9-11 Transcripts Indicate 'Criminal Act'

[DoYouEverWonder]

AP Wire

December 29, 2003, 5:11 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Minutes after hijackers slammed into the World Trade Center, police alerted airport control towers that they considered it "a criminal act," according to newly released Port Authority transcripts.

The agency on Monday released the final set of transcripts from emergency communications during the Sept. 11 terror attack. The disclosure comes four months after the Port Authority released 2,000 pages of documents detailing what was said in thousands of other emergency calls that day.

In the newly disclosed transcripts, a caller from the Port Authority police desk tells Chris McCary, a La Guardia Airport control tower employee, that "they are considering it a criminal act."

"We believe that, and we are holding all aircraft on the ground," McCary answers. The exchange, reported at 9:10 a.m., came seven minutes after the second plane struck the twin towers.



Here's another piece of the puzzle, for folks who are keeping track.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. This is BEFORE Bush left the school where he

was reading to the kiddies about goats

And well before NORAD scrambled...

HMMM

Make you wonder, mere police officers were able to figure out what
Generals and Presidends did not.

[Shadder]

2. They had no need to figure anything out

They knew full well that someting was going to happen and were expecting it.

[conservdem]

21. Do you have any reliable fact to back up this statement or are you just

pulling a Dean?

[Shadder]

22. Pulling a dean?

What the fuck is that all about?

[conservdem]

24. Read Bob Novak's Dec. 11 column, which states in part:

In his Dec. 1 interview on NPR's "The Diane Rehm Show," Dean was asked about allegations that President Bush is suppressing information that he was warned about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "The most interesting theory that I have heard so far . . . ," Dean responded, "is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis." This received scant media attention (except for Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer), but Democratic politicians shuddered.

Dean was given a chance to back off six days later by Chris Wallace, debuting as "Fox News Sunday's" moderator. "I don't believe that," the candidate said, then added: "But we don't know, and it'd be a nice thing to know." He concluded: "Because the president won't give information to the Kean Commission, we really don't know what the explanation is." After playing to Bush-haters who listen to National Public Radio, Dean repeated the same canard to Fox's Sunday morning mainstream viewers.

None of Dean's opponents raised the issue during Tuesday night's debate in Durham, N.H., but moderator Scott Spradling of WMUR TV did. Dean still defended publicizing what he now called a "crazy" theory.

Where did Dean pick it up? A Dean spokesman told this column it was "out there." A rival Democratic candidate's campaign suspected it came from "some blog." The Russian newspaper Pravda published reports that Jordan's and Morocco's intelligence -- not Saudi Arabia's -- gave the CIA advance knowledge. The World Socialists circulated a story that the Saudi royal family knew of the attack in advance. Somehow, the urban legend penetrated Dean's mind.

[Soloflecks]

53. Where would Dean get an idea like that?

Apparently there is a big questions about Saudi involvement in 911:

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6807799%255E1702,00.html
THE September 11, 2001, attacks might have been prevented had US agencies shared and acted upon information already in their possession, according to a congressional report released today.

The report, which took nine months to complete and was the product of nearly two dozen hearings, also concluded that Saudi Arabia may have played a critical role in the devastating terror assault nearly two years ago, which killed more than 3,000, leveled one symbol of US economic prowess - the World Trade Towers in New York - and severely damaged the Pentagon.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-11-22/news_story3.html
observers have spilled a lot of ink lately on the delicate positioning of the Saudi regime as it tries to harmonize its support for the U.S. war with its tolerance for extremism on its own soil. Generally accepted, too, is the idea that the monarchy boosted al Qaeda through its funding of the Wahhabi movement, a militant Islamist sect.But a book written by two French intelligence experts, published by Denoel Press and not yet available in North America, takes the story further. Ben Laden: La Vérité Interdite (Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth) says the FBI was hamstrung prior to September 11 not only because U.S. officials were unwilling to make an issue of al Qaeda's connections to wealthy Saudis, but also because the U.S. didn't want to disrupt talks with the Taliban over building an oil pipeline to Central Asia.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/072703A.shtml
WASHINGTON, July 25 - Senior officials of Saudi Arabia have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to charitable groups and other organizations that may have helped finance the September 2001 attacks, a still-classified section of a Congressional report on the hijackings says, according to people who have read it.

The 28-page section of the report was deleted from the nearly 900-page declassified version released on Thursday by a joint committee of the House and Senate intelligence committees. The chapter focuses on the role foreign governments played in the hijackings, but centers almost entirely on Saudi Arabia, the people who saw the section said.

The Bush administration's refusal to allow the committee to disclose the contents of the chapter has stirred resentment in Congress, where some lawmakers have said the administration's desire to protect the ruling Saudi family had prevented the American public from learning crucial facts about the attacks.

http://www.rense.com/general38/banak.htm
RIYADH -- A leading Islamic business group has warned four major Western banks they could be implicated in a multi-trillion-dollar lawsuit filed by families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the group said Sunday.

The legal team for Dallah Al-Baraka Holding and its owner Saleh Kamel has notified the four unnamed Western banks that their names could be added to the list of defendants implicated in the lawsuit, Dallah said in a statement.

Dallah's banking subsidiary, Al-Baraka Investment and Development (ABID), and Kamel are among more than 100 Saudi organizations, charities, businessmen and well-known personalities sued by the families.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0311/S00262.htm
Imagine my surprise when I later found out that during this "no fly" period a number of people were flown out of the country on a 747 with Arabic lettering on the fuselage. None of these people were interviewed or questioned by any local, State or Federal agencies. Why were they allowed to leave and who exactly was on that flight. We know for a fact that some of the people on the flight were members of (or related to) the royal family of Saudi Arabia and members of the Bin Laden family. Were these people allowed to leave because of the long-standing relationships that your family has with both families?
(excerpt from Ellen Mariani's open letter)

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j091003.html
Far-fetched doesn't even begin to describe the conspiracy theory Vanity Fair is pushing, nor does mere lunacy, because there is a particular method to this madness. According to Carter, the President of these United States, because of his family's longstanding connection to the Saudis – the "Nazis" in this equation – authorized the departure of "influential Saudis" out of the country at a time when all flights were grounded. He accusingly writes:

"In all, some 140 Saudis, including around two dozen bin Laden family members, made it out of the U.S. by the third week in September."

But so what? Normal flights had resumed by then. As Snopes.com, the website devoted to debunking urban myths put it:

"The key point is that the Saudis mentioned in these accounts were not flown out of the country – they were assembled at locations from which they could be conveniently flown out of the country once regular airline travel resumed. "

Should they have been kept in the U.S. as hostages – jailed or even killed in retaliation for their blood kinship with OBL? We don't do that in this country – yet. Carter's more serious allegations – that the flights were "secret" in the sense of a guilty secret kept until now, and that the Bin Laden clan wasn't questioned by the authorities before their departure – are effectively debunked by Snopes, and I'll just refer the reader there to circumnavigate the shoals of myth and half-truth on which this conspiracy theory runs aground. Suffice to quote their conclusion:

"Clearly bin Laden family members were allowed to leave the U.S. shortly after the September 11 attacks, and this was effected with the approval and assistance of the American government. Yet the Saudis didn't fly out during the ban, nor was the FBI denied access to them while they were here or prevented from knowing who was going to be on those flights. In preparation for the exodus, a number of Saudis were ferried to central locations where those outbound jets would eventually leave from, which means they were allowed to violate the ban on air travel within the U.S. Was it right that fear for their safety and/or favors owed abroad should have prompted their being treated as special circumstance exceptions to the ban? That question lies outside the scope of this page, but rest assured it will be hotly debated around many a dinner table."


