I failed you
I failed you
This is what Dick Clarke said before the 9/11 Commission today
Because I have submitted a written statement today, and I've previously testified before this commission for 15 hours, and before the Senate-House Joint Inquiry Committee for six hours, I have only a very brief opening statement.
I welcome these hearings because of the opportunity that they provide to the American people to better understand why the tragedy of 9/11 happened and what we must do to prevent a reoccurance.
I also welcome the hearings because it is finally a forum where I can apologize 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.
And for that failure, I would ask -- once all the facts are out -- for your understanding and for your forgiveness.
This is the only apology from a former or present Bush Administration official for the gross failures which let 9/11 happen. Despite the unseemly and desperate lies now emitting from the White House, Dick Clarke was the senior WH official handling terrorism, since 1990. All the backbiting and sleazy attempts at discrediting Clarke should be compared to his simple and eloquent statement accepting responsibility for his inability to stop Al Qaeda. Something the president has never deigned to do.
posted by Steve @ 1:30:00 AM
