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Bush, George W.

White House Denies Claims of Iraq Focus Over Al Qaeda Amidst Intensifying Fallout

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, has recounted a conversation between President Bush and Richard A. Clarke, the top counterterrorism adviser, on the day after the September 11 attacks. According to Ms. Rice, President Bush asked Mr. Clarke to investigate whether Iraq was involved in the attacks, while Mr. Clarke has claimed that the Bush White House became fixated on Iraq and Saddam Hussein at the expense of focusing on Al Qaeda.

Key Takeaways:

  • The White House has acknowledged a conversation between President Bush and Richard A. Clarke on September 12, 2001, in which President Bush asked Mr. Clarke to investigate whether Iraq was involved in the attacks, contrary to previous claims that the conversation never took place.
  • Condoleezza Rice has stated that President Bush was simply asking a "perfectly logical question" given the United States' "actively hostile relationship" with Iraq at the time.
  • Richard A. Clarke has claimed that the Bush White House became fixated on Iraq and Saddam Hussein at the expense of focusing on Al Qaeda, contrary to the administration's claims.
  • The White House has denied Mr. Clarke's accusations, but the conversation has sparked a political fallout, with analysts suggesting that the claims could do significant damage to President Bush's foreign policy record.
  • Condoleezza Rice has appeared on "60 Minutes," where she was asked about the events leading up to the September 11 attacks, but the White House has refused to make her appear publicly before the commission investigating the attacks.
  • Richard A. Clarke has released a statement urging the Bush administration to make public his testimony to a joint Congressional committee that was investigating the attacks, as well as memorandums and materials from Condoleezza Rice and the administration, to demonstrate the consistency of his claims from 2002.
  • Mr. Clarke claims that declassifying the testimony would show that the Bush administration failed to take aggressive action against Al Qaeda before the September 11 attacks.
  • The White House has disputed Mr. Clarke's testimony, citing inconsistencies in his accounts from 2002 and 2003 but no clear contradictions have been identified.

Statistics:

  • The Bush administration did not begin a major counterterrorism policy review until April 2001, according to the public report of the joint Congressional inquiry into September 11 intelligence failures.
  • Significant slippage in counterterrorism policy may have taken place in late 2000 and early 2001, in part because of Richard A. Clarke's unresolved status as head of counterterrorism.
  • Condoleezza Rice has met with the commission investigating the September 11 attacks, but the White House has refused to make her appear publicly before the commission.

Sources:

  • "Bush at War" by Bob Woodward
  • Public report of the joint Congressional inquiry into September 11 intelligence failures
  • Interview with Condoleezza Rice on "60 Minutes"
  • Interview with Richard A. Clarke on NBC's "Meet the Press"
  • Statement from the White House press office

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