Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

Terrorism had not been a concern of either Reagan or Bush. When Clinton came to office in 1993, Clarke observed, there was no difference. Clarke was one of the few Bush appointees asked to stay on: he was tasked with "Global Issues," one of which was terrorism. Clarke learned of the first World Trade Center bombing from Brent Scowcroft, Bush's National Security Advisor: who did it, Scowcroft had demanded over a secure line on a secure telephone on Clarke's desk. Clarke, who had not known about the truck bomb, feigned the universal response--we're working on it-- and then called a meeting: Up until that point--February 26th, 1993, when the World Trade Center was truck bombed--no one had even conceived of what they called terrorism occurring on national soil.

Neither the FBI nor the CIA recognized names on the list of suspects. The Egyptian...