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Originally posted by sgtclub
I agree with the first sentence. I disagree with the second. Ty, you are far more read than I, but you often times take what you read as the gosphel. Richard Clarke and Bob Woodward are not the end all be all on the topic. The simple truth is that terrorism was not a priority for either of the administrations pre-9/11.
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Richard Clarke was the nation's senior counterterrorism official under both Clinton and Bush, so if you want to ignore his account of what happened, you'd better have some serious authority. Clinton was personally involved with Clarke's job in a way that Bush was not. Because of the bureaucratic design of our government, Clarke often ran into obstacles presented by other parts of the government doing their own thing. Clarke's relationship with Clinton and other senior officials helped him get around these, sometimes. When Bush came in, Clarke was demoted, reducing his effectiveness. This was done because Bush had other priorities, like missile defense. This is why nothing happened with Clarke's recommendation between when Bush took office and 9/11.
