Late Final: : "Oh Barf"

"Oh Barf"

Richard Clarke: American Hero, or bitter, middle-management flunky?

Newsweek's piece on the 9/11 commission investigation points this out:

A senior administration official who worked closely with former counterterror chief Richard Clarke and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice tells Newsweek that Clarke, "resented working for Condi." "As a result, he would not come to our staff meetings." The official showed Newsweek several internal White House e-mails from the winter and spring of 2001.
In one, a staffer pointedly informs Clarke, "Condi noted your absence this morning." In an e-mail to Rice, the staffer quotes Clarke's response: "Oh Barf. Shut up. I'll talk to Condi." Clarke tells Newsweek, the complaints were "trivial" and says he was sending junior staffers to her meetings to give them "face time" with her. His disputes with Rice were over policy, "never personal," he says.

That's what all this has been about? Petty office politics? Some day, all of these records and emails will be made public at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. And then history can judge.

By Ed Moltzen · 29 March 2004

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This is a public lynching. Clinton had 8 years to deal with Al-Queda and Bush had 8 months. I found your blog in a search for a link between Kerry and Halliburton and used it as a link to make my point. If this is not ok let me know and I will take it off. This blogging thing is new to me. Mark

Posted by: mark at March 29, 2004 12:40 PM

"Face time"? Isn't Clarke's big complaint about Bush that he (Bush) wouldn't take meetings with him (Clarke); i.e., no face time? It sounds to me like Clarke was resentful that *he* was never made National Security Advisor, and this is his way of getting back. But, of course, any attempt to analyze the man's record or motives, or even respond to his charges, is instantly labeled by the left as an "attack" or a "smear."

Posted by: Dana at March 29, 2004 02:27 PM

The story that's emerging is of a man who had very little, if any, respect for Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld or anyone on the Bush team.

If his response to a colleague for missing a meeting with the NSA was "Oh Barf. Shut up...," it provides more of a texture to Clarke's overall attitude toward the Bush Administration than his book, '60 Minutes' or his testimony have yet provided.

Posted by: Ed at March 29, 2004 03:25 PM

If it is just petty office politics, then why would Clarke want *all* of the emails disclosed?

In fact, Tim, let's go further. The White House is selectively now finding my e-mails, which I would have assumed were covered by some privacy regulations, and selectively leaking them to the press.

Let's take all of my e-mails and all of the memos that I sent to the national security adviser and her deputy from January 20th to September 11th, and let's declassify all of it.

Posted by: xade at March 29, 2004 11:08 PM

And the source link to the above quote from Clarke. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32055-2004Mar28.html

Posted by: xade at March 30, 2004 01:12 AM