Richard A Clarke

Cyberspace security often seems reminiscent of the movie "Groundhog Day," in which a TV weatherman played by Bill Murray wakes up and relives the same day over and over. After each massively disruptive software infection or hacking episode, users and computer administrators briefly get security religion, swearing that this time they really will take precautions and get things fixed.

IT'S hard to know precisely what to make of writers like Richard A. Clarke, which makes his rather tedious new techno-thriller worth a few minutes of rumination. Clarke, you may recall, is a longtime national security official who served presidents Clinton and George W. Bush as special White House advisor for counter-terrorism. He was in that post on Sept.

With polls showing most voters unhappy about President Bush's handling of the economy and divided over his course in Iraq, the president's strongest asset in the 2004 campaign has been the unwavering sense among most Americans that he is providing resolute leadership against terrorism. But two days of public testimony before the independent commission investigating the Sept.

Richard CLARKE'S revealing book "Against All Enemies" makes clear that he is perhaps the single most improbable hero American liberals have ever revered. Working inside the U.S. government, Clarke repeatedly urged leaders to set aside or evade the ban on political assassinations overseas. He was a strong believer in the use of U.S. military power.

Blindsided by a controversy over its corporate ties to the publisher of Richard Clarke's book, "60 Minutes" has promised that it will not happen again. So when it reports Sunday on Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack," "60 Minutes" will say that publisher Simon & Schuster and CBS are both owned by Viacom. When that wasn't said during the March 21 report on Clarke's "Against All Enemies," published by Simon & Schuster subsidiary Free Press, it provided fuel for Clarke's critics.

The former White House counterterrorism chief who has heaped criticism on President Bush's response to terrorist threats protested the use of his voice and words Wednesday in an anti-Bush television commercial. Richard Clarke told Associated Press that he wanted the ad, which quotes him directly, pulled from CNN, Fox News Channel and other news outlets. The ad was sponsored by a political action committee of MoveOn.org, a group opposed to Bush's reelection.

Former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said Thursday that national security advisor Condoleezza Rice did nothing to disprove his criticisms of the Bush administration's war on terrorism. If anything, Clarke contended, his former boss' lengthy testimony before the Sept. 11 commission raised additional questions about whether Rice and President Bush could have done more to counter the threat posed by the global terrorist network.

The battle over Richard Clarke's allegations that the White House played down Al Qaeda's threat to the U.S. enters its second week today, with the former counterterrorism czar and top Bush administration officials scheduled to make the rounds of major talk shows. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was booked to appear on "Fox News Sunday," while Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was scheduled to be interviewed on "Face the Nation."

For one of the first times in the presidency of George W. Bush, his White House has been forced onto the defensive. And the general atop the battlements is his national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice.

Excerpts from Wednesday's testimony before the commission investigating the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: Richard Clarke Former counterterrorism advisor under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. "To the loved ones of the victims of 9/11, to them who are here in the room, to those who are watching on television, your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you and I failed you. We tried hard, but that doesn't matter because we failed.

Blindsided by a controversy over its corporate ties to the publisher of Richard Clarke's book, "60 Minutes" has promised that it will not happen again. So when it reports Sunday on Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack," "60 Minutes" will say that publisher Simon & Schuster and CBS are both owned by Viacom. When that wasn't said during the March 21 report on Clarke's "Against All Enemies," published by Simon & Schuster subsidiary Free Press, it provided fuel for Clarke's critics.

Former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke's best-selling book may be a movie. Sony Pictures Entertainment has bought the film rights to "Against All Enemies," Sony Vice Chairwoman Amy Pascal said. In the book, Clarke, a counterterrorism advisor to the last three presidents, charges that the Bush administration gave Iraq priority above Al Qaeda before and after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said Thursday that national security advisor Condoleezza Rice did nothing to disprove his criticisms of the Bush administration's war on terrorism. If anything, Clarke contended, his former boss' lengthy testimony before the Sept. 11 commission raised additional questions about whether Rice and President Bush could have done more to counter the threat posed by the global terrorist network.

The former White House counterterrorism chief who has heaped criticism on President Bush's response to terrorist threats protested the use of his voice and words Wednesday in an anti-Bush television commercial. Richard Clarke told Associated Press that he wanted the ad, which quotes him directly, pulled from CNN, Fox News Channel and other news outlets. The ad was sponsored by a political action committee of MoveOn.org, a group opposed to Bush's reelection.

Most Americans accept Richard Clarke's key criticisms of President Bush's anti-terrorism record, but a majority also thinks that politics influenced the timing of the charges by the former White House aide, a Los Angeles Times poll has found. Nearly three-fifths of those surveyed echoed the contention by Clarke that Bush placed a higher priority on invading Iraq than combating terrorism.

At the Athena Book Store in Kalamazoo, Mich., owner George Hebben ordered six copies of Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" because, he said, he had an inkling they would sell. "That's a lot of books for us," he said. "This is not 'The South Beach Diet.' " Now, he said, he has 10 requests for "Against All Enemies" on back order, and turns away customers daily. The book, by the former counterterrorism chief for presidents Bush and Clinton, is hardly a light read.

President Bush's national security advisor Wednesday stepped up her defense of the administration's anti-terrorism efforts, calling two unusual news briefings in which she sought to discredit the president's chief critic.

The Senate's cavernous committee rooms have played host to many momentous hearings into government crises and scandals, but few like this week's sessions on the Sept. 11 attacks. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building was the capital's epicenter of exceptional drama and extreme conflict.

The battle over Richard Clarke's allegations that the White House played down Al Qaeda's threat to the U.S. enters its second week today, with the former counterterrorism czar and top Bush administration officials scheduled to make the rounds of major talk shows. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was booked to appear on "Fox News Sunday," while Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was scheduled to be interviewed on "Face the Nation."

Key congressional Republicans on Friday called for declassifying the testimony that former White House anti-terrorism chief Richard Clarke delivered behind closed doors to a congressional panel two years ago. GOP leaders contended it would show whether Clarke's testimony in 2002 contradicted his recent public criticism of how the Bush administration dealt with terrorism before Sept. 11.