Does Clarke contradict his book with this quote?

[buycitgo]

this is from ABC News tonight; their debunking of Moore's movie.

in this quote, they, in non-sequitur manner, btw, try to refute the fact that the Saudis got preferential treatment in leaving the country

they do this by saying that the person who let them go was Richard Clarke, who they say is a main source of Bush bashing in the movie.

the point they make is IRRELEVANT to their argument, as who cares WHO OK'd it.....it HAPPENED. talk about bait and switch

furthermore, my point here is, I think Clarke contradicts his version of these events, as told in his book, which I passed on.

here's the EXACT quote from the news.....I taped it:

CLARKE: I thought the flights, uhhhhhh, were, correct, uhhhhh, the Saudis had reasonable fear, uhhhhh, that they might be the subject of vigilante attacks in the united states--after 911. and there is no evidence even to this date that any of the people who left on those flights were people of interest to the FBI.

didn't he object in his book to the quick exodus of the saudis, especially without more than cursory interrogation? and I KNOW that he was ordered by the FBI to let them go; that's for SURE

can somebody help out?

[buycitgo]

1. come ON!!!!!

if he does contradict himself, isn't this HUGE?

shouldn't the pugs pounce on Clarke, or is he old news?

oh, wait, if they do that, then how can one believe what he just said?

David Brock in reverse situation here?

[librechik]

3. they are pouncing--Clarke is enemy number 1 around the Freeper pond

IMO, the FBI told him they were vetting it and since things were a little hectic, he let it go on their say so. He had enough integrity to take responsibility for the mistake later, when it turned out to be a wrong move, instead of dunping the blame on some lower functionary/ Showed some class.

[KittyWampus]

2. Richard Clarke's OPINION On Saudi Flight Is IRRELEVANT

The only RELEVANT point is WHO REQUESTED THE FLIGHTS?

Who set those flights up before people were interviewed by FBI?

[chookie]

4. The Libya analogy

Sure, Clarke may well have okayed this. Wanting to spare innocent family members of Osama's grief and harassment might well have been a nice motive.

But -- as Moore himself has responded to this point -- if the hijackers had been Libyans, and Khadaffi's family was trying to hightail it out of the US -- do you think they would have been assisted in the same fashion the Saudi's were? Hell no.

There are strong division in Saudi society and the royals, with factions friendly to the US, and otherwise -- and the evacuation may have reflected that division. Fair enough. But still does not refute the very close ties the Bush family has to the Saudis and bin Ladens, and the financial stronghold the Saudis have in the US which may have been leveraged in this and many other situations.

Clarke's admission also does not blow away the fact that this violated SOP for any investigation. As the FBI guys says -- sure, they probably didn't have anything to do with events, but ordinarily we STILL would have talked to them as a matter of course.

Leaving Clarke for a moment -- what about Woodward's book, which makes the claim that Bandar Bush was going to help his little buddy out by making sure lots of oil was pumped out in the final months of the presidential campaign?

I don't blame them all for lying about this -- when people find out about the nature of ties between the Saudis and the Bushes, they will be appalled -- and what Moore brings up here are only a few details in a much larger picture. It's catching up to them, and yes, it is very bad, and it is very destabilizing -- but hey -- they had to understand the risks in doing what they did -- it's not OUR fault for just reporting it.

[Individualist]

5. I don't have Clarke's book now, but

did find the following concerning his testimony before the commission in March:

"The request came to me, and I refused to approve it," Clarke testified. "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."

The article goes on to state that the FBI has denied approving the flight.

www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38669

Given the above info, my guess is that the authorization for the Bin Ladens' flights came from Chimpy.

[buycitgo]

6. the FBI denied approving flights?

that's TOTAL bull

did they quote somebody in the FBI

Clarke AND Watson admit that, and Watson, in an article linked here somewhere, says that there was almost NO questioning done of anyone--very cursory, at best--AND that only 20 to 40 TOPS, of the 150 or so Saudis who left, were questioned AT ALL!

doesn't anybody care about this story?

I do, but I gotta go

WTF is UP with Clarke?