Dear MoveOn member,
As you may have heard, Richard Clarke, a
former counter-terrorism advisor to Bush,
and a registered Republican who has worked
in every administration since Reagan, has
exposed Bush's mishandling of 9/11 and the
war on Iraq.(1) In his book "Against All
Enemies," Clarke does an amazing job of
presenting the facts and connecting the
dots. Instead of refuting Clarke's claims,
the Bush Administration has launched a
campaign of character assassination, hoping
that the story will just go away.(2)
We're committed to stopping that from
happening by making sure that the American
public hears Clarke's extraordinary
comments. If we can raise $300,000 in the
next few days, we can run a hard-hitting ad
nationally that highlights his message.
You can see a rough story board of the ad
and donate to get it on the air at:
https://www.moveonpac.org/clarkead.html When the World Trade Center was hit on the
morning of 9/11, National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice dubbed Richard Clarke, the
administration's top counter-terrorism
official, "crisis manager."(3) As the
White House, which was thought to be the
next target, was evacuated, Clarke
heroically stayed on, coordinating the
government's response from the Situation
Room in the West Wing.(4)
Clarke is viewed by colleagues as a hawk, a
"true believer" who doesn't play partisan
politics.(5) So the shocking facts he
revealed about the Bush administration's
approach to terrorism before 9/11 and its
response after must be taken seriously. On
Sunday, Clarke told reporters that the
President and Defense Secretary downgraded
counter-terrorism and ignored repeated
warnings about an al Qaeda attack prior to
9/11. And, perhaps even more explosive,
Clarke revealed that President Bush and
senior administration officials wanted to
bomb Iraq after 9/11 even though they knew
that it had no connection to al Qaeda, and
that al Qaeda was responsible for the
attacks.(6)
Already, the White House spin machine is in
overdrive. Since they can't rebut Clarke's
facts -- which independent witnesses have
confirmed(7) -- they're trying to paint him
as an angry partisan, even though he's a
Republican. But Clarke's words remain a
searing indictment of the Bush
Administration's campaign against
terrorism. Together, if we act today, we
can beat back the spin by widely airing a
TV ad which gets these uniquely credible
comments directly to TV viewers.
You can view a story board of the ad and
help us get it on the air now at:
https://www.moveonpac.org/clarkead.html In his own words, here are some of Clarke's
revelations:
* Clarke repeatedly warned the Bush
Administration about attacks from al
Qaeda, starting in the first days of
Bush's term. "But on January 24th, 2001,
I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking
for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a
Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the
impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent
memo-- wasn't acted on."(8) According to
another Bush administration security
official, Clarke "was the guy pushing
hardest, saying again and again that
something big was going to happen,
including possibly here in the U.S." The
official added that Clarke was likely
sidelined because he had served in the
previous (Clinton) administration.(9)
* In face-to-face meetings, CIA Director
George Tenet warned President Bush
repeatedly in the months before 9/11 that
an attack was coming. According to
Clarke, Tenet told the President that "A
major al-Qaeda attack is going to happen
against the United States somewhere in the
world in the weeks and months ahead."(10)
* On September 12, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld
pushed to bomb Iraq even though they knew
that al Qaeda was in Afghanistan.
"Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to
bomb Iraq," Clarke said. "And we all said
... no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We
need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld
said there aren't any good targets in
Afghanistan. And there are lots of good
targets in Iraq. I said, 'Well, there are
lots of good targets in lots of places,
but Iraq had nothing to do with it.'"(11)
* Also on September 12, 2001, President
Bush personally pushed Clarke to find
evidence that Iraq was behind the attacks.
From the New York Times: "'I want you, as
soon as you can, to go back over
everything, everything,' Mr. Clarke writes
that Mr. Bush told him. 'See if Saddam did
this. See if he's linked in any way.'
When Mr. Clarke protested that the culprit
was Al Qaeda, not Iraq, Mr. Bush testily
ordered him, he writes, to 'look into
Iraq, Saddam,' and then left the
room."(12)
* The Bush Administration knew from the
beginning that there was no connection
between Iraq and 9/11, but created the
misperception in order to push their
policy goals. "
Bush] did know better. They did know
better. They did know better. We told
them, the CIA told them, the FBI told
them. They did know better. And the
tragedy here is that Americans went to
their death in Iraq thinking that they
were avenging September 11th, when Iraq
had nothing to do with September 11th. I
think for a commander-in-chief and a vice
president to allow that to happen is
unconscionable."(13)
* The war on Iraq has increased the danger
of terrorism. In his book, he writes that
shifting from al Qaeda to Iraq "launched
an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq that
strengthened the fundamentalist, radical
Islamic terrorist movement worldwide."(14)
It's been well reported that President Bush
intends to run on his record as a wartime
President. Clarke's revelations show how
deeply flawed that record is. But if we
don't act fast, the public may not have a
chance to evaluate the facts for themselves
-- the story could go away quickly. With
an ad, we can take Clarke's comments
directly to the public. Can you help?
Check out the script and donate whatever
you can to get this story out there at:
https://www.moveonpac.org/clarkead.html
(By the way, if we're unable to use your
contribution for the ad you specify, either
because of oversubscription or for another
unforeseen reason, it is our policy to use
your contribution for other advertising,
public relations, and advocacy activities.)
Richard Clarke had an intimate view --
perhaps the best view -- of how the Bush
Administration responded to terrorism. So
we should all listen carefully when he
says: "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. . . I think the
way he has responded to al-Qaeda, both
before 9/11 by doing nothing, and by what
he's done after 9/11 has made us less safe,
absolutely. I think he's done a terrible
job on the war against terrorism."(15)
Together, we can make sure every American
knows what President Bush's true record on
terrorism really is.
Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura,
and Wes
The MoveOn PAC Team
March 24th, 2004
P.S. Salon has recently published a new
interview with Clarke. You can read it at:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/24/clarke_moveon/
P.P.S. As the Administration strikes back,
our friends at the Center for American
Progress have put together an excellent
rebuttal to their claims. Here's an
example:
CLAIM #1: "Richard Clarke had plenty of
opportunities to tell us in the
administration that he thought the war on
terrorism was moving in the wrong direction
and he chose not to." -- National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04
FACT: Clarke sent a memo to Rice principals
on 1/24/01 marked "urgent" asking for a
Cabinet-level meeting to deal with an
impending Al Qaeda attack. The White House
acknowledges this, but says "principals did
not need to have a formal meeting to
discuss the threat." No meeting occurred
until one week before 9/11. -- White House
Press Release, 3/21/04
For the whole document, go to:
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=39828
Footnotes:
1. "Dissent from within on Iraq war,"
Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/24/04
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/8260216.htm?1c
2. "Bush Aides Blast Ex-Terror Chief," CBS
News, 3/22/04
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/23/terror/main608107.shtml
3. "The book on Richard Clarke," Washington
Post, 3/23/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16192-2004Mar22.html
4. "Clarke's Take On Terror," CBS, 3/21/04
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
5. See 3, above.
6. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.
7. "Ex-Bush Aide Sets Off Debate as 9/11
Hearing Opens," New York Times, 3/23/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/politics/23CLAR.html?hp
8. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.
9. See 7, above.
10. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.
11. "Sept. 11: Before And After," CBS News,
3/20/04
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/20/60minutes/main607622.shtml
12. "Excerpts from 'Against All Enemies:
Inside America's War on Terror' by Richard
A. Clarke," posted on NYTimes.com, 3/23/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/politics/23CWOR.html
13. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.
14. "Memoir Criticizes Bush 9/11 Response,"
Washington Post, 3/22/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13607-2004Mar21.html
15. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.
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