Dick Clarke: Liar Extraordinaire (Chapter 47)
I suppose the leftists will see me as a shill for Bush by pointing out, once again, proof that Dick Clarke is a shameless liar. Remember when he testified before Congress that he had not approved those flights that whisked bin Laden family members out of the country? Here’s Clarke, then:
The request came to me, and I refused to approve it. I suggested that it be routed to the FBI and that the FBI look at the names of the individuals who were going to be on the passenger manifest and that they approve it or not. I spoke with the — at the time — No. 2 person in the FBI, Dale Watson, and asked him to deal with this issue. The FBI then approved…the flight.
We knew when he said this that it was a lie. What we didn’t know is that he would soon admit that it was a lie.
Here’s Clarke now, speaking of the very same flights in an interview with The Hill:
I take responsibility for it. I don’t think it was a mistake, and I’d do it again. It didn’t get any higher than me. On 9-11, 9-12 and 9-13, many things didn’t get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI.
I’ve said it before (many, many times) and I’ll say it again: this guy’s credibility is zero.
A tip of the virtual hat to Power Line.
The LA Times and Their French Experts
This blog will never match the depth of Patterico’s LA Times examination including yesterday’s entry on Rathergate and the facts omitted by the Times. However occasionally, something irks me so much that it bears mention. Today’s report on Al Qaeda…
Trackback by Calblog — 9/26/2004 @ 11:02 am
[...] P.P.S. Clinton today repeatedly touted Dick Clarke’s book as the final word on what really happened. In Wallace’s interview of Rumsfeld, Wallace noted “apparent contradictions in [Clarke’s] story” — an obvious thing to bring up because, indeed, there were numerous contradictions. Clarke has serious credibility issues, as I have explained before, many, many times. As these links show, Clarke has elaborated his claims of Bush’s fixation on Iraq. He has at times claimed that he approved the request for bin Laden family members to be flown out of the country, and at other times that he denied the request. [...]
Pingback by Patterico’s Pontifications » Chris Wallace Has Indeed Grilled Bush Officials About Failing to Get Osama Before 9/11 — 9/24/2006 @ 4:57 pm