Clark calls Iraq distraction from al-Qaida

Retired Army General Wesley K. Clark said yesterday that the Bush administration, distracted by plans to invade Iraq, discounted intelligence on Al Qaeda handed over by outgoing Clinton administration officials in 2000, leaving security gaps that made it easier for Osama bin Laden's terrorist agents to strike on Sept. 11, 2001. ... ''They didn't do everything they could have before 9/11 to prevent the tragedy that was 9/11,'' Clark said on board his campaign plane. ''This is a story that needs full investigation.''
Yesterday, Clark -- who served during the Clinton administration in several high-ranking Army positions -- went into further detail than he has in the past, saying Clinton's national security team had compiled a lengthy intelligence record on Al Qaeda ... [and] spent months devising a detailed special operations plan to dismantle Al Qaeda that was in place in 2000.
''They built a plan and turned it over to the Bush administration,'' said Clark, who said the plan was ignored. ''This administration failed to do its duty to protect the United States of America before 9/11.''
Full Boston Globe article.