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[bilmore]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
I think what's bothering my people the most is the assertion that Rumsfeld immediately jumped from 9/11 to bombing Iraq as a response. In the big picture, whether Bush should have been prepared where Clinton wasn't is very much subject to partisan debate. Whether Bush and co. were looking for reasons to bomb Iraq, even at the expense of bombing other threatening enemies, is something the American public is, I'm sure, very much interested in hearing about.

Just curious: here's the admin's response to that point. Are you saying, you doubt this response is truthful, or are you saying that it's nonresponsive, or . . . what?

"Myth: After the 9/11 attacks, the President ignored the evidence and tried to pin responsibility for 9/11 on Iraq.

The Facts: The President sought to determine who was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. Given Iraq's past support of terror, including an attempt by Iraqi intelligence to kill a former President, it would have been irresponsible not to ask if Iraq had any involvement in the attack.

When the President and his senior advisers met at Camp David on September 15-16, 2001, to plan a response to September 11, the DCI told the President that there was no evidence that Iraq was responsible for the attack. The President then advised his NSC Principals on September 17 that Iraq was not on the agenda, and that the initial US response to 9/11 would be to target al-Qa'ida and Taliban in Afghanistan.

Dick Clarke did prepare a memo for the President regarding links between Iraq and 9/11. He sent this memo to Dr. Rice on September 18, after the President, based on the advice of his DCI that that there was no evidence that Iraq was responsible for the attack, had decided that Iraq would not be a target in our military response for 9/11. Because the President had already made this decision, Steve Hadley returned the memo to Dick Clarke on September 25 asking Clarke to "please update and resubmit," to add any new information that might have appeared. Clarke indicated there was none. So when Clarke sent the memo forward again on September 25, Dr. Rice returned it, not because she did not want the President to read the answer set out in the memo, but because the President had already been provided the answer and had already acted based on it."