The first point, I think the overall point is, there was no
plan on Al Qaeda that was passed from the Clinton
administration to the Bush administration.
Second point is that the Clinton administration had a
strategy in place, effectively dating from 1998. And there
were a number of issues on the table since 1998. And they
remained on the table when that administration went out of
office--issues like aiding the Northern Alliance in
Afghanistan, changing our Pakistan policy, changing our
policy towards Uzbekistan. And in January 2001, the incoming
Bush administration was briefed on the existing strategy.
They were also briefed on these series of issues that had not
been decided on in a couple of years.
And the third point is the Bush administration decided
then, you know, mid-January, to do two things. One,
vigorously pursue the existing policy, including all of the
lethal covert action findings, which we've now made public to
some extent.
And the point is, while this big review was going on, there
were still in effect, the lethal findings were still in
effect. The second thing the administration decided to do is
to initiate a process to look at those issues which had been
on the table for a couple of years and get them decided.
So, point five, that process which was initiated in the
first week in February, decided in principle, in the spring
to add to the existing Clinton strategy and to increase CIA
resources, for example, for covert action, five-fold, to go
after Al Qaeda.
The sixth point, the newly-appointed deputies--and you had
to remember, the deputies didn't get into office until late
March, early April. The deputies then tasked the development
of the implementation details of these new decisions that
they were endorsing, and sending out to the principals.
Over the course of the summer--last point--they developed
implementation details, the principals met at the end of the
summer, approved them in their first meeting, changed the
strategy by authorizing the increase in funding five-fold,
changing the policy on Pakistan, changing the policy on
Uzbekistan, changing the policy on the Northern Alliance
assistance.
And then changed the strategy from one of rollback with Al
Qaeda over the course [of] five years, which it had been, to
a new strategy that called for the rapid elimination of Al
Qaeda. This is in fact the time line.
Sen. Frist on "Outrageous Charges by Richard Clarke"