Clarke then and now

Reader Daniel Aronstein draws our attention to the indirect statement by Richard Clarke from Jane Mayer’s August 4, 2003 New Yorker article, “The search for Osama.” Mayer writes: “Clarke emphasized that the C.I.A. director, George Tenet, President Bush, and, before him, President Clinton were all deeply committed to stopping bin Laden; nonetheless, Clarke said, their best efforts had been doomed by bureaucratic clashes, caution, and incessant problems with Pakistan.” Aronstein archly observes that Clarke seems to have changed his tune.