But it isn't just a case of special treatment: Vanity Fair is alleging that the Bin Laden family – an entity comprised of hundreds if not thousands of Saudis – along with prominent members of the Saudi royal family (an even more numerous lot) are involved in financing and otherwise giving aid and comfort to the 9/11 terrorists. So, where's the proof?

The campaign of half-baked hysterical propaganda ratcheted up against the Saudis doesn't require any proof: all that's required is the demonization of an entire nation. We've been down that road before. Oh, author Craig Unger goes through the motions: he cites the infamous 28 blank pages redacted from the congressional report on 9/11. That's about the best these conspiracy theorists can do: cite the absence of evidence as "proof" that they're right. Unger cites anonymous "terrorism experts." He recounts the Bush family ties with the Saudi royal family. But none of it amounts to a hill of beans.

The same goes for Gerald Posner's new book, Why America Slept, which claims that information given by Abu Zubaydah, a top Al Qaeda operative, points to three Saudi princes and a high Pakistani official who had foreknowledge of 9/11 and were involved in the plot: unfortunately, all four are dead, and so they cannot defend themselves – or confirm Posner's "theory." In one news account, Posner says:

"'My gut tells me that if Zubaydah's information was accurate, our error was telling the Saudis what we had,' he said in an interview. 'People did not want them to talk, and took them out. Can I prove it? No.'"

[Shadder]

55. Your kidding, right?

First off, this is in no way, shape or form about Dean or for that matter any other one else running for President on the D side. Your sad attempt to bring Dean into this shows me what your objective really is and my friend it has no place on this thread.

There is a huge amout of good solid information that can be found with very litle research efforts on your part on the internet that deals with this question of who knew what and when. If you take the time to research it you will discover that there is no doubt that there are things that are being covered up by the idiots administration

[conservdem]

62. I agree that they are trying to cover up their negligence and

possibly their recklessness, but not treason.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

23. You haven't been here long...

have you?

If you had, you would have seen the irrefutable evidence dug up by DU members that the Bush administration knew that something big was heading our way -- had a report on his desk and intel from other countries, knew that it involved the "nontraditional" hijacking of aircraft, and knew this long enough for Johh Aschroft to stop flying commercial.

And that is just scratching the surface.

Stick around, you might learn something.

[conservdem]

26. You too might learn something. Take a look at post No. 24.

If it the info you are referring to is that irrefutable, why don't you provide it to Deans campaign? Is it solid enough to get a reputable reporter to address it?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. Ah, yes. Bob Novak....the infamous traitor that revealed the identity...

...and function of Valerie Plame and the company for whom she worked.

Novak's definitely not a "reputable" reporter, and is a terrible choice of sources. He ought to be in jail pending trial.

[conservdem]

30. Novak is not a source I would usually refer to, and while I did not hear

the NPR segment or hear Dean on Wallace's show, I am confident that the quotes are accurate on this occasion. I noticed you did not directly challenge the accuracy of any of the Dean quotes.

As to Ms. Plame, I want to see the leaker in jail first. If Novak knew she her work was secret, he should go to trial too.

[shanti]

31. THIS ISN'T ABOUT DEAN, DUDE!

:grr: knock it off.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

37. I have learned all I need to know...

thank-you-very-much.

As Stephanie said, do your darn research -- it's all there, plain as day.

[conservdem]

63. "I have learned all I need to know" sounds like the statement of a

closed minded person.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

69. No, it's the conclusion reached by a person...

who has looked at the preponderance of evidence.

Unless evidence that utterly refutes what I have come to believe sufaces, I am totally satisfied with the conclusion I have reached:

They knew an attack by Al Queada was immanent.
They knew it could involve the hijacking of airliners to be used as weapons.
They themselves were starting to take precautions.

And they did NOTHING to warn or prepare the American public.


As for being "close-minded", I would say that term woudl apply to someone who has clearly not taken the time to examine the issue at hand yet choses to expound on the issue and make judgments about those who have.

I forgot to add: See that little link in my signature line? You might want to go there. I suspect you would find it enlightening.

[Occulus]

43. There's one single point

that blows what you're trying to say completely out of the water, friend. Consider this:

Bush's visit to Booker Elementary was well-publicized in advance. A great many people knew that Bush was going to be there that day, and something of the timeframe he was going to be there. It was a scheduled photo-op visit.

Once Bush was told "America is under attack", he still sat there, in that classroom. Now, any reasonable and responsible President would immediately have left, pleading some small excuse in order to put himself into a position of command. Events such as these, after all, would seem to require the attention of that highest of offices.

Instead, Bush remained at the school, in front of the cameras, hearing the children reading to him. He did not get up. He did not leave the school. He did not board Air Force One. He did none of these things- even though his location was known at the time.

Now, a reasonable person would presume that the President of the United States is a target for terror attacks, as would be any head of state. One would also reasonably presume that, were the President's location known at the time of such an attack, that location would also become a prime target. If we believe the official story- that this was an attack perpetrated by Al Qaeda- then we must also accept the fact that Booker Elementary was, at that moment in time, a prime target.

One could logically extend the logic involved here to conclude that the President was placing an entire school full of children in danger while the attacks were underway; if that was the case, he certainly did not act like it. The fact remains: Bush didn't get up. Didn't walk away. Didn't take command.

One wonders if those kids were ever in any danger at all.

The question to ponder: Did, or did not, Bush know that school full of children was completely safe? After all, by the very virtue of his being there, he was making it a target.

The only possible conclusion for why Bush did not leave that school is because, so far as he and everyone surrounding him knew, the school was never in any danger at all. That implies absolute foreknowledge of the events, and a most sinister plot to Let It Happen On Purpose.

[westman]

61. Should the tinfoil hat also cover the ears?

Please stop. Spewing nonsense such as this will doom us in '04. I want to win. You do, too. DU is starting to get some national exposure. This is not the Democratic message that I want laughed at on Leno.

[conservdem]

64. Agreed.

[FiveGoodMen]

72. Yup. Let's not tell what we think is the truth...

... unless we also think everyone will immediately agree with us! <extreme sarcasm off>

[a_random_joel]

73. Ahhh! Good old tinfoil!

Perhaps I can use tinfoil to cover up my eyes so I don't see this:

Bush Was Warned of Hijackings Before 9/11; Lawmakers Want Public Inquiry
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/warningmemo020516.html

Perhaps if I crinkle the tinfoil loud enough, it will drown out the statemnets that no one in the Administration knew that airplanes could be used as weapons. Even though George Bush's father fought in the Pacific, Bush himself was a pilot, and an alcoholic (kamikaze, anyone?), a plane crashed in to the White House in 1994, and previous plans describing this very act had previously been discovered by the CIA.

Perhaps if certain officials chose to use tinfoil instead of black ink, we could be even less certain about the 28 pages of Saudi references in the 9/11 investigation which leads to the type of speculation that Dean and a whole host of other VERY credible people are engaged in.

Finally, if perhaps I were to shield my Ethernet cables in tinfoil, I would lose access to the Internet, and thus lose access to the 30 minute video that shows Bush reading to children as 3,000 people lost their lives in such a horrible way. Perhaps I would lose my connection to all those "wacky conspiracy nuts" who are asking questions about the biggest attack on American soil in our history.

Pass the Reynold's Wrap dude!

