Tom Clancy - Political Views

Political Views

Tom Clancy has been a life-time supporter of conservative and Republican causes in America. His books bear dedications to conservative political figures, most notably Ronald Reagan. A week after the September 11, 2001 attacks, on The O'Reilly Factor, Clancy stated that left-wing politicians in the United States were partly responsible for September 11 due to their "gutting" of the Central Intelligence Agency. Clancy has also associated himself with General Anthony Zinni, a critic of the George W. Bush administration, and has been critical of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as well.

On September 11, 2001, Clancy was interviewed by Judy Woodruff on CNN. During the interview, he observed that Islam does not condone suicide. Among other observations during this interview, Clancy cited discussions he had with military experts on the lack of planning to handle a hijacked plane being used in a suicide attack and criticized the news media's treatment of the United States Intelligence Community. Clancy appeared again on PBS's Charlie Rose, to discuss the implications of the day's events with Richard Holbrooke, soon-to-be-discredited New York Times journalist Judith Miller, and Senator John Edwards, among others.

Countries portrayed in Clancy's novels as hostile to the United States include the former Soviet Union, North Korea, Syria, China, Iran, Palestine, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, India, and Japan. By contrast, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Germany, South Korea, Israel, Pakistan, Australia and the United Kingdom are shown as close allies of the United States.

Clancy has been a Life Member of the National Rifle Association since 1978.