I recommend reading the whole article. It's quite disturbing Wed Apr 7, 3:57 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has faced a steady exodus of counterterrorism officials, many disappointed by a preoccupation with Iraq (news - web sites) they said undermined the U.S. fight against terrorism. Former counterterrorism officials said at least half a dozen have left the White House Office for Combating Terrorism or related agencies in frustration in the 2 1/2 years since the attacks. Some also left because they felt President Bush (news - web sites) had sidelined his counterterrorism experts and paid almost exclusive heed to the vice president, the defense secretary and other Cabinet members in planning the "war on terror," former counterterrorism officials said. "I'm kind of hoping for regime change," one official who quit told Reuters. The administration's handling of the battle against terrorism is a key issue for the presidency, and could be key to Bush's re-election effort. Similar charges were made by Bush's former counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, who told the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that the administration ignored the al Qaeda threat beforehand and was fixated on Iraq afterward. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) testifies before the 9/11 panel on Thursday. "Iraq has been a distraction from the whole counterterrorism effort," said the former official, adding the policy had frustrated many in the White House anti-terrorism office, about two-thirds of whom have left and been replaced since Sept. 11. The administration vehemently denies the accusations, and says it is making strong progress in the global war on terror. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...64&e=5&u=/nm/20040407/ts_nm/security_usa_dc_4