[Occulus]

65. It's a legitimate question.

If it were one of my kids there that day, you better believe I'd be asking it publicly. The only thing that gets me is why it hasn't yet been asked.

I very, very firmy believe that not only was Bush aware of the attacks in advance, but that he or people close to him were directly involved. We'll never know the answer to that until and unless Bush, Cheney, and the rest testify in an open hearing in front of the 9/11 commission.

I think, were that to happen, the case would be proven in less than an hour. Of course, it won't.

[a_random_joel]

74. Ahhh!! Good Old Tinfoil!

Perhaps I can use tinfoil to cover up my eyes so I don't see this:

Bush Was Warned of Hijackings Before 9/11; Lawmakers Want Public Inquiry
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/warningmemo020516.html

Perhaps if I crinkle the tinfoil loud enough, it will drown out the statemnets that no one in the Administration knew that airplanes could be used as weapons. Even though George Bush's father fought in the Pacific, Bush himself was a pilot, and an alcoholic (kamikaze, anyone?), a plane crashed in to the White House in 1994, and previous plans describing this very act had previously been discovered by the CIA.

Perhaps if certain officials chose to use tinfoil instead of black ink, we could be even less certain about the 28 pages of Saudi references in the 9/11 investigation which leads to the type of speculation that Dean and a whole host of other VERY credible people are engaged in.

Finally, if perhaps I were to shield my Ethernet cables in tinfoil, I would lose access to the Internet, and thus lose access to the 30 minute video that shows Bush reading to children as 3,000 people lost their lives in such a horrible way. Perhaps I would lose my connection to all those "wacky conspiracy nuts" who are asking questions about the biggest attack on American soil in our history.

Pass the Reynold's Wrap dude!

[Stephanie]

29. Ashcroft Flying High

www.msnbc.com/news/907379.asp?0cv=KA01
The Secrets of September 11
The White House is battling to keep a report on the terror attacks secret. Does the 2004 election have anything to do with it?

April 30 — Even as White House political aides plot a 2004 campaign plan designed to capitalize on the emotions and issues raised by the September 11 terror attacks, administration officials are waging a behind-the-scenes battle to restrict public disclosure of key events relating to the attacks.

<snip>Some sources who have read the still-secret congressional report say some sections would not play quite so neatly into White House plans. One portion deals extensively with the stream of U.S. intelligence-agency reports in the summer of 2001 suggesting that Al Qaeda was planning an upcoming attack against the United States—and implicitly raises questions about how Bush and his top aides responded. One such CIA briefing, in July 2001, was particularly chilling and prophetic. It predicted that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike “in the coming weeks,” the congressional investigators found. The intelligence briefing went on to say: “The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.”

The substance of that intelligence report was first disclosed at a public hearing last September by staff director Hill. But at the last minute, Hill was blocked from saying precisely who within the Bush White House got the briefing when CIA director Tenet classified the names of the recipients. (One source says the recipients of the briefing included Bush himself.) As a result, Hill was only able to say the briefing was given to “senior government officials.”


www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15957-2001
Summer Spinning
To GOP, Vacation Boosted Bush Agenda; To Democrats, Voters See a Shirk Ethic
Aug 29, <2001>

<snip>The White House had announced that Bush would stay at his 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford from Aug. 4 through Labor Day on Sept. 3, a 31-day stretch that would have broken a modern record for a presidential vacation, held by Richard M. Nixon for a 30-day trip to San Clemente, Calif., in 1969. News reports played up the record, and a Gallup Poll found that 55 percent of respondents thought Bush's vacation was too long.

The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic, and the poll and the news coverage caused consternation in the White House. Aides said they had planned an ambitious schedule for Bush as long ago as late June, but reporters were not told about it, even after they landed here. The White House, suddenly defensive, took every opportunity to show Bush on the go and even created a "Western White House" logo for the briefing room at Crawford Elementary School. Bush revealed that his ranch had new video conferencing equipment for keeping in touch with his national security team.

www.jacksonholenews.com/Archives/NewsArchive/2001/010815-News.html
News story - Aug. 15, 2001
A Working Vacation
Vice President Cheney plans to fish, travel during month-long valley sojourn.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

Vice President Dick Cheney took time off from his month-long working vacation Monday to outline his plans for August in Jackson Hole and to reflect on "an amazing year."

Cheney, who will live at his Teton Pines home about six miles west of Jackson until Labor Day, defended his energy policy, supported a local decision to limit drilling around the Gros Ventre Wilderness, recalled a life of service in Washington and said his health problems are not affecting his ability to fish for trout on his favorite Western waters.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml
Ashcroft Flying High
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2001

(CBS) Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

38. Additions...

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/18/intelligence.hearings/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. intelligence officials had several warnings that terrorists might attack the United States on its home soil -- even using airplanes as weapons -- well before the September 11, 2001 attacks, two congressional committees said in a report released Wednesday.


http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/15/bush.sept.11/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's daily intelligence briefings in the weeks leading up to the September 11 terror attacks included a warning of the possibility that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network would attempt to hijack a U.S.-based airliner, senior administration officials said Wednesday.


http://www.laweekly.com/ink/03/53/news-corn.php

Bush is more vulnerable regarding warnings about al Qaeda that were sent to the White House during his first eight months in office. In May 2002, media reports revealed that the August 6, 2001, PDB had included material regarding Osama bin Laden’s interest in hijacking airliners. That caused a brief controversy for Bush. And in September 2002, the House and Senate intelligence committees disclosed that an early July 2001 intelligence warning had noted, “we believe that will launch a significant terrorist attack against the U.S. and/or Israeli interests in coming weeks. The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.”


http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0725-04.htm

The White House also refused to release to the committees the contents of an August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief (PDB) that contained information on bin Laden. In May 2002 National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice claimed this PDB only included information about bin Laden's methods of operation from a historical perspective and contained no specific warnings. But the joint inquiry appears to have managed to find a source in the intelligence community who informed it that "a closely held intelligence report" for "senior government officials" in August 2001 (read: the PDB prepared for Bush) said that bin Laden was seeking to conduct attacks within the United States, that Al Qaeda maintained a support structure here and that information obtained in May 2001 indicated that a group of bin Laden supporters were planning attacks in the United States with explosives. This is quite different from Rice's characterization of the PDB. Did she mislead the public about it? And presuming that this "closely held intelligence report" was indeed the PDB, the obvious question is, how did Bush react? But through its use--or abuse--of the classification process, the Administration has prevented such questions from inconveniencing the White House.


http://www.unansweredquestions.org/timeline/main/foreignwarnings.html

A library of warnings by foreign intel agencies.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,719231,00.html

But Mr Ashcroft stopped using commercial flights in July, just as the intelligence "chatter" about a possible al-Qaida strike on US soil was getting louder.



As the old-timers know, that's just scratching the surface...

[Mike Niendorff]

41. (further additions ...)

(Reposted from this thread, on the old "DU1" -- see post #63.)

MDN

-----

Ashcroft Flying High
CBS News, 7/26/01 -- less than 7 weeks before 9/11
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml


In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft as traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

...

Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

A senior official at the CIA said he was unaware of specific threats against any Cabinet member ...

...

Asked if he knew anything about the threat or who might have made it, the attorney general replied, "Frankly, I don't. That's the answer."

(more)

-----


Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes
CNN, 1/29/02
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/inv.terror.probe/index.html

President {sic} Bush personally asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Tuesday to limit the congressional investigation into the events of September 11, congressional and White House sources told CNN.

