Posted on 02/04/2005 1:50:04 PM PST by danno3150
BRIDGEWATER — Richard Clarke, the former counter-terrorist czar turned outspoken critic of President Bush's anti-terror policies, said Thursday night the federal government is not doing enough to protect shopping malls, rail lines and chemical factories from terrorists.
In a speech at Bridgewater State College, Clarke said the Department of Homeland Security, formed after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, "is not well run and is not accomplishing much.
"The only thing that we've really fixed is passenger air security," Clarke said.
"There is no leadership coming out of federal government," he said, to protect the "low hanging fruit" — shopping malls, chemical factories and rail lines — that he believes are within easy reach of terrorists inside the United States.
Clarke was at the college to talk with students about national security and the war in Iraq.
"While George Bush said (Wednesday) night that the state of our nation is sound, I'm going to tell you that the state of our security is not," Clarke said. "There's a great deal that we should be doing that we're not doing. And additionally, there's a great deal that we should not be doing that we are."
Clarke served as a terror analyst and adviser to the last four presidents before retiring from public service in 2003. Since leaving the public sector, Clarke has claimed Bush and members of his administration ignored his warnings before 9/11 about the threat posed by al-Qaida.
Author of the book "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror" — a scathing criticism of Bush's handling of national security — Clarke also penned a fictional account of terrorist strikes that appears in the current edition of The Atlantic.
He painted a grim picture for the crowd of about 300 gathered inside the Rondileau Campus Center auditorium, saying Bush has made little real progress in the war on terror.
"There are more jihadists than there were two years ago," he said. A jihad is a holy war.
Addressing Sunday's election in Iraq, Clarke said, "Watching the Iraqi people vote was a beautiful sight. But it doesn't mean that there is going to be a happy ending in Iraq."
He criticized the election as one that alienated Iraq's Sunni minority and laid the groundwork for the installation of an Islamic fundamentalist regime.
Clarke also questioned the rebuilding effort in Iraq, wondering why U.S. contractors are being paid at rates 10 times what it would cost to hire Iraqi nationals.
"Why don't we let the Iraqis do it? They charge less than Halliburton," he said.
John Wechbacher, a 26-year-old electrician from Hanson, was in the crowd Thursday.
"I disagreed with a lot of what he said," Wechbacher said after Clarke's speech. "I think he's putting way too much of the blame on Bush."
Hannah Geyer, 21, of Weymouth said she did not know much about Clarke before hearing him speak.
"Honestly, I thought he was going to be much more in line with the president's views," she said.
A Bush supporter, Geyer said she wouldn't read Clarke's book and even declined when a friend offered to let her borrow a copy.
"I thought he was excellent," said Phyllis Vincent, 46, of Whitman.
Vincent said her son-in-law, enlisted in the Army, shipped out to serve in Iraq Wednesday.
"I want to know what our real purpose is in Iraq," she said. "We're not there for the reasons" Bush gave before the war.
Amy Proulx, a 21-year-old elementary education and psychology major from Haverhill, said she came to the lecture with an open mind but thought Clarke's visit to the college had another motive besides talk about terrorism and the war in Iraq.
"He wrote a book that he's trying to sell us," she said.
Richard Clarke, the new Scott Ritter: somebody listen to me!
Unfortunately, some people don't want to admit when their 15 minutes is up. This guy needs to get a job.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1104918/posts
The Clarke Effect- another Leftover from The Decade of Frauds
various FR links | 03-25-04 | The Heavy Equipment Guy
Posted on 03/25/2004 2:56:18 AM CST by backhoe
Someone should ask Mr. Clarke about the terrible threats we face from 'cyberterrorism'.
I don't know anything the rest of you already know with regard to Clarke, but I wonder if this guy's apparent love of self-agrandizement had anything to do with his demise. Not only is this guy disingenuous, but he is also full of himself.
God, I'm getting sick and tired of reading about these people. Please no more stories posted about what these democrats are doing or saying for at 24 hours. My brain needs a break from these idiots.
nikos
REad with a cowboy twang: "I don't know anything the rest of you already know with regard to Clarke, but I wonder if this guy's apparent love of self-agrandizement had anything to do with his demise. Not only is this guy disingenuous, but he is also full of himself."
He's not just full of himself, pardner, he's full of sheeeeeit too.
nikos
Well, first of all this is one of the reasons why we have the Second Amendment. We the People have the right (obligation?) to defend ourselves and our loved ones from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Plus, I don't think we as a country have the stomach to turn every public building and facility into an armed camp.
I don't know anything about Clark that you don't, but I have a feeling that under Clinton, he was "the one-eyed man in the land of the blind" when it came to national security. He likely wasn't challenged by them very much even if he wasn't much listened to either since the Clinton White House was so domestically focused.
That likely changed when Bush took office. It looks as though they tried to work with him in the beginning but that he did not function well in an environment where you have other knowledgeable people around with differing opinions and his opinion was not automatically given the "respect" he thought it deserved.
I have seen the same situation many times in a corporate environment where a relatively competent person simply can not adapt to "new management" that does not hold him at the same level of esteem as the previous management. Some people simply work with the new management to re-build their level of respect, but when a person has a 'fragile ego' or a "my way or the highway" approach as Clark is reputed to have, they tend to deeply resent the new management. It gets personal instead of professional. I have seen this many times, and it isn't a pretty thing to watch. Those people tend to self-destruct and completly ruin what had been a good career.
Gee, I wonder if he had his book there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.