Men like Richard Clarke do not, as a rule, write books. Mandarins of the national security establishment who long ago embedded themselves in the bureaucracy, the closest they ever come to anything like public authorship is via the pens of others. They frequently speak to journalists, sometimes on the record as adjuncts of the political master du jour; other times, only… return to article
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Reader Comments (9)Page 1 of 1 pagesExcellent. The fact Clarke, his recent interviews and his book haven’t better succeeded in persuading the public of Bush et co.‘s inadequacies is key to major disappointment. Non-partisans who would simply like a more competent replacement in the White House be that Democrat or Republican, become concerned, nay terrified at the prospect of the country being led (?) for 4 more years by this 40% absentee incumbent from his office in Washington but 100% absentee from any reasonable thought process.
Posted by George Hamilton on Apr 15, 2004 at 7:13 PM Wonderful article. Unfortunately the sound bytes geared to denouce this man, who appears to be a straight shooter, have grasped the imagination of the television culture mentality. Hopefully the findings of the 9/11 commission are fair and americans will begin to understand Clarke’s motivation was only to set the record straight and not spite.
Posted by marta cooper on Apr 16, 2004 at 2:33 AM Appreciate reading your reasoned and measured appraisal of Mr. Clarke’s book. I only wish you or someone else of a reasonable, rational nature could tie together the observations of other recently published authors—specifically Hans Blix “Disarming Iraq” and Zbigniew Brzezinski’s “The Choice.” Blix and Clarke especially were and are in a unique position to speak with authority on specifics…one on the illusive weapons of mass destruction and the other on the roots of terrorism. And Mr. Brzezinski is the only one so far to offer a reasonable argument as to how we proceed from here.
Posted by Fred Dulaney on Apr 16, 2004 at 1:05 PM With all my heart, I just want to thank Mr. Vest for his efforts to wake people up to how very, very EVIL this administration is!! I guess when the Thief stole the election we should have guessed it was because he/Halliburton had an ‘agenda’, and the very, very sad results are now obvious for people to see, but only if they wish to see, but no one is as blind as those who cover their eyes, and this so-called neo-con movement is the most possessed, and evil group that I have seen yet in 63 yrs.
They all are the deciples of GREED, who have surrendered their whole minds and hearts(if they ever had one) to GREED.
The resources that they need are in someone else’s country? Hell, just pre-emptively take over! Elections? Hell, pre-empt them! Voting machines, sure, we can also pre-empt the popular vote. The popular vote just desenfranchizes the GREEDY, so pre-empt it!
THE THIEF IS THE ANTI-CHRIST!
Posted by Rose Hunter on Apr 16, 2004 at 1:44 PM An honest and reasonable assessment of Mr. Clark and his book. The article “Path to War” in the current Vanity Fair magazine adds important information to the debate. We, as loyal and patriotic citizens need to be as informed as possible! It is in our country’s name that we permit our government to operate, and it is supposed to reflect our will as a people. This is not simply “Cowboys and Indians”! We all now know that the truth of this earlier US history was inverted to make the Indians the bad guys and the Cowboys the good guys. Why then when we (as well as most of the civilized world) know that our government, in lock step with a few other governments, lied and decieved their own people in order to cajole them into sanctioning violent aggression against a hapless and suffering nation; should we not want to discover the truth about how we got where we are, in order to figure out how to move to a proper solution for all of the people involved. My message for our “leaders” is twofold: “Blessed are the peacemakers” and “The Public Good before Private Advantage”.
Posted by Thom on Apr 16, 2004 at 8:30 PM An honest and reasonable assessment of Mr. Clark and his book. The article “Path to War” in the current Vanity Fair magazine adds important information to the debate. We, as loyal and patriotic citizens need to be as informed as possible! It is in our country’s name that we permit our government to operate, and it is supposed to reflect our will as a people. This is not simply “Cowboys and Indians”! We all now know that the truth of this earlier US history was inverted to make the Indians the bad guys and the Cowboys the good guys. Why then when we (as well as most of the civilized world) know that our government, in lock step with a few other governments, lied and decieved their own people in order to cajole them into sanctioning violent aggression against a hapless and suffering nation; should we not want to discover the truth about how we got where we are, in order to figure out how to move to a proper solution for all of the people involved. My message for our “leaders” is twofold: “Blessed are the peacemakers” and “The Public Good before Private Advantage”.
Posted by Thom on Apr 16, 2004 at 8:30 PM John’s response was intelligent and thought-provoking.
Seriously: great job in assessing that the facts of the book are less important than the fact that it was written at all. . .
Great article.
Posted by Ed Mellon on Apr 16, 2004 at 11:10 PM I think it is acts like Clarke’s that keep the world without new man made nuclear crators. I as strongly as possible forward Richard Clarke as a nominee for the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Worldwide praise for being forthright and correct will keep the informers informing easier and one would hope, a safer planet for all of us, even the neocons.
Posted by Jeffko on Apr 17, 2004 at 2:58 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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