Tom Ridge kisses and tells on Bush's 'terror levels'
For those who had their doubts about the politics behind the Bush administration鈥檚 鈥渨ar on terrorism,鈥� Tom Ridge鈥檚 new book will fuel long-held suspicions.
The former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, who was the first head of the Department of Homeland Security, says two top Bush officials 鈥� Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft 鈥� pressured him to up the terror alert level before the 2004 election, according to by publisher Macmillan.
鈥淩idge also charges that he was often 鈥榖lindsided鈥� during daily morning briefings with Bush because the FBI withheld information from him, and says he was never invited to sit in on National Security Council 尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉,鈥� .
Former Bush officials have been quick to push back on Ridge鈥檚 revelation.
Frances Frago Townsend, who coordinated homeland security matters at the National Security Council under President Bush, in his allegation. 鈥淧olitics played no part in any discussion鈥� of the Homeland Security Council, Ms. Townsend insists in The Atlantic.
Not surprisingly, Ridge鈥檚 news has ricocheted around cable TV, radio talk shows, and the blogosphere.
Kansas City Star columnist says Ridge鈥檚 鈥渟erious charges鈥� are 鈥渟cathing.鈥�
鈥淎n abuse so gross 鈥� if Ridge is right 鈥� shows, among other things, what a powerful influence on the all-important tracking polls terror alerts must have had,鈥� on Politico.com. 鈥淎nd it suggests that Obama鈥檚 efforts to keep terror arrests out of the national news are good politics too.鈥�
On the other hand, Jay Bookman, columnist and deputy editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, from the summer of 2004 to find that Ridge may not have been the total white knight his publicists claim.
An Associated Press story with a lead that described the essence of John Kerry鈥檚 failing presidential campaign 鈥� 鈥淭he politics of terrorism has Democrats tied in knots鈥� 鈥� has Ridge warning of 鈥減ossible al-Qaeda terrorist attacks to financial institutions in New York City, Washington, and Newark, N.J.鈥�
In other words, he wasn鈥檛 always fighting off the pressure to send sober warnings that just happened to benefit his boss running for reelection from the White House in the middle of a war that wasn鈥檛 going all that well. The AP story went on to point out that 鈥渢he Bush administration let a 24-hour news cycle pass before acknowledging that most of the intelligence, while recently obtained, was three or four years old.鈥�
Not long after the election that November, Ridge resigned.
鈥淎fter that episode [involving Ashcroft and Rumsfeld], I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government for the private sector,鈥� in 鈥淭he Test of Our Times: America Under Siege ... And How We Can Be Safe Again.鈥�
It鈥檚 not unusual for former government officials to recount their version of history 鈥� for profit and as a means of shaping their reputation. Five years later, Tom Ridge is doing just that.
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