The request was made at a private meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday morning. Sources said Bush initiated the conversation.

...

Tuesday's discussion followed a rare call to Daschle from Vice President {sic} Dick Cheney last Friday to make the same request.

(more)

-----

Revealed: The Taliban minister, the US envoy and the warning of September 11 that was ignored
The Independent (UK), 9/7/02
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=331115

Weeks before the terrorist attacks on 11 September, the United States and the United Nations ignored warnings from a secret Taliban emissary that Osama bin Laden was planning a huge attack on American soil.

The warnings were delivered by an aide of Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban Foreign Minister at the time, who was known to be deeply unhappy with the foreign militants in Afghanistan, including Arabs.

...

The minister learnt in July last year that Mr. bin Laden was planning a "huge attack" on targets inside America, the aide said. The attacks were imminent and would be so deadly that the United States would react with destructive rage.

...

Mr. Muttawakil learnt of the coming attacks on America not from other members of the Taliban leadership, but from the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yildash.

...

"Yildash had revealed that Osama bin Laden was going to launch an attack on the United States. It would take place on American soil and it was imminent. Yildash said Osama hoped to kill thousands of Americans."

...

The emissary went forst to the Americans, travelling across the border to meet with consul general, David Katz, in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar, in the third week of July 2001. They met in a safehouse belonging to an old mujahedin leader who has confirmed to The Independent that the meeting took place.

Another US official was also present - possibly from the intelligence services. Mr. Katz, who now works at the American embassy in Eritrea, declined to talk about the meeting.

(more)

-----


Taliban warned US, UN
BBC, 9/7/02
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2242594.stm


The minister was deeply worried that the US military would react with deadly vengeance against Afghanistan.

As he put it, al-Qaeda, the Taleban's guests, were going to destroy the guest house.

One of his former aides told me how he had been sent to issue warnings.

He went first to the American consulate in Peshawar in Pakistan, then to the United Nations. But neither warning was heeded.

One US official explained why : "We were hearing a lot of that kind of stuff," he said.

(more)

-----


Treasury Denies Report on Hijacker : U.S. Treasury Department Denies Report That Bank Flagged Funds Transfer to Hijacker
ABC News, 5/23/02
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20020523_2026.html

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday vehemently denied a U.N. report that Mohamed Atta, one of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, received a transfer of funds into his U.S. account which was flagged by his bank.

According to Wednesday's U.N. report, the bank filed a "suspicious transaction report" with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ...

...

The U.N. report was prepared by an expert group, authorized by the Security Council to monitor implementation of new sanctions against Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida terror network, and Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.

(more)

-----

Aides: Bush Knew of Hijacking Threat Before Sept 11
Reuters, 5/15/02
(archived at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0515-06.htm )

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the months before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration received intelligence that Osama bin Laden could be plotting to hijack U.S. aircraft, prompting it to put security agencies on alert, the White House said Wednesday.

"The information the president {sic} got dealt with hijackings in the traditional sense, not suicide bombers, not using planes as missiles," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the intelligence, which was presented to President {sic} Bush last summer.

...

The disclosure followed reports that an FBI agent urged the bureau to investigate Middle Eastern men enrolled in U.S. flight schools several months before Sept. 11, even naming bin Laden, who Washington later accused of masterminding the attacks.

(more)

-----


What Bush Knew
Newsweek, 5/27/02


Last week Rice declared, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center ... All of this reporting about hijacking was about traditional hijacking"; in other words, using passenger jets as hostages. In fact, the government had ample reason to blieve that Al Qaeda was no longer interested in traditional terror. The CIA had learned as early as 1995 that Abdul Hakim Murad, an associate of '93 WTC plotter Ramzi Yousef, had talked about plunging an airliner into the CIA building. Italian authorities had warned of a similar bid at last June's Genoa summit of the G8 leaders - and they ringed the area with surface-to-air missiles, with CIA cooperation {much more in next cites -- this is a HUGE point}.

...

When, in January 2001, Berger gave Rice her handover briefing, he covered the bin Laden threat in detail, and, sources say, warned her: "You will be spending more time on this issue than on any other." Rice was alarmed by what she heard, and asked for a strategy review. But the effort was marginalized and scarcely mentioned in ensuing months as the administration committed itself to other priorities, like national missile defense (NMD) and Iraq.

John Ashcroft seemed particularly eager to set a new agenda. In the spring of 2001, the attorney general had an extraordinary confrontation with the then FBI Director Louis Freeh at an annual meeting of special agents in charge in Quantico, Va. The two talked before appearing, and Ashcroft laid out his priorities for Greeh, another Clinton holdover (though no friend of the ex-president's), "basically violent crime and drugs," recalls one participant. Freeh replied bluntly that those were not his priorities, and began to talk about terror and counterterrorism. "Ashcroft didn't want to hear about it," says a former senior law-enforcement official.

...

{On Sept. 10}, Ashcroft submitted his budget request, barely mentioning counterterrorism.

(more)

-----


The Hijackers We Let Escape
Newsweek, 6/2/02


A few days after the Kuala Lumpur meeting, NEWSWEEK has learned, the CIA tracked one of the terrorist, Nawaf Alhazmi, as he flew from the meeting {of bin Laden's followers in Malaysia} to Los Angeles. Agents discovered that another of the men, Khalid Almihdhar, had already obtained a multiple-entry visa that allowed him to enter and leave the United States as he pleased. (They later learned that he had in fact arrived in the United States on the same flight as Alhazmi.)

Yet, astonishingly, the CIA did nothing with this information. Agency officials didn't tell the INS, which could have turned them away at the border, nor did they notify the FBI, which could have covertly tracked them to find out their mission. Instead, during the year and nine months after the CIA identified them as terorrist, Alhazmi and Almihdhar lived openly in the United States, using their real names, obtaining driver's licenses, opening bank accounts and enrolling in flight schools - until the morning of September 11, when they walked aboard American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon.

...

NEWSWEEK has learned that when Almihdhar's visa expires, the State Department, not knowing any better, simply issued him a new one in June 2001 - even though by then the CIA had linked him to one of the suspected bombers of the USS Cole in October 2000. The two terrorists' frequent meetings with the other September 11 perpetrators could have provided federal agents with a road map to the entire cast of 9-11 hijackers.

...

The CIA is forbidden from spying on people inside the United States. Had it followed standard procedure and passed the baton to the FBI once they crossed the border, agents would have discovered that Almihdhar and Alhazmi weren't just visiting California, they were already living there. The men had moved into an apartment in San Diego two months before the Kuala Lumpur meeting.

The CIA's reluctance to divulge what it knew is especially odd because, as 2000 dawned, U.S. law-enforcemtn agencies were on red alert, certain that a bin Laden strike somewhere in the world could come at any moment. There was certainly reason to believe bin Laden was sending men here to do grave harm. Just a few weeks before, an alert Customs inspector had caught another Qaeda terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, as he tried to cross the Canadian border in a rental car packed with explosives. His mission: to blow up Los Angeles airport.

(more)

-----

Could it have been stopped?
60 Minutes II, 5/8/02
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/08/60II/main508362.shtml

A month before September 11th, the FBI hauled in a French citizen, Zacarias Moussaoui. He's now in jail -- the only person charged in the attacks. Prosecutors call him 'the 20th hijacker'.

We now know that, back in August, Moussaoui's possessions contained evidence that would expose key elements of the Setember 11th conspiracy. The FBI didn't search Moussaoui's things because it says it didn't have enough evidence for a search warrant. Critical evidence was in the hands of French intelligence. The FBI says that if that evidence exists, the Bureau never received it.

