The White House launched a massive campaign Monday to discredit Richard Clarke, its former counterterrorism czar, who publicly criticized the Bush administration for failing to focus on al Qaeda before Sept. 11 while being obsessed with attacking Iraq.

Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and claimed that Clarke “wasn’t in the loop, frankly, on a lot of this stuff.”

Cheney’s comments contradicts a report in the Washington Post today that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice ordered Clarke to be the “crisis manager” on the morning or Sept. 11 to oversee the U.S. response to the attacks.

Meanwhile Rice herself appeared on all five network morning shows defending the administration. By 11 a.m. the Washington Post reported the White House had booked 15 interviews on cable news channels.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan dismissed Clarke’s criticism by saying “This is Dick Clarke’s ’American grandstand.” He also charged that Clarke, who was a registered Republican in 2000, came forward for political reasons. McClellan said it’s “more about politics and a book promotion than about policy.”

Democratic operative Jim Jordan told the Washington Post the White House attack on Clarke was expected. He said “Anything that contradicts the legend and recasts Bush as weaker and less sure-footed than previously thought is a huge problem for Bush, and Clarke’s account certainly does that.”

Meanwhile the liberal think tank Center for American Progress posted internal government documents on its website Monday that add more proof to Clarke’s charges. One document shows Attorney General John Ashcroft proposed a reduction in counterterrorism funds one day before the 9/11 attacks. Another shows that before Sept. 11 dealing with terrorism was not one of the Justice Department’s seven strategic goals. And a third shows the White House slashed the FBI requested counterterrorism budget by two-thirds after Sept.11.