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Former counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke tells the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration ignored his proposals to take aggressive action against al Qaeda in the months before the attacks. The White House denies Clarke's charges, and says it was developing its own anti-terrorism strategy at the time of the attacks. Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.

NPR's Martin Kaste continues the week-long series on Latin American cities with a report on Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since Argentina's economy collapsed in 2001, there have been great disparities in wealth and widespread corruption throughout Buenos Aires.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that despite all the missed signals, poor intelligence and lousy communication between counter-terrorist agencies, politics did play a role in early 2001 in the inability of the U.S. government to anticipate al Qaeda attacks in the United States. Testimony before the commission investigating the government's actions before and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks paints a picture of an incoming Bush administration unwilling to see the threat from al Qaeda as urgently as the outgoing Clinton administration did.

After months of delays due to sabotage and looting at oil installations, Iraq is exporting oil again -- more than two million barrels of crude each day, worth about $1 billion a month. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Continuing a week-long series on problems common throughout Latin America, NPR's Martin Kaste reports on the prevalent black market economy in Caracas, Venezuela. Confronted with a shortage of jobs and economic hardship, many residents of the metropolitan capital area have resorted to joining the so-called "informal economy" in order to make ends meet.

Clarke is the former national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism. He held the position in President Clinton's administration and continued for President Bush. He resigned in March 2003. His new book is Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror. In the book he criticizes the Bush administration for failing to heed warnings about al Qaeda before Sept. 11, and for invading Iraq without evidence of a connection to al Qaeda. Clarke also worked for the Reagan Administration and the first Bush administration.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has refused to disqualify himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney, a good friend. Though apparent conflicts of interest have occurred repeatedly throughout the high court's history, recusals remain rare. Hear NPR's Nina Totenberg.

In the second part of our series on the Inland Empire, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that subdivisions are swiftly replacing orange orchards in this area 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and shopping malls are replacing ranches. But some farmers here who want to hang on to their way of life are finding it's still possible.

He calls his latest project a "musical novel." It's a new CD, Greendale, a 10-song cycle with his band Crazy Horse, set in a fictional California seaside town. He also shot a feature film version on Super8, which made the film festival circuit and will be in wider distribution in April.

Commentator David Greenberger has a personal appreciation of the music of Ella Johnson. With her brother Buddy Johnson, a bandleader, the singer was a regular fixture on the New York City club circuit in the 1940s and 1950s. She had many popular hits, including "Since I Fell for You," "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?" and "When My Man Comes Home." Johnson died last month at age 86.