Rand Beers
"Beers put in 30-plus years working for the federal government in a series of national-security jobs. Unlike Clarke, he is a registered Democrat. But his reputation among career civil servants was sufficiently apolitical that he, like Clarke, received appointments from Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush." [Josh Marshall, The Hill 3/25/04]
Beers is now John Kerry's top national security advisor, but he used to be the NSC's senior director for counter-terrorism for the Bush administration.
He resigned just before the Iraq war, though he nominally denies it was in protest over the invasion of Iraq.
The administration had misplaced priorities.
"The administration wasn't matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. They're making us less secure, not more secure," said Beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his National Security Council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism. "As an insider, I saw the things that weren't being done. And the longer I sat and watched, the more concerned I became, until I got up and walked out." [Washington Post 6/16/03]The Iraq war cost us in the war on terrorism.
Beers criticized the administration's focus on Iraq, which he said came at the expense of domestic security, damaged America's international alliances and could help breed a new generation of terrorists.
"I continue to be puzzled by it," said Beers, who did not oppose the war but felt the U.S. should have built a broader coalition. "Why was it such a policy priority?" He said the evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction – the official rationale for war – "was pretty qualified, if you listened carefully."
He said many of his colleagues considered Iraq an "ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy."[CBS News 6/16/03]
Former White House counter-terrorism coordinator Rand Beers, who resigned in March just before the Iraq war began, said that U.S. troops, CIA paramilitary officers and intelligence collection devices were withdrawn from Afghanistan and refurbished for use in the war against Iraq.
Beers - who now works for the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. - added that war with Iraq added to U.S. difficulties in committing the security force or aid needed to stabilize Afghanistan.
"We missed some opportunities," Beers said. [Knight Ridder 11/30/03]