Ownership Omitted

And now the most engaging two minutes in television, the latest from the wartime grapevine:

Ownership Omitted

Former Bush and Clinton aide Richard Clarke -- who says in his new book "Against All Enemies" that the Bush administration has mishandled the war on terrorism -- will be testifying before the 9/11 commission this week.

He will be given an hour more than any of the top administration officials, including CIA director Tenet, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Powell. Clarke will get 2 and a half hours, the others only an hour and a half.

By the way, Clarke's new book was the lead story on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night. It was never mentioned that CBS and the book's publisher, Simon and Schuster, are part of the same company, media giant Viacom.

Clarke Criticized Clinton

Clarke's attacks on the Bush administration for not doing enough to stop terrorism mark a striking shift from a man who was only recently attacking the Clinton administration for the same thing.

In an interview for the book "Losing bin Laden" by Richard Miniter, Clarke says he urged an attack on al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

He says that Defense Secretary Cohen said there wasn't enough provocation; that Janet Reno fretted that it might violate international law; CIA Director George Tenet said he wanted to investigate first, and that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was against it for diplomatic reasons. Clinton was against it too.

Clarke says in the book that one of his colleagues remarked after the meeting -- "What's it going to take to get them to hit Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Does Al-Qaeda have to attack the Pentagon?

Saddam's Offer to Israel?

Documents obtained by a prominent Palestinian journalist show that before the war in Iraq, Saddam Hussein offered to recognize Israel if the Israeli government would persuade the United States to stay out of Iraq ... that according to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Nadha.

Ahmad Abu Matar tells the paper, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, that Saddam tried to sweeten the offer by promising to provide Israel with information on Palestinian terrorist organizations. The deal, however, never went through.

Hate Crime Too Much to Handle?

And from the wonderful world of education, a psychology professor from Claremont McKenna College has been put on a temporary, paid leave of absence after her car was vandalized and spray-painted with racial epithets.

Students rallied around professor Kerri Dunn, holding a series of speeches against racism. But she was placed on leave because investigators now say she vandalized her own car. They gave no specific motive. According to the Pasadena Star-News, she denies any involvement.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report