This concerns the editorial "Clarke attacks" (SN 3/25). The State News mentions that in the administration's effort to impugn the character of Richard Clarke instead of answer his claims, Dick Cheney says Clarke was "out of the loop."

What The State News - and every thinking person - should ask is, "If the head of counterterrorism for the U.S. federal government was 'out of the loop' regarding terrorism, then who does Cheney think wa s in the loop?" What precisely was the loop, if it didn't include experts on terrorism? It seems Cheney's claim that Clarke was out of the loop, if it proves anything, proves the allegations Clarke himself makes.

James Lambert
philosophy graduate student