Daily Kos on Clarke — it's not that he's new so much that he's credible and impossible to ignore. And, oh yes, the administration appears to have no substantive response in its arsenal. None. None.
By their own right, the Clarke stuff is not that significant. Or at the very least, not too original. He has said little that we didn't already know around these parts.
But what Clarke has done is simply add fuel to charges alredy floating around — from Paul O'Neil, from David Kay, from others. One person making charges might be spun as the rantings of a disgruntled former employee, or the machinations of a political enemy. But as more of these former officials come out, the damage they wreak on the administration rises exponentially.
We are seeing confirmation upon confirmation upon confirmation. The numbers of whistleblowers are too many to easily dismiss. The news media is no longer doing so, and the administration is reduced to calling in Rush Limbaugh to plead their case (Cheney: Our top counter-terrorism official was “out of the loop” on terrorism matters. And that's their defense!)
If there is no substantive response in the arsenal, that leaves the politics of personal destruction. But how many skeletons can there be in the closet of a guy who held all the highest clearances we have for 20+ years?
And what of Monsoor Ijaz’s attack on Clarke? Clarke’s cyberterrorism frears certainly haven’t materialized either. Seems like he was not effective or influential under any administration, and is lashing out.