Richard A. Clarke, the nation's former counterterrorism chief
and the MBA's Gala Dinner keynote speaker, has been quoted recently
in ABC News reports on national security issues.
Finding fault with CIA report
Clarke, a terrorism commentator for ABC News after serving as an
advisor to the last four U.S. presidents, took issue with the 2005
CIA's inspector general report made public Aug. 21 that claims
former CIA Director George Tenet "bears ultimate responsibility"
for failing to prevent Sept. 11. The report notes there were
"failures to implement and manage important processes, to follow
through with operations, and to properly share and analyze critical
data" and says that Tenet "did not use all his authorities in
leading the (intelligence community's) strategic effort' against
Osama bin Laden.
"That's not fair," Clarke was quoted in ABC News reports online
regarding Tenet's actions. "Of course there was a strategic effort,
and he did raise the issue at the highest levels of
government."
Clarke, who will be the keynote speaker at the MBA's Gala Dinner
on Nov. 1, is the best-selling author of Against All Enemies, in
which he discusses the government's failure to adequately address
the terrorist threat. He is currently chairman of Arlington,
VA-based Good Harbor Consulting LLC, which provides security risk
consulting to businesses operating internationally.
Analyzing Pakistani prisoner's release
Clarke was also quoted in an Aug. 21 ABC News report analyzing
Pakistan's release of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a man whose arrest
led to an increased terror alert in New York, New Jersey and
Washington, D.C. U.S. officials have said they believed he played a
role in collecting surveillance information on potential financial
targets in the United States.
"Khan apparently had agreed to cooperate with Pakistani
officials and was engaged in a sting operation against al Qaeda
when his name showed up in the U.S. press as part of a story about
planned attacks in the U.S., which appeared during the U.S.
presidential election," Clarke said in the ABC News report. "Khan
may have bargained for an early release because he cooperated."
As a former government official, Clarke specialized in
intelligence, cyber security and counter-terrorism for more than
three decades. He is best known for his work as the chief
counter-terrorism advisor on the U.S. National Security Council
preceding and following Sept. 11.
Gala Dinner, Signature Events details
The MBA's Gala Dinner event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 1 at
the new InterContinental Hotel on Boston's waterfront. The dinner
will take place in the luxury hotel's 10,500-square-foot Rose
Kennedy Ballroom.
The MBA's three other Signature Events will be the second annual
Bench-Bar Symposium, which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 11, at
the John Adams Courthouse in Boston; the Access to Justice Awards
Luncheon on Thursday, March 6, at the JFK Library Museum in Boston;
and the MBA CLE Conference on Monday, April 28, at the Sheraton
Boston Hotel.