More evidence that Richard Clarke is nothing but a liar, looking to sell a book...
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Condi Debunks Myth of Clinton Millennium Plot Success
Breaking from NewsMax.com
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told the 9/11 Commission Thursday morning that it was an alert Customs agent - and not the Clinton administration "shaking the trees" for intelligence on al-Qaida - who deserves credit for foiling the December 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport.
"It's questionable to me ... that somehow shaking the trees was what broke up the Millennium [Plot]," Rice told the 9/11 probers, referring to claims by Clinton terrorism czar Richard Clarke that White House alerts had the nation's security apparatus on the lookout for trouble.
In fact, said Rice, Clarke himself admitted that the Clinton administration's warnings had nothing to do with the apprehension of Millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam.
"After September 11, Dick Clarke sent us the after action report that had been done after the Millennium Plot," Rice told the Commission. "And their assessment was that Ressam had been caught by chance."
What's more, at the time Clarke said the White House had gone to "battle stations" based on intelligence an attack was coming, the Customs Bureau received no warnings from Clinton officials about potential al-Qaida attacks.
"I've checked with Customs," said Rice. "And according to their records, they weren't actually on alert at that point."
Instead, said the top Bush official, a Washington State-based Customs agent and her partner deserved credit for saving LAX.
"It was because a very alert Customs agent named Diana Dean and her colleague sensed something about Ressam," Rice explained.
"They saw that something was wrong. They tried to apprehend him. He tried to run. They then apprehended him, [then] found that there was bomb-making material and a map of Los Angeles in his car.
"Dick Clarke would say you got a lucky break," Rice told the Commission. "I would say you had an alert Customs agent who got it right."