Al Qaeda Threat Is No Exaggeration

Re “Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?” Commentary, Jan. 11: Robert Scheer claims that the Bush administration distorted the threat of Al Qaeda “to push a political agenda.” Why, then, did Richard Clarke, Madeleine Albright and other ineffectual Clinton acolytes testify to the 9/11 commission that they stridently warned the Bush administration about the grave threat of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda? It was these dire warnings that were ignored, they said, by the Bush administration that absolved the Clinton administration of responsibility for not preventing the attacks.

However, if the threat of Al Qaeda has been exaggerated by the Bush team to push its political agenda, then what are we to make of Clarke’s now infamous apology to the 9/11 families? Prior to Sept. 11, if either the Bush or Clinton administrations had vigorously tried to warn the public about the severity of the threat, then taken preemptive steps to prevent an attack, would Scheer have criticized them for practicing “the politics of fear”?

Chris Scibelli

Los Angeles

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Scheer must have passed out on Sept. 10, 2001, and woken up on Sept. 12. That can be the only reason for his denial of the Al Qaeda threat. I look forward to his next piece explaining how the Holocaust didn’t happen.

William Wennerberg

Los Angeles