Page 527

Clarke to NSC Front Office and others,"Captured Al Qida Terrorist Met UBL Then Were to Attack US in Saudi
Arabia," June 29, 2001.

181. President Bush and Vice President Cheney meeting (Apr. 29, 2004).
182. Condoleezza Rice meeting (Feb. 7, 2004); Donald Rumsfeld meeting (Jan. 30, 2004); Paul Wolfowitz inter-

view (Jan. 20, 2004); Stephen Hadley meeting (Jan. 31, 2004).

183. See CIA memo, "History of Funding for CIA Counterterrorism," Aug. 12, 2002. One of Clarke's con-

cerns had been the level of funding for counterterrorism in the new administration's first budget. See, e.g., NSC
memo, Clarke to Vice President Cheney, Feb. 15, 2001.

184. NSC note to Hadley, undated (attached to NSC memo, Cressey to Rice, aid to Northern Alliance and

Uzbekistan, Mar. 2, 2001).

185. Condoleezza Rice meeting (Feb. 7, 2004). Rice remembered President Bush using this phrase in May

2001, when warnings of terrorist threats began to multiply. However, speaking on background to the press in August
2002, Richard Clarke described a directive from the President in March 2001 to "stop swatting at flies" and "just
solve this problem." A reporter then said to Clarke that he understood Bush to have given that direction in May,
and Clarke said:"No, it was March." Fox News transcript,"Clarke Praises Bush Team in '02," Mar. 24, 2004 (online
at www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,115085,00.html).

186. Barton Gellman,"A Strategy's Cautious Evolution: Before Sept. 11, the Bush Anti-Terror Effort Was Mostly

Ambition," Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2001, p. A1.

187. President Bush and Vice President Cheney meeting (Apr. 29, 2004).
188. NSC notes, John Bellinger notes from March 7, 2001, meeting; NSC email, Cressey to Rice and Hadley,

"BIN LADIN on the USS COLE," Mar. 2, 2001; CIA briefing materials, Deputies Committee Briefing, "Coun-
tering the Threat from al-Qa'ida," Mar. 7, 2001.

189. Condoleezza Rice meeting (Feb. 7, 2004). On the Iraq PC, see Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack (Simon &

Schuster, 2004), p. 13. On the Sudan PC, see NSC memo,"Summary of Conclusions for March 27, 2001 Princi-
pals Committee Meeting on Sudan,"Apr. 10, 2001; CIA notes, Houdek's notes on March 27, 2001, Principals Com-
mittee meeting. On others, see NSC document, list of meetings, Jan. 20 to Sept. 11, 2001, undated.

190. CIA briefing materials,"U.S. Policy Against Al Qa'ida" (for the Apr. 30, 2001, Deputies Committee meet-

ing). On the DC meeting, see also NSC email, Clarke to NSC Front Office,"Request for DC on al Qida Terror-
ism,"Apr. 16, 2001. DCI Tenet had already talked with Rice and Hadley about Bin Ladin and al Qaeda, the Taliban,
and the Predator program. See, e.g., CIA memos, summary of weekly Rice/Tenet meeting, Jan. 24, 2001; Feb. 7,
2001; Mar. 8, 2001 (when Rice received CIA assessments on the possible impact of Taliban actions against al Qaeda
and on the likely regional impact of increased aid to anti-Taliban groups in Afghanistan). Both Secretary Powell
and Secretary Rumsfeld appear to have already been briefed on these topics by the DCI as well. See, e.g., CIA
briefing materials, talking points on the Predator for DCI meeting with Rumsfeld, Feb. 9, 2001; CIA briefing mate-
rials, talking points on Bin Ladin, the Taliban and Afghanistan for DCI meetings with Powell, Feb. 13, 2001; Mar.
13, 2001.

191. NSC memo, Summary of Conclusions for Apr. 30, 2001, Deputies Committee meeting.
192. Ibid.
193. NSC memo, Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) Chairman's Summary Paper,"Key Issues for Al-Qida

Deputies Meeting," Apr. 19, 2001.

194. For threats considered by the CSG, see NSC memo, agenda for March 19 CSG videoconference, Mar.

19, 2001 (agenda item about UBL interest in targeting a passenger plane at Chicago airport); NSC memo, agenda
for CSG threat videoconference, May 17, 2001 (agenda item,"UBL: Operation Planned in US"). For Clarke's con-
cern about an al Qaeda presence in the United States, see NSC briefing materials,TNT to Rice, counterterrorism
briefing for Bush/Cheney transition team, undated, which noted that al Qaeda had "sleeper cells" in more than 40
countries, including the United States; NSC memo, "Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Net-
works of al Qida: Status and Prospects," undated (appears to be Dec. 29, 2000), attached to NSC memo, Clarke to
Rice, Jan. 25, 2001, discussing al Qaeda's presence in the United States. For Clarke's concerns about an attack on
the White House, see NSC email, Clarke to Rice, briefing on Pennsylvania Ave, Mar. 23, 2001.

195. For the President's announcement, see White House press release,"Statement by the President, Domestic

Preparedness Against Weapons of Mass Destruction," May 8, 2001 (online at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/
2001/05/print/02010508.html).

196. CIA memo, summary of weekly Rice/Tenet meeting, May 29, 2001.
197. Ibid.
198. Richard interview (Dec. 11, 2003).
199. CIA memo, summary of weekly Rice/Tenet meeting, May 29, 2001.
200. NSC memo, Hadley to Armitage,Wolfowitz, McLaughlin, and O'Keefe,"Next Steps on al-Qida," June 7,

2001.

201. NSC memo, draft National Security Presidential Directive, undated; Condoleezza Rice testimony,Apr. 8,

2004.

510

NOTES TO CHAPTER 6

FinalNotes.4pp 7/17/04 4:26 PM Page 510