(more)

-----

FBI Agent Alleges Moussaoui Roadblocks
NY Times, 5/23/02
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Attacks-Moussaoui.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An FBI agent accused her Washington headquarters of erecting a "roadblock" to the pre-Sept. 11 investigation of terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui. Her letter immediately prompted an internal investigation.

Agent Coleen Rowley, a lawyer in the Minnesota office that arrested Moussaoui last August, divulged in her letter that local agents became so frustrated with FBI headquarters that they broke from their chain of command and notified the CIA about the suspect before Sept. 11.

The local agents were reprimanded for doing so, Rowley alleged in a rare letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller that also was sent Tuesday to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"When, in a desperate 11th-hour measure to bypass the FBI HQ roadblock, the Minneapolis division undertook to directly notify the CIA's counterterrorist center, FBI HQ personnel chastised the Minneapolis agents for making the direct notification without their approval," she wrote in the 13-page letter, excerpts of which were obtained by the Associated Press.

(more)

-----

FBI Slowed Moussaoui Probe, Field Office Says
Washington Post, 5/27/02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A531-2002May23.html

Rowley said Minneapolis investigators had significant evidence of Moussaoui's ties to terrorists, including corroboration from a foreign source that Moussaoui was dangerous, sources said.

But agent Dave Rapp and other investigators still faces resistance from headquarters staff, who determined that investigators did not have enough evidence to even ask a judge for warrants to search Moussaoui's computer under routine criminal procedures or a special law aimed at terrorists, Rowley said in the letter.

...

More than a month before Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges, Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams wrote the July 10 memo to FBI headquarters outlining his investigation of Islamic radicals enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescot, Ariz. He cited bin Laden by name and raised the possibility that his terror network was using U.S. flight schools as a training ground.

Williams' suggestion that the FBI canvass U.S. flight schools was rejected within weeks by mid-level managers {sic} in the FBI's counter-terror division, who decided they lacked the manpower to pursue it. The memo was not shared with agents investigating Moussaoui after he was arrested Aug. 16 and was never given to any other intelligence agency {sic}.

-----

FBI official: Top brass held back own agents
Seattle Times, 5/24/02
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134460617_moussaoui24.html

{Rowley} complained that FBI officials in Washington had changed the warrant request so that it would be more easily rejected by the FBI office that handles such requests.

(more)

-----


French expand on Moussaoui's travel, likely role
Seattle Times, 7/28/02
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134501908_mous28.html

The comments by the French officials are significant because they go beyond what had been disclosed about Moussaoui's ties to al-Qaida. One French official also said the French told U.S. authorities in late August that Moussaoui, arrested Aug. 16 while in flight training in Minneapolis, was a member of al-Qaida.

(more)

-----

A Second Attack Planned
French Authorities: Moussaoui Plotted Another Series of Attacks
ABC News, 9/5/02
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/moussaoui020905.html

One year ago today, in Paris, FBI and CIA agents got a full briefing on Moussaoui's terror background from their counterparts at the French Ministry of the Interior in Paris.

In his first interview on the subject, former French Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant told ABCNEWS the French gave the Americans a complete dossier on Mousaoui.

"We did not hold back any information," said Vaillant. "This is the essential point I want to communicate to you. There was nothing held back."

The French say they told the United States they had tracked Moussaoui for years, from his student days in London to his time in Osama bin Laden training camps in Afghanistan to his membership in an Algerian terror group that had planned to fly a hijacked Air France jet into the Eiffel Tower in 1994.

The FBI acknowledges there was a meeting but denies it received any such specific information at that time. Later, the information showed up in the Justice Department indictment of Moussaoui as conspirator of the Sept. 11 attacks, for which he faces the death penalty.

(more)

-----


French Suspect Moussaoui in Post-9/11 Plot
NY Times, 7/28/02
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/28/national/28TERR.html

Under federal law, the bureau would have been required to show that Mr. Moussaoui was tied to a specific terrorist group to obtain a warrant for the search. Bureau agents in Minnesota have said they thought the French information was sufficient for the warrant, and they have criticized their superiors at the bureau's headquarters for blocking their efforts to obtain it.

When agents search Mr. Moussaoui's belongings after Sept. 11, they found videotapes on flying two types of 747 aircraft and data on crop-dusting. They also found the telephone numer in Hamburg, Germany, for a roommate of Mohamed Atta, who is thought to have been the ringleader in the Sept. 11 plot, information that might have pointed them toward some of the hijackers.

In interviews this week, the French officials said their inquiries showed that Mr. Moussaoui had close ties with Al Qaeda and that elements of the network that helped the Sept. 11 hijackers probably supported him.

(more)

-----


F.B.I. Agent Says Superior Altered Report, Foiling Inquiry
NY Times, 5/24/02
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/25/national/25INQU.html

WASHINGTON, May 24 - A senior F.B.I. agent in Minneapolis has accused a supervisor at the agency's Washington headquarters of altering a report in a way that made it impossible for investigators to obtain crucial evidence in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, before the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, government officials said today.

...

Officials who have seen Ms. Rowley's letter say it accuses the supervisor of altering the application to play down the significance of information provided by French intelligence officials about Moussaoui's links to Islamic extremists.

(more)

-----

Agent's Role in Inquiries is Questioned
NY Times, 5/25/02
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/politics/26FBI.html


WASHINGTON, May 25 - A bipartisan broup of senators has demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation explain why a senior agent who had access to two important strands of counterterrorism information never put the information together {allegedly} in a way that might have helped thwart the Sept. 11 attacks.

According to the three senators, a warning last summer from the Phoenix F.B.I. agent about terrorists using American flights schools was sent to the same unit of the bureau that was dealing with the Minnesota field office and its suspicions about Zacarias Moussaoui, a flight student there who officials now say was supposed to be the 20th hijacker.

The senators, Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont; Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa; and Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, raised questiosn about the bureau's performance in a letter sent on Friday to the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III.

The senators, who released a copy of the letter to news organizations, asked Mr. Mueller to explain how the head of the bureau's Radical Fundamentalist Unit, David Frasca, dealt with the information from Minnesota and Phoenix.

...

Mr. Grassley added: "This was worse than dropping the ball. This was bureaucrats at headquarters actively interfering with an investigation that had a terrorist in hand."

...

Government officials said today that Kenneth Williams, the Phoenix F.B.I. agent who had warned about the flight schools in a July 10 memorandum, had sent the memorandum directly to the attention of Mr. Frasca. Mr. Frasca was also the liaison in Washington for the Minnesota field office' requests about Mr. Moussaoui.

(more)

-----

Agent shared concerns with CIA
FBI's suspicion about flight students was no 'hunch,' sources say
San Jose Mercury News, 5/23/02 http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/nation/3320240.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

WASHINGTON - A Phoenix FBI agent who wrote a memo last year warning about suspicious Middle Easterners at flight schools had developed detailed information before Sept. 11 linking Arizona students to Osama bin Laden and to a radical British Islamist group, and shared some of this concerns with the CIA, law enforcement sources said Wednesday.

...

His review also determined that one of the Arizona flight-school students appeared to have communicated through an intermediary with one of bin Laden's top aides -- Abu Zubeida -- and that several of the students under suspicion had links to a radical group called Al-Muhajiroun. The Britain-based group is dedicated to the establishment of a global Islamic state and has vocally supported bin Laden and other terrorists.

...

