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Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces

In the pants on fire department, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she doesn't recall seeing this memo from Richard Clarke in January, 2001, describing the severity of the al-Qaeda threat.

In it, Clarke advocates for a principal level review of Al Qaeda threat, calling Al Qaeda "not some narrow, little terrorist issue" but a "transnational challenge."

Update: Hillary weighs in on Condi issue.

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    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 03:52:09 PM EST
    it's possible she didn't think it was important enough to read no matter what they weren't on top of it then and they aren't on top of it now and they lie about everything

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 04:17:13 PM EST
    I'm having a hard time getting excited over this. It just says what Clarke says in his interview with FNC.
    Second point is that the Clinton administration had a strategy in place, effectively dating from 1998. And there were a number of issues on the table since 1998. And they remained on the table when that administration went out of office -- issues like aiding the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, changing our Pakistan policy -- uh, changing our policy toward Uzbekistan. And in January 2001, the incoming Bush administration was briefed on the existing strategy. They were also briefed on these series of issues that had not been decided on in a couple of years. And the third point is the Bush administration decided then, you know, in late January, to do two things. One, vigorously pursue the existing policy, including all of the lethal covert action findings, which we've now made public to some extent. And then changed the strategy from one of rollback with Al Qaeda over the course of five years, which it had been, to a new strategy that called for the rapid elimination of Al Qaeda. That is in fact the timeline.
    Now maybe Sailor will believe it!

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#3)
    by Sailor on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 04:33:42 PM EST
    Gee, bushco and condiliar strike again ... and the MSM doesn't report it. At what point can we do away with the myth of the 'liberal press?'

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#5)
    by Sailor on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 05:33:24 PM EST
    Facts are facts, liars are liars, condi was proven a liar .

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 08:13:47 PM EST
    Sailor - And the memo proves Clarke correct in the FNC interview. ;-)

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#4)
    by Strick on Wed Sep 27, 2006 at 08:50:18 PM EST
    Cool, the memo discusses strategies. Where's the plan that they claim to have given the Bush Administration. I plan for a living, and trust me, there's a huge difference, particularly given the way the Clinton Administration went at this issue.

    Any word yet from the PowerTools if the kerning on this memo is authentic?

    Re: Richard Clarke Memo to Condi Rice Surfaces (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 28, 2006 at 09:49:42 AM EST
    Hey..lay off Rice, she was probably out buying shoes.