- With President Bush's former top counterterrorism expert
Richard Clarke issuing well-documented criticisms of the White House's
failure to defend America, the Administration has resorted to outright
lies and distortions about its record. The president himself once again
tried to deflect criticism, saying "had my administration had any
information that terrorists were going to attack New York City on September
the 11"[1] - a statement designed to deflect attention from the specific
warnings that he personally received outlining an imminent Al Qaeda attack[2]
that could involve hijacked planes[3] being used as missiles.[4]
-
- Here are four other explicit lies that the Administration
has told over the last few days:
-
- LIE: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice claimed
that Clarke "chose not to"[5] voice his concerns about the Administration's
counterterrorism policy. But Clarke sent an urgent memo to Rice in January
2001 asking for a Cabinet-level meeting about an imminent Al Qaeda attack.[6]
The White House itself admits top Bush officials rejected Clarke's request,
saying they "did not need to have a formal meeting to discuss the
threat."[7]
-
- LIE: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan yesterday
denied Clarke's charge that the president ordered the Pentagon to begin
drafting plans to invade Iraq immediately after 9/11.[8] But according
to the Washington Post, "six days after the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon, President Bush signed a 2-and-a-half-page document"
that "directed the Pentagon to begin planning military options for
an invasion of Iraq."[9] This was corroborated by a September 2002
CBS News report which reported that, immediately after 9/11, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld told "aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq."[10]
-
- LIE: Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
denied Clarke's charge that there was an imminent domestic threat against
America from Al Qaeda, saying, "All the chatter [before 9/11] was
of an attack, a potential Al Qaeda attack overseas."[11] But, according
to the bipartisan Congressional report on 9/11, "In May 2001, the
intelligence community obtained a report that Bin Laden supporters were
planning to infiltrate the United States" to "carry out a terrorist
operation using high explosives." The report "was included in
an intelligence report for senior government officials in August [2001]."[12]
-
- LIE: Bush National Security spokesman Jim Wilkinson claimed
that "it was this president who expedited the deployment of the armed
Predator" (the unmanned plane).[13] But, according to Newsweek, it
was the Bush Administration who "elected not to relaunch the Predator"
and who did not deploy the new armed version of it despite "the military
having successfully tested an armed Predator throughout the first half
of 2001."[14]
-
- Sources:
-
- 1. President Discusses Economy and Terrorism After Cabinet
Meeting, 03/23/2004. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040323-5.html
2. "August Memo Focused On Attacks in U.S.", Washington Post,
05/18/2002. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0518-04.htm 3. "Report
Warned Of Suicide Hijackings", CBS News, 05/18/2002. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/18/attack/main509488.shtml
4. "Italy Tells of Threat at Genoa Summit", Los Angeles Times,
09/27/2001. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092701genoa.story
5. American Morning Transcript, 03/22/2004. http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/22/ltm.04.html
6. "Clarke's Take On Terror", CBS News, 03/21/2004. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
7. "White House Rebuttal to Clarke Interview", Washington Post,
02/23/2004. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14760-2004Mar22.html
8. Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, 03/23/2004. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040323-4.html
9. "U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past", Washington Post,
01/12/2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43909-2003Jan11?language=printer
10. "Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11", CBS News, 09/04/2002.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml
11. "Clarke's Take On Terror", CBS News, 03/21/2004. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
12. Joint Inquiry of Intelligence Community Activities Before and After
The Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, 12/2002. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/24jul20031400/www.gpoaccess.gov/
serialset/creports/pdf/recommendations.pdf 13. Fox News, 03/22/2004. 14.
Freedom of Information Center, 05/27/2002. http://foi.missouri.edu/terrorismfoi/whatwentwrong.html
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- http://www.misleader.com/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df03242004.html
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