Administration officials say they had no tangible warnings that could hve led them to predict that an attack was imminent ...

But the new details suggest for the first time that the CIA may have had advance knowledge of some of the suspicions generated from Arizona. The details also appear at odds with authorities' contention that Williams was only pursuing "a hunch" -- not actual evidence -- in warning about the risk of flight schools.

"This was not a vague hunch," according to a congressional source familiar with a classified briefing that Williams gave to lawmakers. "He was doing a case on these guys. He put in all the history about this pattern of radical Muslims and Osama links to Arizona. He talked about fatwas targeting U.S. airports. He noted that one guy was asking about airport security -- that's specific information, not guesswork."

(more)

-----


(more to follow)

[Mike Niendorff]

42. (... and yet further additions ...)

Next, there's Ashcroft's roadblock on counterterrorism funding :

-----

F.B.I. Was Warned It could Not Meet Terrorism Threat
NY Times, 6/1/02
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/01/national/01INQU.html

WASHINGTON, May 31 - A top secret report warned top officials of the F.B.I. in the months before Sept. 11 that the bureau faces significant terrorist threats from Middle Eastern Groups like Al Qaeda but lacked enough resources to meet the threat, senior government officials said.

The internal assessment, one of the bureau's most closely held documents, found virtually every major F.B.I. field office undermanned in evaluating and dealing witht eh threat posed by groups like Al Qaeda, the officials said.

The document, called the Director's Report on Terrorism, provided detailed recommendations and proposed spending increases to address the problem, officials who have seen it said.

Despite this assessment, the bureau failed to win an increase in the Justice Department spending request submitted shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks. On Sept. 10, Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected a proposed $58 million increase in financing for the bureau's counterterrorism programs. But a Justice Department official said today that the director's report was not provided to Mr. Ashcroft's budget staff {sic}.

...

Meanwhile, officials said that after the Bush administration came into office, top Justice Department officials did not initially see the urgent need to upgrade counterterrorism. In August, officials said, the bureau's acting director, Tom Pickard, met with Mr. Ashcroft on a supplemental financing request for counterterrorism, but was turned down.

-----



And then there's that "couldn't imagine 'planes as missiles'" lie that Rice (et al) drug out after info about the 8/6 Crawford briefing came to light. See the following stories for *proof* that their statements were absolute, bald-faced lies. These stories concern the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy, on July 20-22 of 2001. This was less than three weeks before the Crawford Briefing :



-----

Italy: Bush Targeted at G8
Newsday, 9/19/01
http://www.newsday.com/ny-woital192372601sep19.story

Rome - A possible assassination attempt on President {sic} George W. Bush - using a commercial plane - was uncovered by Italy's secret services at July's Group of Eight summit, Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini said yesterday.

Fini, interviewed for a television program, said Italian forces shut down airspace above Genoa and positioned surface-to-air missiles at the airport.

(more)

-----


Plot to assassinate Bush - reports
CNN, 7/9/01
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/20/russia.binladen/index.html

Osama bin Laden has threatened to assassinate U.S. President {sic} George W. Bush at the G8 summit meeting in Italy, the head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service has said, according to reports.

The Associated Press said Yevgeny Murov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying: "Bin Laden is threatening the American president {sic}, but we know what international terrorism is today and therefore all the bodyguard units concerned are preparing for this.

"We view the threats as totally serious, but hope that with joint efforts we can solve all the problems."

The Group of Eight summit is meeting between July 20-22 in Genoa, Italy. ...

Murov -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief bodyguard -- did not elaborate on the threats. He said agents from Russia's Federal Body guard Service had travelled to Genoa to coordinate with their coutnerparts from the other nations taking part in the summit to investigate the threats.

(more)

-----


Genoa braces for G8 summit
CNN, 7/18/01
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/07/17/genoa.security/

The Italian authorities' security measures also include the positioning of surface-to-air missiles at Genoa's Christopher Columbus airport. Dubbed the SPADA, the land-based system consists of missiles capable of a range of 15 kilometres (9.3 miles).

The ministry said the decision to install the missiles is not excessive.

"There's no excessive precaution," military spokesman Alberto Battaglini told Reuters. "The measure ... is merely to act as a deterrent against any aerial incursion during the summit."

...

The official G8 Summit Web site said it was not so much violence by the demonstraters that they feared most, but "the possibility of a terrorist attack."

The head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service has warned of a plot by terrorist Osama bin Laden to assassinate George W. Bush at the summit and the U.S. President {sic} may be staying at U.S. Camp Darby military base in Livorno or offshore on the American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to avoid any terrorist risk.

The other leaders of the world's most industrialized nations -- the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, plus Russia -- are also staying offshore on a luxury cruise liner, the "European Vision," chartered by the Italian government at a reported cost of $2.89 million.

(more)

-----


And then there's this ...


-----


The Informant Who Lived With the Hijackers
Newsweek, 9/16/02
http://www.msnbc.com/news/805186.asp?cp1=1 (original link -- has since expired)

NEWSWEEK has learned that one of the bureau's informants had a close relationship with two of the hijackers: he was their roommate.

(more)

-----



In short:

The FBI knew, and its higher-ups monkeywrenched the investigation.

The CIA knew, and also monkeywrenched the investigation.

Ashcroft tried to re-task the FBI away from counterterrorism, while quietly removing all commercial airline flights from his own itinerary.

Even the Treasury Dept. got tipped off (regarding money transfers to Atta).

In addition to this, the Bushies have been forced to acknowledge that Bush's own security briefing (on 8/6/01) warned of planned hijackings by Osama bin Laden. Trying to cover their asses after this revelation, they went into "flagrant lie" mode, claiming that they somehow just couldn't imagine planes being "used as missiles". However, less than three weeks earlier Bush himself was hiding out on an aircraft carrier at the G8 summit due to precisely this sort of "assassination by hijacked plane" threat. The source of the threat? Osama bin Laden.

And that's not even mentioning warnings from the Germans, the Russians, the British, and from the Taliban's own Foreign Minister.

Furthermore, since this list was originally posted, we've witnessed Bush and his cronies do literally everything in their power (along with plenty of things not in their power) to prevent any meaningful investigation into their role in these events. Their stonewalling continues to this day.

The dots here are so obvious that they practically connect themselves.


MDN

[Occulus]

47. Good Lord.

<copy> <paste> <save> Whew.

Felt like I took a dump, to be honest.....


Thanks, guys!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. Why don't you do a study of when the FAA notified NORAD about the...

...hijackings?

Then ask yourself why only four interceptors were dispatched to intercept the hijacked airliners.

While you're researching the interceptors, ask yourself why they were dispatched from airbases located 120 miles to the east and north of the flightpaths of the hijacked airliners.

And finally, ask yourself why those planes flew at an average speed of 650 mph when they were capable of flying at 1400 mph.

By the way, when Junior mentioned to two different White House functions that he saw the FIRST plane crash into the WTC, how was that possible? None of the major media was covering the WTC disaster until AFTER the first impact took place, and Junior was on his way to the Sarasota elementary school in the limo. We all know when Andy Card told Junior about the second impact, and the fact that he stayed in that classroom for another 30-35 minutes. The ONLY way Junior could have seen the FIRST plane strike the WTC was if he was watching it by closed-circuit television in the limo courtesy of a live camera feed from very close to the WTC. Guess what? That limo is loaded with communications equipment, to include closed-circuit television.

So, if the actions taken to send interceptors was deliberately slowed and Junior watched the action in his limo, that would imply foreknowledge, would it not?

