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1-1-2004

J'Accuse for the Bush Administration: A Review of Richard A. Clarke's Against All Enemies: Inside America's

Mark R. Shulman Pace Law School

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Recommended Citation Shulman, Mark R., "J'Accuse for the Bush Administration: A Review of Richard A. Clarke's Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror" (2004). Pace Law Faculty Publications. 309. https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/309

This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOOK REVIEW CRGANIZATIONS J'accuse for the BUSPIAdiministration RESEARCHING TERRORISifi Review of Richard Clarlie's iignilrst A A. All EN~III~~.s:AND HCMELAND I/rside illlrericcl'r 11~21.oil Error (2004) SECURITY The Brooltings Institution Taking Richard Clarke literally, President Street, and Clarke ordcrcd the evacuation of Gcorge Bush is an cnemy of the United Inndmarks and federal buildings across the StatcsThe tide and the preface of his best- country The Coast Guard and then the Navy selling account of AmericaS ~tlugglewith moved ships to defend the nation's major terrorism refer to the oath of office ports against the use of tankers as weapons sworn by oficers of the U S Thc Kremlin was also notified to forestall government to "misunderstanding and miscdculatian." "support and defend In thcface ofofmass tni~rder,rhoor, and the constitution against the rmknou,r, ronir ipecialpeoplc mnnngc dl enemies foreign and to ntojnfoin tbcirpoisc nnd work eBc- domestic."The enemies at fiwcly Clarke is one of thore rare irmdi- issue are d (&cda and the .uidrrolr,That is not to say everything administration of George W remained cool, calm or collected in Bush. Clarke charges the for- the White IHousc throughout mer with numerour; terrorist that terrible day Clarke referred www cs~sorg atracla on thc United States, its to the Vice President with a term Federation of American friends and interests over the past suitable for a dignified law review to decade He charges the latter with republish except in aiticles analyzing freedom Scientists failing to protect the nation against d Qeda of exprcssion. Clarke's language when inquiring www fas org attaclw, instead undertaking unnecessary war how known d Qedn opcnnds were permitted "to test personal theories or expiate personal to board the planes is similarly unprintable. eritage Foundation yilt or revcnge." Hc further accuses the Clarke5 salty prose gives his narrative an adminisuation of conspiring to use future tcr- additional veneer of verisimilitude. This is rorist attacks as a pretext for "further ~ssaults important because the book content is not on our rights and civil libcrtics " Mirch like otherwirc aU that news Virtually all the Emile Zolni '~mrrrrse"1~ttt);whotjo110~1 La important information had already been made dcmilrd ofldnwit in support ofa con~plnint public prior to its publication. Thc notability nflegitig 6kb crinv,i~rand ,nirdmiranorr ofAgair~rtA/lEr,err,irrsterns not for the infor- Notwithstanding thc drama of there allc- mation it contains but for the credibility of its gations, the most exciting section of the booli author - the person uniquely qualified to is a first-hand account of Richard Clarke's present the "red story" of America's war on September 11,2001 As Chair of the White terrorism. House's Counterterrorism Support Group, While unique, Richard Clarice represents Clarke led the crisis response on that awful a type He has dedicated his career to the www rand.org morning With Vicc President Dick Chcney technical work required for protecting his relaying the orders, Clarke had the Executive country Over the course of three decades, he Mansion evacuated and the president rose steadily but unremarlwbly through the removed to a sccurc location Some 4,400 ranlu, owing to his zealous dedication to the Infrastructure Protection and Counrertcr- civil aircraft were grounded, and NORAD mechanics of national security Along the way, rorism by Bill Clinton While G W Bush (see Programs of Note, page 35) was ordcrcd he managed portfolios ranging from nuclear continued Clarke in that key position, hc to shoot down those planes thzt failed to weapons to intelligence, rising to the rank downgraded it to the sub-cabinet icvel comply Even before the first tower collapsed, of assistant secretary of state for political- Deputies Committee - a portentous signal the government obtained evidence that the military affairs under President G H W, about the importance the new president hijackers were members of d Qedn Fearing Bush Having served two Republican prcsi- attached to terrorism prior to Scptcmber 11, a wider attack, Mayor Rudy