Bush administration officials sought Monday to discredit a former counterterrorism advisor who made potentially damaging election-year claims attacking President George W. Bush's administration's handling of terrorism and the Iraq war.
Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism chief under Bush, criticized the president in his new book \Against All Enemies"" and in a ""60 Minutes"" interview Sunday. He said the Bush administration did not treat al Qaeda as a serious threat before Sept. 11, 2001 and tried to use the attacks as an excuse to invade Iraq.
Clarke's claims come in the midst of a special panel investigation into whether the White House could have prevented the 2001 attacks. Clarke is scheduled to testify to the panel Wednesday. The assertions also come as presidential campaigns intensify between Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said in a news conference Monday the timing of the claims raises questions into Clarke's motives.
""Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he's raising these grave concerns that he claims he had,"" McClellan said.
Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice were among the Bush administration officials who turned to the airwaves to voice defense to the claims and concern about Clarke's credibility. The White House also released a written rebuttal refuting Clarke's claims in a myth-versus-facts style.
According to UW-Madison political science Professor Charles Franklin, the White House's response to the Clarke claims show they are taking him seriously.
Franklin said Clarke appears credible on the surface because he was highly placed and does not appear obviously partisan. Clarke has worked for the Reagan, Clinton and both Bush administrations.
However, Franklin said there is no way for the public to independently judge the veracity of Clarke's claims.
""It's not obvious to me that there's a real smoking gun here,"" Franklin said, adding that with ambiguous evidence, people will interpret the claims along their prior partisan leanings.
UW-Madison political science Professor Donald Downs said Clarke's allegations may add to the argument against invading Iraq but will probably have little political impact at this stage in the presidential campaign.
Democrats including former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., have spoken and released statements in support of Clarke.
