During his testimony before the 9/11 Commission on March 24, 2004, former counterterrorism chief Richard “Clarke apologized to the American people for not acting in time on the long-growing threat of Islamic terrorism. At the hearing table, calm before the hot lights, Clarke apologized ‘to the loved ones of the victims of 9/11,’ saying, ‘to them who are here in the room, to those who are watching on television, your government failed you, those entrusted with protecting you failed you and I failed you. We tried hard, but that doesn’t matter because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask–once all the facts are out–for your understanding and for your forgiveness.’ ”
– Ron Suskind, The One Percent Doctrine, Page 306