Will Richard Clarke Head Obama's CIA?

Cashill.com ^ | 12/27/2007 | Jack Cashill

[Sioux-san]

This is the first in a five-part series detailing the risks to American national security if Barack Obama (or Hillary Clinton) should ever choose to let Richard Clarke back into government. Clarke is currently one of Obama’s top national security advisors.

At the beginning of the campaign season, top Democratic candidates scrambled after Clinton national security veterans with almost as much urgency as the U.S. and the Soviets once pursued German rocket scientists.

In either case, the winner would corner a certain market on national security expertise, a virtue in glaringly short supply among top Democratic candidates in this year’s presidential hunt.

Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton secured the services of the more distinguished of the would-be advisors, Richard Holbrooke and Gen. Wesley Clark among them, as well as some of the more dubious, none more so than Sandy Berger and Joseph Wilson.

While Hillary walked away with the lion’s share of the pickings, Barack Obama and John Edwards, alas, were left to divvy up the lamb’s.

The most prominent among Obama’s recruits is one Richard Clarke. Clarke served as America's top counterterrorism official during the Clinton years and famously stayed on the job under George W. Bush.

As history will record, he should not have. Clarke’s attempt to undermine Bush’s re-election campaign and, worse, the military campaign in Iraq set a new gold standard for political treachery. It has made the retention of career national security officials all but impossible in anyone’s future administration.

[Popman]

Damn, I thought I was going to get a good night sleep

Guess not

[digger48]

I thought he already “failed us”

[K-oneTexas]

Agree. "Clarke served as America's top counterterrorism official during the Clinton years and famously stayed on the job under George W. Bush."

Back to handling terrorists as a law enforcement problem. No expertise needed ... just like any other criminal. Find 'em and put 'em in jail ... at taxpayer expense. All trials, satellite tv, bombs in the mail included.

[outofstyle]

Will Richard Clarke Head Obama's CIA?

This is why we must end up supporting the Republican candidate, no matter who he may be.

[toddlintown]

Aren’t we getting ahead of our selves.

[max americana]

So the head of Dept of Homeland Security would be Harry Reid?

[Sioux-san]

HOw so? Hillary & Sandy Bergler and Barry & Richard - judge a Prez by the company they would keep.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Damn, I thought I was going to get a good night sleep<<<

I hate to cheat you out of any good shuteye, but if your sleeping well now with the anti-administration CIA shadow government at work to daily undermine the US and George Bush, you should read "Shadow Warriors" by Ken Timmerman!!

A very exciting read!! It is a history of all the events that have gone wrong under Bush - many caused by CIA/Democrat/FBI sabotage. You can draw your own conclusion as to Bush's unfortunate trust of the old adage that "partisinship ends at the waters edge." His failure to "clean house" on taking office doomed his Presidency.

[Contra]

No, it will be Ramsey Clark. Or maybe Ramses will be Attorney General again under Osama Hussein, I mean Obama Hussein.

[Brilliant]

More likely Joe Wilson or Valerie Plame.

[tanknetter]

This is why we must end up supporting the Republican candidate, no matter who he may be.

Not just the POTUS election, but the downticket ones as well. If Obama wins the general, we'll need a 41 vote firewall in the Senate to make sure guys like Clarke never get confirmed. And the Dems will only be able to thank themselves for their precedent-setting use of the filibuster over the last 7 years.

Clarke could make it to being National Security Advisor, which is not a Senate-confirmed post, however.

[SERKIT]

Once Valerie Plame comes out of the closet, Hillary will appoint her to the position.

[John Robie]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Wesley Clarke is on the VP ticket or a potential cabinet member.

[Felis_irritable]

Clarke is currently one of Obama’s top national security advisors.

Hence B. Hussein Obama's complete and total lack of a grip on national security issues.

[RightWhale]

If these Dems are serious about this ‘change’ thing they would staff the various offices with new, young people rather than retreads. So long as they don’t find any more like Robert Reich.

[stylin19a]

Obama is through..he just don’t know it, yet.

Course, if the Clintons keep spewing stuff that continues to piss off the blacks, who knows.

[attiladhun2]

Reading Shadow Warriors now. I was fully aware of how duplicitous and incompetent the CIA was before I started reading the book. I was not aware of the thwarted Al Qaeda sarin-gas attack on Amman, Jordan in '04, originating from Syria. Sarin obviously came from Saddam's stockpiles. Event would have been catastropic, if successful. Never heard a word about it in our MSM. Could it be that the news of this would have confirmed Bush's justification for invading Iraq and bringing down Saddam's regime? How come we have heard next to nothing about Project Harmony and Site 555 at Al-Fajr? One reason--confirms the justification for the Iraq war.

[cquiggy]

Barak Hussein Obama will likely have Oprah for Secretary Of State, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for Supreme Court Justices, And maybe Michael Jackson for the department for families and children.

[HardStarboard]

Atilla: I’m about halfway through. It is painful to realize the damage, unnecessary for the most part, that Bush allowed to his administration simply because he wanted “a new tone in Washington”!

The book is a marvelous compendium of what any conservative President needs to guard against when he takes
office. Should be required reading - won’t be.

The book could form a basis of a Bush defense of his actions throughout the past 7 years....why he doesn’t
rise to the bait is beyond me.

He is suppose to be a superb poker player....but, as far as I can see, he’s holding on to his cards far too long in this game.

[attiladhun2]

There must have been considerable opposition to Reagan's policy of confronting the USSR. You just know that with all the Russian linguists and Soviets watchers in the CIA that they had a vested interest in keeping the USSR afloat. The only reason he was able to succeed is that he got rid of all the high-and-mid level Carterites in the CIA and the SD. Reagan understood the treachery and incompetence of elements in these organizations as a naive Bush does not.

Knowing the potential for great peril this nation faces due to a catastrophic terrorist event, that arrests were not made after the first leak and that Federal agents did not padlock the presses of the NY Slimes is inexplicable. However, Bush's naivete aside, the unprofessionalism of the CIA and other agencies in inexcusable.

Truthfully, I almost wish it was the CIA bldg in VA that was hit on 9-11 rather than the Pentagon, and diddo the Capitol Bldg. Congress and the CIA wouldn't be playing their silly a$$ games if a several hundred analysts, file clerks, Congressmen, and staffers were turned into cinders.