Condi Rice testifies before 9-11 commission

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by joncha
ok, you win Jaguar. Clinton and Bush both suck.

You do realize that you conceded defeat for somebody else, don't you?


I believe that neither Clinton nor Bush were at all prepared. However, they cannot really be blamed.

"Bin Laden determined to attack inside US"

A terrorist who hates America wants to attack America? Oh my ****ing God, what a newsflash! Obviously this wasn't true until August-September 2001, so Bush should have increased security then.

[oedo]

One interesting fact about the memo is that the page numbers at the bottom are blacked out. An article in the german magazine "Die Zeit" mentioned the 08/06 PDB already more than one year ago. It said

Crawford, 6. August 2001. US-Präsident George W. Bush macht Urlaub. Den ganzen Monat will er auf seiner Ranch in Texas verbringen. Jeden Morgen steht aber weiterhin das "Presidential Daily Brief" auf dem Programm. Im "PDB", wie es im CIA-Jargon heißt, wird dem Präsidenten von hochrangigen CIA-Mitarbeitern die Sicherheitslage dargelegt. An diesem Morgen unterrichtet der CIA-Direktor persönlich den Präsidenten. Sein PDB-Papier hat statt der sonst üblichen zwei bis drei diesmal elfeinhalb bedruckte Seiten und trägt die Überschrift Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U. S. Der CIA-Chef führt darin aus, dass al-Qaida dazu übergegangen sei, auch innerhalb der USA Anschläge durchführen zu wollen, und sich vermutlich längst Mitglieder der Terrororganisation in den Vereinigten Staaten befänden. Es ist nicht sicher, ob der CIA-Direktor den US-Präsidenten über die Aussagen von verhafteten Al-Qaida-Mitgliedern informiert. Nach ihren Darstellungen denke die Terrororganisation schon seit längerem darüber nach, Flugzeuge zu entführen, um sie als Raketen zu benutzen.
http://www.zeit.de/archiv/2002/41/20...ungspannen.xml

The bolded part says this PDB (titled with...) had 11 1/2 pages instead of the usual 2-3 pages a PDB usually has. That would mean that 10 pages of this PDB are still classified.

I'm also wondering what to do with Condoleeza now for saying under oath, that this PDB would contain no warning. This (declassyfied part of the) memo actually contained warnings as it contains references to other secret service sources. So Condoleeza misspoke again?

[joncha]

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior

You do realize that you conceded defeat for somebody else, don't you?

Doesn't bother me in the least.

[The Mad Monk]

APRIL 10--Under pressure from the September 11 commission, the White House today declassified and released an intelligence digest given to President George W. Bush weeks before the 2001 terrorist attacks. The confidential President's Daily Brief (PDB) for August 6, 2001 contained a two-page section entitled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US," and refers to possible hijacking attempts by Osama bin Laden disciples and the existence of about 70 FBI investigations into alleged al-Qaeda cells operating within the United States. The August 6 PDB, an excerpt from which you'll find below, was presented to Bush while he vacationed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The digest is prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, an official from which briefs the president on the report's contents. While Bush critics have described the August 6 PDB as a warning of an impending al-Qaeda attack, Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, testified Thursday that the document contained "historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information." (2 pages)

It was part of a much larger memo including other topics.

Considering that some were predicting WAR WITH CHINA just a few months earlier, that shouldn't be unexpected.

[The Mad Monk]

BTW Chegitz, exactly what are you saying Dr. Rice lied about?

[oedo]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
It was part of a much larger memo including other topics.

Remember the title of the memo was "Bin Ladin determined to strike in US", not ""Bin Ladin determined to strike in US and other topics":

BEN-VENISTE. Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the Aug. 6 P.D.B. warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that P.D.B.
RICE. I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the P.D.B. -
BEN-VENISTE. Thank you.

That's what also my article said: The whole memo was titled with "bin Ladin determined...".

[The Mad Monk]

How did Ben-Veniste know? Obviously, he had already seen the memo in question. Is he, or anyone else on the committee, complaining about the unreleased sections?

[oedo]

No, they're certainly on Easter vacation yet.

But it's most interesting that a German magazine knew the title of that memo already in '02.

[The Mad Monk]

I'm also wondering what to do with Condoleeza now for saying under oath, that this PDB would contain no warning. This (declassyfied part of the) memo actually contained warnings as it contains references to other secret service sources. So Condoleeza misspoke again?

What actionable warning was there? The last few lines say that the FBI and CIA are on top of the situation and already taking action.

All the specifics mentioned are already three years old at the time the memo was put out. (Davout, that seems pretty "historical" to me)

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by oedo
No, they're certainly on Easter vacation yet.

As if politicians would let a holiday get in the way of a soundbyte.

But it's most interesting that a German magazine knew the title of that memo already in '02.

FLASHBACK: May 27, 2002
Graham: We Had Same Info as Bush
by David Freddoso
Posted Apr 9, 2004

Editor's note: This article orginally appeared on the cover of the May 27, 2002, issue of HUMAN EVENTS.]

Sen. Bob Graham (D.-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told HUMAN EVENTS May 21 that his committee had received all the same terrorism intelligence prior to September 11 as the Bush administration.

"Yes, we had seen all the information," said Graham. "But we didn't see it on a single piece of paper, the way the President did."

Graham added that threats of hijacking in an August 6 memo to President Bush were based on very old intelligence that the committee had seen earlier. "The particular report that was in the President's Daily Briefing that day was about three years old," Graham said. "It was not a contemporary piece of information."

Graham's comments contradicted combative statements made recently by the Democratic congressional leadership, and confirmed White House assertions that the only specific threats of al Qaeda hijackings known to the President before September 11 came from a memo dating back to the Clinton Administration

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3558

Not really.

[oedo]

Now, appearantly Condoleeza had a hard time avoiding an open lie in front of the comission. And most likely she will get away with what she said. I don't really care if she will be put on trial for what she said or not.
I want to know what happened in 911, before, during and after that attacks. I want to know who are the "weak links" in the administration and why they're still in power. Also I want to know if the attacks were a foreseeable desaster and if some people in the administration or the secret service decided to just let it happen on pupose or not.

[The Mad Monk]

Again: What lie?

[The Mad Monk]

Most of the weak links were in the Clinton holdovers in the FBI.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by DAVOUT


Rather than having the memo disclosed, the commission should have asked : Is there any reference to the WTC in the memo?

Oh -- and thank you for asking this question.

The answer is simple: They never expected the Bush Administration tocomply.

The release of such a memo, like the public hearing of the National Security Advisor, sets a precedent no administration would normally agree to. They expected the Bush Administration to object, and delay, and fight this thing, just like the Rice hearing, and so drag this entire mess weeks or months closer to election day, while making Bush look more suspect.

Bush outsmarted them by rolling right over.

[oedo]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk Again: What lie?

Again, I don't really care if Condi lied or not when she said, this PDB contained no warning. If the president was warned before and the memo would contain nothing, but information the goverment already knew before, then it truly wasn't a warning. The actual warning would have been made before this PDB then.

That, however,would provide that the president already knew even before 08/06 that AQ was planning attacks inside the USA and that preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York were going on.