Hardball Tonight: Clarke - 9/11 Might Have Been Prevented

MSNBC ^ | Updated: 3:35 p.m. ET March 31, 2004 | Alex Johnson

[ironman]

NEW YORK - Richard Clarke, President Bush’s former chief counterterrorism adviser, said Wednesday that it was possible that he and his team could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks if the Bush administration had paid more attention ahead of time to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terror network.

Clarke’s comments, in an hourlong interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” were a departure from the testimony he gave last week before the independent commission investigating the attacks, when he answered no to the question of whether there was “the remotest chance that it would have prevented 9/11” even if everything he had called for had been implemented.

But Clarke told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that he hoped he and his team would have been able to take action to quash the attacks, which killed about 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, had the CIA and the FBI sufficiently coordinated the bits and pieces of information they had about the 19 Saudis who hijacked four planes and crashed them in the worst attack on U.S. soil.

Acknowledging that he was indulging in “20/20 hindsight,” Clarke said it was likely that he could have made a difference had he known that some of the hijackers were in the country ahead of time and had drawn suspicion. The full interview is scheduled to air today at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC-TV.

[Howlin]

He doesn't seem "borderline" to me.

[cyncooper]

Lester Holt showed a clip.

Clarke quoting that Woodward book again (out of context) to show us how President Bush didn't care about terrorism.

Clarke had this creepy smug smile on his face while saying this.

[MamaLucci]

I had to click on your link to check for sure that those
comments came from THE Bob Schieffer, See BS employee.
Wonders never cease.

[Darlin']

Thank you for sending that excellant letter to Matthews. The embassy bombings confirmed my initial suspicions, after the '93 WTC attack, about the dangers we faced from islamic terrorists. Perhaps they captured my attention because a very dear friend's sister, a doctor with the CDC, was among the Americans killed in the Kenya attack. I was appalled and thoroughly disgusted by the lack of an effective response on the part of the Clinton administration. IMHO, their endless lip service, grandstanding and faint-hearted reaction served as an open invitation to Al-Qaeda to finalize the 9-11 plot.

[GOPrincess]

"In my world those that excessively meet persistently fail to make any difference as leaders."

The Clintonites were known for meetings held 'round the clock. Clinton was often said to change his opinion depending on who he spoke to most recently. He would agonize over making choices (often, of course, checking the polls) and also micromanaged on trivial matters.

Bush, on the other hand, holds what meetings are necessary and then *acts*.

[GOPrincess]

I saw the clip as well, and it gave me the creeps. Clarke *knows* what he's doing to the President and is enjoying it.

Matthews hanging on Clarke's every word gave me the creeps as well.

[prairiebreeze]

LOL! Been called that myself.

Prairie

[Howlin]

cyn, can you tell me what page that Woodward quote is on? I have looked and I cannot find it.

[Miss Marple]

Will there be a live thread on this fiasco?

[Howlin]

Oh, yes......going up soon!

[Howlin]

That's why I remembered it......I was floored.

In fact, if you read through that transcript, they ALL (except DiFi, of course) seemed pretty fair.

[My2Cents]

Yeah, 9/11 could have been prevented. We could have carpet-bombed the entire Muslim world until not a speck of life remained, all on Clarke's hunch that some undefineable "thing" was going to happen.

[BushisTheMan]

Someone record it -- to be used later for his perjury trial.

[Howlin]

Here is the link for tonight's live thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1108919/posts

[BushisTheMan]

he could have made a difference had he known

Excuse me? Why didn't he know? Shouldn't he have known? Wasn't he the anti-terror czar for years?

It's all Clarke's fault!

[EllaMinnow]

The LIVE thread got pulled, as a dupe to this one.

[Miss Marple]

OK...I will post here. I guess you had better ping everyone to this thread.

[alisasny]

WB ironman : )

[samadams2000]

Serve up those softballs Chris...

Let me guess then they will discuss it "moderates" like David Gergen(barf), Isikoff, and the rest of the lib gang.