Richard's Paying. It looks to me as though the party's on Clarke regarding the media jamboree created by the 9/11 commission. CNN yesterday led with the quote (though today it's dropped into the main report) that said it all- "your government failed you, and I failed you". Some have been reading (or presenting) that as critical of Bush's administration, and Clarke intends it that way, but the evidence given points to a situation where Clarke's idiosyncratic approach met a new administration and found it less flattering to him than the previous one. Clarke's statement only really says 'I was in Government twenty years, and failed. The Bush administration was in Government barely nine months, and failed to appreciate my approach'.

The BBC called it 'political dynamite'. That's ridiculous, since the main criticisms have already been made and Madeline Albright and co have taken the real hits- and they're people whose careers scarcely need dynamiting anymore. To be fair, despite the headlines most of the reports have demonstrated the essential solidity of Bush's defence, not surprising with such a short span of responsibility to defend. Clarke, however, has a long, long time to account for, and it's obvious he's using every trick to do so. If it damages anyone it will be John F. Kerry, but even there it ought not to be 'dynamite' unless he alligns himself with the Clinton past. Enough! Instapundit has much useful digging on the subject.