Fact-Checking Condi on Anti-Terror Claims

In an interview with the New York Post’s editorial board today, the secretary of state refuted several of Bill Clinton’s claims about Bush & Co.’s dismal record on terror. But Rice’s refutations fly in the face of the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission. Fact-check it here and here.

An account of Rice’s interview by the AP:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged former President Clinton’s claim that he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue Osama bin Laden, and she accused President Bush’s predecessor of leaving no comprehensive plan to fight al-Qaida.

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Fact-Checking Condi at ThinkProgress:

In her interview with the New York Post, Condoleezza Rice claims that the Clinton Administration did not develop a strategy to fight al Qaeda:

... Heres what the 9/11 Commission Report has to say about it:

As the Clinton administration drew to a close, Clarke and his staff developed a policy paper of their own [which] incorporated the CIA’s new ideas from the Blue Sky memo, and posed several near-term policy options. Clarke and his staff proposed a goal to roll backғ” al Qaeda over a period of three to five years [including] covert aid to the Northern Alliance, covert aid to Uzbekistan, and renewed Predator flights in March 2001.

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Fact-Checking Condi at ThinkProgress (pt. 2):

This morning, in the Fox-owned New York Post, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reacts angrily to President Clinton’s criticisms of how the Bush administration approached the terrorist threat during their first eight months in office.

... The 9/11 Commission Report contradicts Rices claims. On December 4, 1998, for example, the Clinton administration received a PresidentŒ’s Daily Brief entitled Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks.” Heres how the Clinton administration reacted, according to the 9/11 Commission report:

The same day, [Counterterrorism Czar Richard] Clarke convened a meeting of his CSG [Counterterrorism Security Group] to discuss both the hijacking concern and the antiaircraft missile threat. To address the hijacking warning, the group agreed that New York airports should go to maximum security starting that weekend. They agreed to boost security at other East coast airports. The CIA agreed to distribute versions of the report to the FBI and FAA to pass to the New York Police Department and the airlines.

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From ftd.de

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice