Quote:
Originally posted by mml
Frankly, from what I can tell Clarke is saying that we, as a nation, dropped the ball years and years ago and have looked at it from time to time but have never bothered to pick it up. I am not going to defend anyone on this issue. Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and now W. Bush all have to share blame. I hope that this country learns from this commission and makes the appropriate changes in policy. I also hope that the current administration decides to be more cooperative with the commission, Condoleeza Rice in particular.
I find it "refreshing" (if that's the right word) that Clarke, in fact, blames himself in part for the 9/11 attacks. We would be a much stronger nation if those parties who are to blame, accepted this blame and helped us to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.
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Well, we're in agreement about the fact that all administrations up to 9/11 have been unproductive against the terrorist threat. The jury is still out (and will be out for a long time) on whether the Bush Doctrine, as it's sometimes called, will have any lasting success.
I hold little hope for this commission however. It has already become far too politicized and nothing significant will come from it. There will be some nuggets for the Republicans to bitch about that the Democrats did and the same for Dems bitching about Republican action or inaction. In sum they will be a wash and there will be little change to the current process/systems.
As far as Clarke, I see his gesture of taking "some" blame as token and given his high level involvement in anti-terrorism action over the last decade or more I hold him just as responsible as the Senators and Representatives who failed to act in our nations best interests by pushing agendas against terrorists. Of course, our Commanders in Chief are more responsible than all because none took the lead and stood up to the rising threat against our citizens.