Rumsfeld 'Wanted To Bomb Iraq' After 9/11
By Ted Bridis in Washington
But Mr Clarke, who is expected to testify on Tuesday before a federal panel reviewing the attacks, said Mr Rumsfeld complained in the meeting that "there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq." A spokesman for Mr Rumsfeld last night said he could not comment immediately.
Mr Clarke makes the assertion in a book, Against All Enemies, published tomorrow. In an interview for CBS's 60 Minutestonight he says he believes the administration sought to link Iraq with the attacks because of a long-standing interest in overthrowing Saddam Hussein. "I think they wanted to believe that there was a connection" between Iraq and the al-Qa'ida attacks in the US, he says. "There's absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al-Qa'ida."
Mr Clarke also criticised Mr Bush for now promoting his efforts against terrorism."Frankly, I find it outrageous that the President is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism," he told CBS. "He ignored terrorism for months."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------