Kerry Studying Clarke's Book -- Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

March 21, 2004

Kerry Studying Clarke's Book

John Kerry said "he has asked for copies of a new book in which a former White House counterterrorism coordinator accuses the Bush administration of manipulating America into war with Iraq with dangerous consequences," the AP reports.

"Several chapters are being FedExed out to me here," Kerry said before returning to the ski slopes on vacation. "I would like to read them before I make any comment at all. I have asked for them and they should be out here tomorrow."

The book, Against All Enemies : Inside the White House's War on Terror--What Really Happened by Richard Clarke, is officially out Monday. As noted earlier this year, Clarke writes that Bush and his Cabinet "failed to recognize the al-Qaida threat before Sept. 11, 2001 because they were preoccupied with some of the same Cold War issues that had faced his father’s administration."

CBS News previews its interview with Clarke tonight on 60 Minutes in which Clarke says "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."

Josh Marshall revisits the Bush administration's seemingly odd resistance to answering the 9/11 Commission and asks "Now do you understand why they're stonewalling the 9/11 commission?"

Update: Reuters reports Clarke's charges "drew a detailed point-by-point rebuttal from the White House" in "an unusually detailed statement."
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Taegan D. Goddard is the creator of Political Wire, a political column updated around the clock with the most interesting news, buzz and commentary.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

This is a personal site and does not necessarily reflect the views of any company, political campaign or advocacy group.

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Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

March 21, 2004