It will be interesting to see if anybody who has been ripping on the credibility of Clarke will pick up that response to Political Wire's post.
It would by hypocritical, but I wouldn't be surprised if I say it.
You can't say somebody is wrong, not in the loop, and just out for attention, and then quote him.
Then why is the white house fighting tooth and nail against turning over the 8/6/01 PDB to the 9/11 commission? Why on 7/26/01 was Ashcroft warned not to fly domestic commercial aircraft? Why wasn't the flying public warned? Why weren't the cockpit doors directed to be bolted to prevent a possible hijacking?
Then why is the white house fighting tooth and nail against turning over the 8/6/01 PDB to the 9/11 commission?
Even if Clarke's account is true, which I think it is, any pre-9/11 document that mentions hijackings by Al-Qaeda would be enormously damaging. "Overblown" and "politically disastrous" aren't mutually exclusive, after all.
To your questions about Ashcroft and air safety, I've never heard good answers.