| Richard Clarke is the former head of counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Mr. Clarke is a Republican who has served under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II. He left public service after a brief tenure with W. in 2003 for the usual reasons one "resigns" from the W. Administration. He dared to disagree with King George. Worse for Clarke, he had the audacity to be openly critical of W.'s policies on terrorism.
The former counterterrorism Czar has written a book about his role in this capacity.
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror
I read this book a couple of years ago and highly recommend it to all who want to be informed about the government's efforts on counterterrorism. It also gives us a glimpse into how quickly Cheney established himself as a powerful force in the Bush Administration since Day 1.
On February 1, 2008, Mr. Clarke wrote an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Bush Legacy: Setting a standard in fear-mongering" in which he states:
When I left the Bush administration in 2003, it was clear to me that its strategy for defeating terrorism was leaving our nation more vulnerable and our people in a perilous place. Not only did its policies misappropriate resources, weaken the moral standing of America, and threaten long-standing legal and constitutional provisions, but the president also employed misleading and reckless rhetoric to perpetuate his agenda.
Although we perceive on an intuitive level that we are less safe now than in 2001, it is pretty disconcerting for me when a former counterterrorism Czar makes no bones about the reality in which we find ourselves almost 7 years after 9/11.
Mr. Clarke goes on to discuss W.'s current political posturing on the FISA Bill in which he writes the President has:
misconstrued the truth and manipulated the facts.
Clarke argues that if the Protect America Act were to expire, the U.S. would not automatically halt monitoring and tracking terrorists overseas because the Act would remain intact for a full-year. Clarke insists Bush would not be threatening Congress with his "veto pen" if this were not the case.
For this president, fear is an easier political tactic than compromise. With FISA, he is attempting to rattle Congress into hastily expanding his own executive powers at the expense of civil liberties and constitutional protections.
There you have it folks, Bush wants to expand his executive power to the point he will play politics with our civil liberties and national security. And we know for certain that our Senator John Cornyn supports W. with this reckless, irresponsible and dangerous endeavor. The American people are losing our constitutional rights and yet we are less safe than we were before 9/11.
Mr. Clarke goes on to reveal how Bush will use the fear card drawn from the deck of real dangers that confront us "as a wedge in a vast and partisan political game."
I spent most of my career in government fighting to protect this country in order to defend these very rights. And I know every member of Congress - whether Democrat or Republican - holds public office in the same pursuit.
That is why in 2001, I presented this president with a comprehensive analysis regarding the threat from al-Qaeda. It was obvious to me then - and remains a fateful reality now - that this enemy sought to attack our country. Then, the president ignored the warnings and played down the threats. Ironically, it is the fear from these extremely real threats that the president today uses as a wedge in a vast and partisan political game. This is - and has been - a very reckless way to pursue the very ominous dangers our country faces. And once again, during the current debate over FISA, he continues to place political objectives above the practical steps needed to defeat this threat....
As far as I am concerned our Senator Cornyn is one of W.'s go-to hatchet guys to drive the wedge deeper and deeper. It's all about political sportsmanship over civil liberties, our safety and national security. These boys don't care about any of the above. It's all about scoring political points and "winning."
Clarke goes on to argue that during
these still treacherous times, we can't afford to have a president who leads by manipulating emotions with fear, flaunting the law, or abusing the very inalienable rights endowed to us by the Constitution.
The former counterterrorism Czar concludes by insisting that it is not necessary for Americans to give up our own civil liberties, constitutional rights and protections that our predecessors fought for in order to fight violent Islamist extremists who do not even believe in human rights.
So it is no surprise that in one of Bush's last acts of relevance, he once again played the fear card. While he has failed in spreading democracy, stemming global terrorism, and leaving the country better off than when he took power, he did achieve one thing: successfully perpetuating fear for political gain.
There we have it folks: a reality check from a veteran 30-year Republican government servant who served under four Presidents.
George W. Bush has given us false choices once again and he continues to mislead us through his usual mechanisms of fear, distortion and language manipulation. The sad and tragic end result is, George W. Bush has undermined the Constitutional rights of Americans and he has weakened the national security of the United States of America. His Republican rubber stamps in Washington allowed him to do these unspeakable acts.
If Senator John Cornyn truly wanted to protect and represent his constituents he would have stood up to George W. Bush and called him on his reprehensible behavior. But he did not. Nor has Senator Cornyn ever attempted to block any of W.'s dangerous and reckless political gaming. And rarely, if ever, has the Senator cried out in protest against the President for wanting to turn our nation into a police state. To the contrary the Senator has demonstrated he is more interested in enabling W.'s endeavors in enhancing his executive powers.
Next time Senator Cornyn tries to talk to us about national security and how it is his duty to protect us, let's send him an email informing the Senator that we know the truth about FISA and the Protect America Act. Let us inform our Senator, in no uncertain terms, the true state of our weakened, not strengthened national security. We have sacrificed our civil liberties for what? W.'s lust for increased power?
The junior Senator from the great state of Texas may wish to start packing his bags. |