Giulinni ordered dents with distinction, he was appointed the 2001. For half a ye=, Clarke worked to con- ihe evacuation of Manhattan south of Canal Erst National Coodinetor for Security, vene a Cabinet level meeting to address the 21 Qeda threat, a meeting that finally took and launched the attacks committing grave place on Scptcmbcr 4 Clarkc implies that crimcs against individuals, thc Unitcd Statcs the Adminisuationh relative neglect of the and against humanity In response, the al @eda thrcat prior to 9/11 determined in President dcclarcd war against terrorism not great part what follawcd in and an the on the nctwodi responsible for the attacla. home front. Imagine that Winston Chuichill had stood Clarke's most sensational claim is that bcforc Parliament in the dark dayr of 1940 and the President immediately sought to link the declared YWar on Blihkrieg " At a time when amck; of September 11 to Saddam Hurrcin the nation faces rmly significant threats, why E,ven bcforc the dust had settled, Prcsidcnt invite a piling on by declaring war on every Bush grabbed Clarke to order him to "go back group that could possibly be said to employ tcr- over everything, cvcrything Scc if Saddam did rorist tactics? This includes scores of groups and this See if' he's linked in any way" Defense thousands of individuals who had not previous- secretary and his deputy ly borne a grudge against the United States. Paul Wolfowin voiced similar sentiments in Instead of war in Iraq, Clarke's sweeping the effort to build a case for invading Iraq concluding chapter advocates expending - an item at or near thc top of their agenda national treasure on the fight to eliminate al long before September 11Working with @eda and its allies, stabilizing the Secretary of State and his Deputy to nip against a resurgence ofthe Taliban, and this misguided plan in the bud, Clarke vented increasing America's own resilience to furure "Having been attacked by al @eda, for us attacks At the same rime, hc expands on his now to go bombing Iraq in icsponsc would concerns that John Ashcroft's mismanagement be like invading Mexico after the Japanese of civil liberties issues has undercut the wiU- atrackcd us at Pcail Harbor" Indccd ingnesr of "Amcricms to trust their govern- Following the release of this boot and ment." In a widely overlooked passage, Clarke Clarke's televised testimony before the 9/11 intriguingly concludes, "Thus, those of us who Commission, the Administration attempted to most cherish Amexica's civil liberties should rcfutc his claims. With apparent confirmation bc in the forefront of advocacy far effective, from such insider sources as those reflected in appropriate security measures with meaningful Bob Woodwd Plnrt (Attack, however, oversight and review mechanisms, such as a thcsc efforts have wnncd Civil Libcrrics and Security Board" Clarke clearly laments the fact that the Agairxt aNEnernicswill Wdy serve as an President chose to sttack Iraq rather than important source [or historians The first hand pursuing al Caeda with single-minded deter- accounts of the battles - bureaucratic and mination. Clarkc declaims also the PrcsidcntS otherwise - waged against al @cda are supple- stingy approach to liomcland security, a concept mented by work by journalists (most notably he accepted only when forced upon him. In Woodward), the 9/11 Commission, and light of the failure to find WMD, the on-going wenrudy hy additional memoirs. That said, I turmoil in Iraq and the increased incidence suspect that the debam of fume historians hzve of terrorist atracks around the world, his &elready been hmcd "Either you're with us or complaint continues to gain cogency youic against us " Publication of Chdm's Surprisingly, Clarkc belicvcs that "any book along with his highly public testimony leader whom one can imagine as President on before the 9/11 Commission laund~cdthe September 11 would have dcclarcd a'war on brozder public debate. Several months later, terrorism.'" To the contrary, even President with the widespread release of Michael Moore's Reagan's Navy SecrctqJohn Lehman, a Fahrcnhcit 9/11, the tide appears to be tuning, member ofthe 9/11 Commission, bas recently polls indicate that for the fist dme a majority of obrerved,"Our enemy is not terrorism Om the country believe that the conquest of Iraq enemy is violent, Islamic fundmentalism." As was a mirnke. This debate wiU continue long with the military campaign to depose the dteiftcr the war has ended Bdathist regime, many responsible analysts believe the "war on terrorism" is a tragic detour from the path to defeating al Q7cdn and its REVIEWED BY allies Members of a non-state network planned MARK R SHULMAN

THE NYU REVIEW OF LAW &SECURIN I FALL 2004