In the two weeks since the release of his book, Against All Enemies - Inside America's War on Terror, former National Security Council aide Richard Clarke has labored in the liberal media to portray the Bush Administration as doing nothing to deal with the threat posed by al Qaeda in the period between Bush's Jan. 20, 2001, inauguration and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Touting his book in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" on March 21, Clarke said that Bush had "ignored" the terrorist threat. In an interview with MSNBC's "Hardball" on March 31, he said the only thing Bush did about it was to ask - passingly - in May 2001 for a "strategy" for dealing with al Qaeda
But in an August 2002 White House background briefing for reporters Clarke said that in March 2001, two months after coming into office, Bush changed President Clinton's policy on al Qaeda. Whereas Clinton had called for rolling back al Qaeda, Bush called for "eliminating" the terrorist group. Not only that, but a month later, according to Clarke's background briefing, the White House secured authorization of a five-fold increase in funding in the fiscal year 2002 Intelligence budget for lethal covert action against al Qaeda.
To anyone who understands the budget process in Congress, what Clarke described was a remarkable policy turnaround on al Qaeda - started within two months of Bush's taking office.
On March 24, the White House released the transcript of Clarke's August 2002 background briefing. When Clarke testified that day before The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, former Republican Gov. James Thompson of Illinois said to him: "Did they authorize the increase in funding fivefold?" To which, Clarke responded: "Authorized, but not appropriated."
"Well," said Thompson, "but the Congress appropriates, don't they, Mr. Clarke?"
In fact, as the transcript below shows, Clarke told reporters in August 2002 that the Bush Administration secured the authorization and budgeting for the five-fold increase in funding to destroy al Qaeda in the first fiscal year after entering office - and the process started in March 2001 with President Bush's decision to eliminate the terrorist group, something President Clinton never tried to do.
Clarke Now
Leslie Stahl: The President's new campaign ads highlight his handling of 9/11. He's making it the centerpiece of his bid for re-election. You're writing this book in the middle of this campaign. The timing, I'm sure, you will be questioned about and criticized for. Why are you doing it now?
Richard Clarke: Well, I'm sure I'll be criticized for lots of things, and I'm sure they'll launch their dogs on me. But frankly, I find it outrageous that the President is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know.
March 21, 2004
Richard Clarke: . . . Let's just talk about the facts. The facts are the President was repeatedly briefed -
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: To what effect?
Clarke: - by his Director of Central -
Matthews: To what effect was he briefed?
Clarke: And as far as I know the only thing he ever did was to ask in May [2001] for a strategy, which he never got.
Matthews: So you're arguing basically all the briefings, all the preps were largely inconsequential because all it led to was a curiosity at one point for one day?
Clarke: There may be more evidence but I'm unaware of it.
March 31, 2004
Clarke Then
Fox News' Jim Angle: You're saying that the Bush Administration did not stop anything that the Clinton Administration was doing while it was making these decisions, and by the end of the summer [2001] had increased money for covert action five-fold. Is that correct?
Clarke: All of that's correct.
Angle: OK. . . . . So, just to finish up if we could then, so what you're saying is that there was no, one, there was no plan [under Clinton]; two, there was no delay [under Bush]; and that actually the first changes since October of '98 were made in the spring months just after the administration came into office?
Clarke: You got it. That's right. . . .
Angle: Now the five-fold increase for the money in covert operations against al Qaeda - did that actually go into effect when it was decided or was that a decision that happened in the next budget year or something?
Clarke: Well, it was gonna go into effect in October, which was the next budget year, so it was a month away.
Question: That actually got into the intelligence budget?
Clarke: Yes it did.
Question: Just to clarify, did that come up in April [2001] or later?
Clarke: No, it came up in April and it was approved in principle and then went through the summer. And you know, the other thing to bear in mind is the shift from the rollback strategy to the elimination strategy. When President Bush told us in March to stop swatting at flies and just solve this problem, then that was the strategic direction that changed the NSPD from one of rollback to one of elimination.
Question: Well can you clarify something? I've been told that he gave that direction at the end of May. Is that not correct?
Clarke: No, it was March.
August 2002
