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Richard Clarke, Who Said “We Failed” Before 9/11, Now Says “We Panicked” Afterwards: Preparing The Nation To Respond Resiliently If Next Terror Attack Succeeds

May 10th, 2010 · No Comments

Whether the U.S. was lucky or good (or little of both) that the attempted terror incidents in Times Square last week and on the airliner near Detroit on Christmas Eve failed, the fact is that terrorists are going to pull off a successful attempt at some point, maybe soon. So, it is important that the Administration focus the nation on what happens when that happens. And, that’s where former presidential terrorism adviser Richard Clarke has been focusing on of late.

This weekend, I posted Clarke’s Washington Post piece op-ed, “The Times Square Bomb Failed. What Will We Do When The Next Bomb Works,” in which he suggests seven points that political leaders of both parties should agree on in advance “about our efforts to battle terrorism”.

But I was even more struck by an interview he gave to Fareed Zakaria on Sunday’s CNN show “GPS”. Clarke came to national attention for stating, during the 9/11 Commission Hearings, “Your government failed you, those entrusted with protecting you failed you, and I failed you.” He made a similar kind of declaration in this interview, saying: “we panicked, everyone did, we overreacted.”

“We are going to have one of these attacks succeed and I think what we have to start talking about now, as a nation is what our reaction is going to be, because the last time 9/11 happened and we panicked. I panicked, everyone did, we overreacted, and in many ways the things we did were counterproductive.Other things we did were wasteful. Some things we did destroyed our own value system. So, we should have this discussion now, if there is another attack and it’s successful, what are we going to do and what are we not going to do this time?”

Though his statement may be taken as a political point, put that aside for the moment and focus on the general theme. I think most Americans would agree that after 9/11 many of our institutions reacted (understandably) in sometimes extreme or at least abnormal ways — some counterproductive, some productive, some necessary, some still debateable. Clarke is just saying it would be helpful to discuss how we should as a society and a political system deal with the next successful one, particularly as we are getting so many warnings it is going to happen.

It is often argued that England, which went through the wave of the Irish Republican Army attacks, is a useful model for how U.S. society should react. Clarke says that’s true but to a point:

…Their reaction is don’t panic, carry on. That is sort of the World War II spirit from the blitz and they did very well with that after the attacks in the London underground. But the British and the Israelis, another example of a country that has a lot of terrorist attacks and gets on with it both Israel and Britain have changed as a result of the terrorism that has been taking place over the years.

Their laws are a little bit more draconian, their civil liberties are a little bit more restricted and I think we have to be very careful in this country that we don’t change in that way. Because it’s not necessary in order to fight terrorism to really erode your own civil liberties.

As Clarke notes, it is so important that we regain our societal equilibrium after the next terror attack. Though political leadership may be the most important element in finding that balance, the public also has a role in helping guide its leaders on where it should be. The Obama Administration has been talking about societal resilience but has not been as frank and specific as Clarke has been over the past couple days. It’s not an easy public discussion to have — acknowledging that we’re going to get hit (even if we’ll bounce back). But I think by raising the subject in advance will only strengthen the chances they’ll be a resilient mindset afterwards.

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Tags: Preparedness Ideas · See Something/Terrorism Tips

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