...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Monday, March 22, 2004
      ( 11:08 AM )
 
MORE Damning Evidence

In case you're looking for independent confirmation outside of Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill (and the 30 other people that have said so) that the Bush administration totally screwed up, the Center for American Progress has compiled a list of government documents that prove the Bush people ignored, procrastinated and then manipulated the terrorism threat on this country.

But the real story is far different, as the following
internal Department of Justice (DoJ) documents
obtained by the Center for American Progress
demonstrate. The Bush Administration actually
reversed the Clinton Administration's strong
emphasis on counterterrorism and counterintelligence.
Attorney General John Ashcroft not only moved
aggressively to reduce DoJ's anti-terrorist budget
but also shift DoJ's mission in spirit to emphasize
its role as a domestic police force and anti-drug
force. These changes in mission were just as critical
as the budget changes, with Ashcroft, in effect,
guiding the day to day decisions made by field
officers and agents. And all of this while the
Administration was receiving repeated warnings
about potential terrorist attacks.

How much more of this can they just brush aside?

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal has decided, two years later, to actually pay attenion.

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