Why are the NeoCons not providing the information being sought by the 911 Commission? Why has Condi Rice stated that she will not give testimony to the 911 Commission under oath?

I'm always amazed by people who refuse to do their homework on a particular subject and then proceed to make themselves look foolish in an open forum.

[conservdem]

32. My thought on Rice is she is embarrassed about failures of

by herself and/or the admin in not doing more. That's also why the admin is fighting to keep the info from being released.

As to your apparent belief that Bush actually knew the planes were going to hit and not only just watched, but actually had the jets fly slow to ensure the attack occurred, I think you are just plain nuts.

The Bush admin very well may have failed to take some reasonable steps to stop the attack, but I do not think he committed treason like you apparently do. So IMO you are the one looking foolish.

[Stephanie]

33. Do some reading

No one here needs to waste their time arguing with you. We've been through this a thousand times over the past two years. It's not wise to insult people when you don't know the facts.

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/index.html

[wildwww2]

39. That is why Bu$h did it. He knew people like you would defend him.

So he could give a rats ass about all those dead people. And John O`Neill, who begged the court appointed idiot to not take his eyes off of Osama Bin Forgotten. And he died in the WTC attack. How lucky for Bu$h Inc. The proof is in the pudding. And they thouroughly searched through Bill Clinton`s pudding. Didn`t they? What excludes Bu$h from the same treatment except guilt and a GOP owned media?
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[stickdog]

49. Yes. Those who have carefully researched this subject are fools.

On the other hand, those who have strong baseless opinions on this subject, like you, have no need to research anything further.

That would be un-American.

Start here:

www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/

When you are done reading, please feel to apologize.

[reprobate]

51. Did you just dislocate something?

Spin like that could be dangerous to your healthy joints. If I were your physician I would definately prescribe some of the interesting reading already recommended.

May I suggest that you are on the wrong board to fit your ideology?

And your screen name is an oxymoron.

Conservative Democrat? A contradiction in terms.

[conservdem]

60. I think the Bush admin and the intelligence agencies failed to do their

jobs. I want the full truth to come out and I think Bush, Rice, Chaney, Clinton and any and all others should be forced to testify under oath about what they knew and what they did or did not do. I suspect it will reveal tremendous failures on the part of many.

But, again I do not think they knowingly conspired to allow, or worse enable, the 9/11 attack to occur. Do you actually believe they did?
If this board requires me to adhere to such beliefs, I am on the wrong board. Thankfully it does not require such beliefs.

As to my screen name, I am probably more of a mod dem, but relative to this board, I thought the name I chose was better.

[DoYouEverWonder]

67. You are free to believe what you wish

and we are free to disagree. However, for those of us who have studied the available evidence, there is no doubt that we have multiple counts of treason by this misadministration. There is enough documentation in the public domain to easily prove a case in court, starting with the PNAC document.

The difference between us and the folks that wear tinfoil is that we can back up our accusations with credible and verifiable evidence. I've been a news junkie since I was a teenager. The summer of 73(?) I was stuck home after knee surgery and had nothing else to do but watch the Watergate hearings every day. I've been watching these folks ever since.

[Shadder]

56. Embarrassed!?

For the love of God, she came right out and said that nobody ever thought that someone would attack buildings with jet liners, or somethig close to that. Guess she never heard of "Debt of Honor" by Tom Clancy. No real reason why she would, it was only #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists for quite some time.

She shoud be embarrassed for being so stupid as to say such a thing.

[conservdem]

57. Agreed.

[a_random_joel]

76. Yeah

The Provost of Stanford... never heard of Kamikaze's before.
George Bush's Daddy, Mr. Pacific theatre hero, never heard of Kamikazes.
George W. Bush, Air National Guard, and an alcoholic, never heard of Kamikazes.
Dick Cheney, self proclaimed historian and military tactician, never heard of Kamikazes.
Colin Powell. 4 Star General. "What's a Kamikaze?"

Do I need to keep going?

[MadHound]

58. Failures? FAILURES?!

I don't know what else you would call it except deliberate ignorance! The Bush administration was warned by the outgoing Clinton administration to keep an eye out for terrorists, even pointed the Bushies in the right direction. The Bush administration blew them off, to the point of shutting down large sections of ongoing terrorist investigations.

The CIA was raising alarm bells about Al Qaeda operations, but instead of taking heed and beefing up intelligence operations, the Bushies chose to ignore these warnings, and in fact told the CIA to tone down the volume.

And yet still warnings about impending attacks managed to make it through to the top levels of the Bushco administration. Condi Rice is supposed to have given him one on August 6, 2001. Yet what did the Bush boy do? Ignore it in favor of clearing brush on the pig farm in Crawford(after all, one can't let unpleasantness like terrorist threats ruin your month long vacation).

I have one question for you. Standard Operating Procedures for NORAD and the Air Force is that the minute it comes through that a plane is hijacked, or is exhibiting questionable activity, the jets are scrambled immediately. This is evidenced not only by the testimony of former pilots, but also by the response to Payne Stewart tragedy, where you had 2-4 jets flying with the Stewart plane almost from the moment it went off course to it's final dive. Yet on 911 four passenger planes were hijacked and flying around for a half hour plus, and yet NO military jet went up to confront them. In fact by the time the military jets got to the hijacked planes it was too late, they had already found their targets, excepting on in VA. So who was it that countermanded the SOP? Because if you have any military knowledge at all, you will realize that somebody very high up has to countermand SOP orders. So who was it?

These are many many other reasons(that are backed with solid evidence) are what makes many of us, both here on this board and elsewhere in this country, believe that Bushco Let It Happen On Purpose. After all, if you go read your PNAC documents(at <http://www.newamericancentury.org/> ) you will see that this group of people were needing "a Pearl Harbor-type event" in order to enact their agenda. And wasn't it Donald Rumsfeld hours after the attacks who stated that "now we can go into Irag"? Preparations for that war began immediately after the Tower strikes, when it was still unclear who was responsible for the attack.

You need to stick around friend, and do some research. It will suprise you just how unsuprising 911 was to the members of Bushco.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

70. Rummie..

Here you go, from my website:

Just five hours after the 9/11 strike on the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asking for plans on the possibility of "hitting" Saddam Hussein, as well as Osama Bin Laden, even though there was no evidence Hussein had any connections to the strikes.

Philadelphia Daily News, January 27, 2003, http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/2003/01/27/news/local/5025024.htm

[joeunderdog]

71. For that matter, no evidence of Bin Laden being the perp.

How come if they were so "surprised" they knew that day who the bad guy was? What investigatory work.

C'MON>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!

[lfairban]

44. Some interesting articles on 911

I have collected many interesting articles on 911. The question of what B* knew and when he new it is undoubtedly valid. It is also obvious that B* didn't want it investigated, a matter of record in fact.

My links are here:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/lfairban/Pages/Liberal.htm#911

I thought that when I heard the context of the Dean/911 thing, it wouldn't be as damning as the right-wing pundits make it out to be. For that, I am grateful for this thread. I think it has been vastly overblown and unfair to Dean.

BTW, I am a Kucinich supporter.

[arcane1]

3. but, but, but, Bush said it was a "terrible pilot"

Bush wouldn't LIE, would he????

www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

"Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."


Bush, you fucking WISH we were all as stupid and credulous as you are... :grr:

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. And even when he was told we were under attack

he continued to sit there and do nothing.

