability of the moderate, friendly regimes that al Qida threatens". In his book, "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation", "The New York Times" reporter Philip Shenon reprinted other e-mails from Clarke which continued to warn Rice and other members of the Bush administration throughout 2001 about the threat from al-Qaeda. Apparently the titles of those e-mails weren't ominous enough to Mr. Bush and his team of irresponsible morons:

• "Bin Ladin [sic] Public Profile May Presage Attack" (May 3)
• "Terrorist Groups Said Co-Operating on U.S. Hostage Plot" (May 23)
• "Bin Ladin’s Networks’ Plans Advancing" (May 26)
• "Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent" (June 23)
• "Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near Term Threats" (June 25)
• "Bin Ladin Planning High Profile Attacks" (June 30)
• "Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delays" (July 2)

And then on September 4, 2001, Clarke wrote one last memo to Rice, which was titled "Imagine Hundreds of Dead Due to Government Inaction". As you can probably deduce from the name of the document, Clarke urged "policymakers to imagine a day after a terrorist attack, with hundreds of Americans dead at home and abroad, and ask themselves what they could have done earlier". Within this memo, Clarke also (1) criticized the military for its unwillingness to retaliate for the attack on the USS Cole or strike Afghan terrorist camps, (2) accused senior CIA officials of trying to block the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle program and (3) expressed his concerns that, if attacked, the United States would need to rely heavily on foreign governments for assistance. As we all know, this country was attacked just seven days later.

Now I have heard a lot of bullshit come out of Cheney's mouth over the last eight years but this certainly takes the cake. Instead of taking responsibility for how he, Mr. Bush and their cronies turned their backs on credible intelligence from within their own administration and, in turn, allowing 9/11 to take place, Cheney wants to blame Richard Clarke, despite the evidence in front of him. I only wish that President Obama would call for the prosecution of numerous members of the previous administration.