Disputed Claims of Clarke's Book
Journalist Walter Pincus points to a passage on page 237 in which Clarke describes a September 4, 2001 meeting of national security principals in which he states Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "who looked distracted throughout the session, took the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz line that there were other terrorists concerns, like Iraq." Rumsfeld has publicly stated he was not at the September 4, 2001 meeting, and Defense Department officials have confirmed he was not in attendance.
In his book My FBI, Louis Freeh writes:
- "In his book, Clarke recounts a critical 'principals' meeting close to the millennium celebration when Sandy Berger looked hard at Janet, George Tenet, and me, and said, 'We have stopped two sets of attacks planned for the millennium. You can bet your measly federal paycheck that there are more out there and we have to stop them too. I spoke with the President and he wants you all to know...this is it, nothing more important, all assets. We stop this (expletive).'"
According to Freeh, the passage was a "nice tale, but I was never at such a meeting, and Sandy Berger never would have spoken like that in front of the attorney general." (page 298)
Read more about this topic: Against All Enemies
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