Standard deviation

National | 9/11 HEARINGS: In his criticisms of President Bush, Richard Clarke is offering a far different yardstick for fighting terrorism than the one he offered just a few years ago | Bob Jones

ROBERT McILVAINE CAME prepared for a long day. He stumbled in late for a second round of hearings before the bipartisan commission investigating the 9/11 attacks, sliding into one of the first 12 rows reserved for victims' families. Two-and-a-half years after his son Bobby perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center, he'd learned how to navigate the corridors of power in search of answers. Despite the warm spring weather, he wore a khaki jacket—there's no telling about the air conditioning on Capitol Hill—and he carried both a cup of coffee and a box of Nilla Wafers.

He carried something else, too: a copy of Against All Enemies, the explosive new book by Richard Clarke, formerly the anti-terrorism czar in both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Mr. Clarke would be testifying in a few hours, and his provocative account of the days before and after 9/11 was just one more bit of data to be considered.