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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
9/11 Hearings: Fmr Counterterror Chief Clarke Blasts Bush
on 9/11 Saying "Your Government Failed You"
9/11 Hearings: Clarke Defends Against Accusations of Partisanship
9/11 Hearings: Clarke Details Controversial Post-Sept. 11
Saudi Flight
9/11 Hearings: Clarke Accused of Telling Reporters Different
Story in 2002 Briefing
Condoleezza Rice Threatens Jamaica Over Aristide
8:01 - 8:11 Headlines
8:11 - 8:12 One Minute Music Break
8:12 - 8:27 AM - 9/11 Hearings: Fmr Counterterror
Chief Clarke Blasts Bush on 9/11 Saying "Your Government
Failed You"
President Bush's former counterterrorism chief, Richard
Clarke, blasted the Bush administration Wednesday during the
9/11 hearings for not considering terrorism to be an urgent
issue before the Sept. 11 attacks. Clarke also accused Bush
of undermining the war on terror by invading Iraq. We play
extended excerpts of his testimony.
The Commission investigating the September 11th attacks has
wrapped up its 2 days of hearings in Washington. And with
a few exceptions, the hearings brought little new to the surface.
Largely, the questioning was tame and friendly. The biggest
buzz of the day surrounded the testimony of former Counterterrorism
Chief Richard Clarke.
Before Clarke testified, the commission heard from CIA director
George Tenet and President Clinton's National Security Adviser
Sandy Berger.
Noticeably absent from the hearings was National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Throughout the two days of hearings,
commissioners publicly reiterated their request that Rice
testify under oath. She has refused, citing separation powers.
To testify in her place, the White House dispatched Undersecretary
of State Richard Armitage. While his testimony produced some
interesting discussion about Rice's absence, it was Richard
Clarke's testimony that made news.
His testimony comes amidst a political firestorm over the
publication this week of his book "Against All Enemies."
The book accuses the White House of ignoring the threat posed
by al Qaeda leading up to 9-11 and that Bush wanted to strike
Iraq immediately after the attacks, despite no evidence that
Baghdad was involved.
Clarke is widely viewed as a leading figure in national security
circles. He held top posts under every president since Reagan
and served as both President Clinton and President Bush's
top anti-terrorism official.
With family members of victims of the World Trade Center
attacks sitting behind him, Clarke began his testimony.
8:27 - 8:28 AM One Minute Music Break
8:28 - 8:37 AM - 9/11 Hearings: Clarke Defends Against
Accusations of Partisanship
Former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke came under
fierce attack by the Bush administration who sought to discredit
him and accused him of partisanship after the publication
of his book "Against All Enemies" that slams the
White House's handling of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent
war against Iraq. Clarke defended himself at the 9/11 hearings.
8:37 - 8:45 AM - 9/11 Hearings: Clarke Details Controversial
Post-Sept. 11 Saudi Flight
In the most extensive comments by a public official to date,
former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke describes the
events surrounding the evacuation of dozens of Saudis days
after 9/11 when all commercial and private flights were grounded.
In September last year, Clarke revealed that top White House
officials approved the evacuation of 140 influential Saudis,
including relatives of Osama Bin Laden, days after the Sept.
11 attacks at a time when all commercial and private flights
were grounded.
We covered this story in detail last week when we spoke with
Craig Unger who broke the story to Vanity Fair in September
and is author of the new book "House of Bush, House of
Saud." Commission member Tim Roemer yesterday asked Clarke
about the controversial flight. His testimony represents the
most extensive comments made by a public official on the subject
to date.
8:45 - 8:46 One Minute Music Break
8:46 - 8:50 AM - 9/11 Hearings: Clarke Accused of
Telling Reporters Different Story in 2002 Briefing
After getting clearance from the White House, FOX news published
a transcript of a background briefing Clarke gave to reporters
in 2002. Clarke came under fire from critics who alleged that
none of the accusations made in his book "Against All
Enemies" were made in the 2002 briefing. He defended
himself at the 9/11 hearings.
Another source of controversy during Clarke's testimony was
a background briefing he gave in early August 2002 to a handful
of reporters. Early yesterday, FOX news published the transcript
of the briefing on its website after getting clearance from
the White House.
In it, Clarke describes the handover of intelligence from
the Clinton administration to the Bush administration. Clarke
came under fire from Commission member James Thompson, a former
Republican governor of Illinois, who alleged that none of
the book's attacks on Bush can be found in Clarke's 2002 briefing.
8:50 - 8:58 AM - EXCLUSIVE: Condoleezza Rice Threatens
Jamaica Over Aristide
Randall Robinson, who accompanied Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide on his historic return trip back to the Caribbean,
reveals that National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice is
telling the Jamaican government if Aristide is not immediately
expelled from the country and anything happens to American
forces in Haiti, consequences would be exacted against Jamaica
in full force by the U.S.
National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice has refused to
appear before the 9-11 Commission to give sworn testimony.
But she has been very busy on a different front: The situation
in Haiti. Rice and other officials have very publicly expressed
their anger at President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to
the Western Hemisphere on March 15, after spending 2 weeks
in the Central African Republic. The Haitian President is
currently in Jamaica with his wife, Mildred, and their two
young daughters. The Bush administration has characterized
Aristide's return to the Caribbean as inflaming the situation
in Haiti and has gone as far as to label his presence an incitement
to violence. Aristide maintains that he was kidnapped as part
of a US-orchestrated coup.
Just as the Aristides were settling into their temporary
life in Jamaica, news broke that the 15-nation Caribbean Community-CARICOM,
had sent a formal request to the government of Nigeria, asking
them to host Aristide. Jamaica, CARICOM and the Nigerian government
have all indicated that pressure was being put on them by
Washington.
- Randall Robinson, an author and founder of TransAfrica.
He is a close friend of the Aristides. He was on the delegation
that returned President Aristide to the Caribbean.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu
(RAY MA MU), Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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