[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 5566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            WE HAVE REASON TO BE SKEPTICAL OF RICHARD CLARKE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I want to know which Richard Clarke we are 
supposed to believe. On his watch for 8 years our country suffered four 
terrorist attacks: in 1993 the New York World Trade Center, the Khobar 
Towers in 1996, in 1998 two African U.S. embassies, and in 2000 they 
attacked the USS Cole. Then in 2001, the 9/11 attacks occurred. The 
Clinton administration did nothing. It merely attacked some empty tents 
and a Sudan aspirin factory with a few cruise missiles. Richard Clarke 
himself admitted to PBS in 2002 that they should have taken out 
terrorist camps in Afghanistan in the 90s; but, according to him, there 
were ``other considerations'' that prevented this action.
  Now Clarke attacks the Bush administration. Now he is suggesting that 
going into Iraq has diverted us from the more important goal of 
defeating al Qaeda, that we cannot do both. He is wrong. When we were 
attacked on 9/11, President Bush did not waste any time. He used the 
full power of our Nation to take out the Taliban and hunt down 
terrorists. Clarke even praised the President for his leadership.
  Richard Clarke is guilty of the worst kind of spin, changing his 
story to avoid blame and make a profit on his new book.

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