Op-Ed Columnist: The Wrong War

He remembers taking a short break for a bite to eat and a shower, then returning to the White House very early on the morning of Sept. 12. He writes:

"I expected to go back to a round of meetings examining what the next attacks could be, what our vulnerabilities were. . . . Instead, I walked into a series of discussions about Iraq. At first I was incredulous that we were talking about something other than getting Al Qaeda. Then I realized with almost a sharp physical pain that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were going to try to take advantage of this national tragedy to promote their agenda about Iraq."

Soon would come the now-famous encounter between Mr. Clarke and President Bush in the White House Situation Room. According to Mr. Clarke: "[The president] grabbed a few of us and closed the door to the conference room. `Look,' he told us, `I know you have a lot to do and all . . . but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way.' "

"I was once again taken aback, incredulous, and it showed. `But, Mr. President, Al Qaeda did this.'

" `I know, I know, but . . . see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred. . . .' "

The president wanted war with Iraq, and ultimately he would have his war. The drumbeat for an invasion of Iraq in the aftermath of the Qaeda attack was as incessant as it was bizarre. Mr. Clarke told "60 Minutes" that an attack on Iraq under those circumstances was comparable to President Roosevelt, after Pearl Harbor, deciding to invade Mexico "instead of going to war with Japan."

The debate in Washington about Clarke's book and his testimony has become vigorous. Good! If the Bush administration starts to defend itself vigorously, it will have been flushed out, and the truth will out as well.

Here's an article about Bill Frist's speech in the Senate. Funny, he seemed like such a respectable guy when I heard him speak at the Reagan Library in April 2002.

Leaders of G.O.P. Try to Discredit a Critic of Bush