He sat there knowing at that moment 1000's of Americans were dying and he did nothing! Neither did Rumsfeld, or Myers or anyone else who should have reacted immediately to the news that airplanes were being flown into buildings. None of them did anything until the Pentagon was hit and even then they had a hard time reacting appropriatley.

[SpiralHawk]

5. Not true. Our Kommander-in-Chief*

promptly returned to reading a book about a pet goat. You can hardly expect him to have stopped to do anything whatsoever to defend the US of A. After all, he has priorities.

* AWOL for over a year while honor-bound by solemn oath to be serving with the Texas National Guard in the 1970s; defeated by a clear majority of patriotic and discerning American voters in the 2000 election; appointed to office by the "legal" system.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. I forgot, he didn't want to upset the children

while 1000's of other children were losing their mothers and fathers at that very moment. While maybe half those children might still have parents if he had gotten off his lazy butt and reacted appropriately to the state of emergency that the country was in.

[proud patriot]

8. Children were upset in the playground across the street from WTC

where they had to run for their lives to aviod
being hit by falling debris.

[truthisfreedom]

10. remember, not upsetting children (barb/jenna) is the same excuse he used

when lying to the American public about his DUI.

[wildwww2]

40. He had a good coke buzz going. Why get up and mess up his high?

He sure looked blitzed on something. And then to sit there like that. Did he still think Bill Clinton was President and he would handle it? I would not put it pass the usurping fool.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[PaDUer]

9. He's definitely one...

friggin MORON!!!! Who does he think he's fooling, morons like himself!!! Throw them ALL in JAIL and throw away the keys!
"I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on."

[Emillereid]

12. Has anyone questioned him about the fact that he couldn't have seen

the first attack on TV at that time because the video of that attack didn't come forward until much later. I mean what the hell did he see or imagine taking place, Did anyone else see this on TV in the school room where they were waiting to be called into the classroom? Was this just a stupid lie or did he confuse what had been planned to take place with reality or is he telepathic or from another planet???
I mean this should be the lead off line of questioning in any proper investigation of 9/11.

[RedSock]

18. No.

He has never -- not even once -- by ANY media member -- been asked to explain that. (And he said it twice, four weeks apart.)

http://www.complete911timeline.org/main/essayaninterestingday.html

[bobthedrummer]

46. He certainly made that lie. Bush lies, people die.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/bushlie.html

[kainah]

19. not to defend * but...

this says that this transmission happened shortly after the second plane hit. *, the idiot, is reported to have made his "terrible pilot" comment after (supposedly, obviously not true) witnessing the first plane hit.

The other thing that I find VERY CURIOUS about this is that it was released in the last set of transcripts. The first set got enormous publicity with lots of debate about whether they should be released at all. Many said they shouldn't have been released because they "upset the families." And then we stopped hearing about any more transcripts. I didn't know any others were still to be released.

And NOW they come out with this!!!! Oh, yeah, I'm sure it is just a "coincidence."

[proud patriot]

6. Standard Operating Proceedure Was Not Followed

No One has been Fired or reprimanded for failing
to follow SOP ..

Lobbyists started Lobbying Congress for protection
for the negligent on 9/11/01 while bodies of Americans
were smoldering in the rubble .

We want Answers We Deserve the Truth We Must Demand it .

The profits of a few DOES NOT out wiegh the blood sweat
and tears spent .

[GRClarkesq]

11. I am not sure this is important

Are the Port Authority police the final say in the matter?

In any event, of course it was a criminal act, but was it MORE than a criminal act? Not an either/or situation.

[Stephanie]

13. The timing is important.

If the PA police and the control tower immediately recognized it as deliberate and not an accident, even more questions are raised as to why no planes were scrambled, etc.

[GRClarkesq]

14. Could be a communications issue?

Do the PA police even have a method to request military airpower? Just asking since I do not know. I could see such a thing becoming quickly bogged down in the chain of command.

[proud patriot]

17. Control Tower is who would of requested airpower

Also people in the second tower (Kirsten Brightwiesten's Husband)
were told to go back to their desks after starting their evacuation

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Because of the first WTC bombing

NYC had a pretty good emergency response plan in place. I would assume part of the that plan would be to notify DC?

[Robb]

20. Interesting you bring that up

I hadn't thought about this in context of a police force that had already had one big boom in a building.

...Probably they figured another couple of booms, assume it's a criminal act. :shrug:

[colorado_ufo]

35. Why waste a long distance phone call?

At least one member of FEMA has testified to the press that they were brought to the NY and already put in place the night of 9/10.

[truth2power]

16. Bush Knew.

BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
BushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnewBushKnew
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[stickdog]

25. A suspected hijacked passenger plane crashes into the tallest building

in NYC. What are the chances it's an accident?

[MasonJar]

34. Dean has said what is probably true.

They knew. And what a thoughtless thing to say (That is one terrible pilot.) even if it had been an accident. Obviously many citizens would have been dead even so. And to callously sit there and do nothing when perhaps the other two planes could have been warned so the pilots could be securely locked in is criminal. Whatever Padilla did (if anything) pales in comparison to these monsters. How can condi and the others refuse to testify under oath? Does noone notice that they are the most mendacious bunch to ever have power in US.

[daleo]

36. Regarding The Pet Goat

To put things into perspective, think about these scenarios:

Asst: President Roosevelt, the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor.
Pres: Come back in half an hour, I'm working on the New York Times Crossword puzzle.

Asst: Prime Minister Churchill, the Luftwaffe is attacking the aerodromes.
P.M.: Not now, can't you see I am reading Alice in Wonderland. Come back in half an hour or so.

Asst: President Bush, the World Trade Center has been hit by an aircraft and is on fire. Several other planes seem to have been hijacked.
Pres: (nods) Now children what sound does a pet goat make? (continues goat related reading for half an hour)

[RamboLiberal]

45. This statement doesn not prove any conspiracy

In the newly disclosed transcripts, a caller from the Port Authority police desk tells Chris McCary, a LaGuardia Airport control tower employee, that "they are considering it a criminal act."

"We believe that, and we are holding all aircraft on the ground," McCary answers. The exchange, at 9:10 a.m., came seven minutes after the second plane struck the twin towers.

Note it was after the second plane hit. I was in the car listening to only the radio - hadn't seen the footage yet and I was screaming after the 2nd plane "terrorists: . Anyone seeing this unless stupid would know the 2nd plane was a criminal act.

[rman]

48. it's one of many pieces of circumstantial evidence

Rarely is it just one piece of evidence that proves wrong-doing. All the circumstantial evidence combined also does not really prove anything - but with mounting circumstantial evidence, at some point there's enough reason for a thourough investigation.

[stickdog]

50. A suspected hijacked passenger plane crashes into the tallest building

in NYC. What are the chances it's an accident?

[0007]

52. I'm still amazed at how swiftly the hijackers were identified,

and even more amazed at how they found Atta's identification. Does it puzzles anyone why the FBI didn't investigate these nationals going to flying school?

And why won't anyone talk about the bin Laden family members being flown out of the country after the WTC crashes?

[TomNickell]

78. They had to have IDs to get plane tickets....

The names given are probably just the IDs used to get on the plane. Easily matched up with surveillance cameras.

The IDs may have been faked, of course.

There was a large stink about the Flight School business. Died out too soon, of course. This raises very serious questions of competence and diligence--Why was there no emergency task force set up? Why did the President take a month's vacation after 6 months on the job. Doesn't -prove- anything else.

The bin Laden family was flown out of they way because they are Bush's buddies, because they were in danger and because they might have given information that woud embarrass Bush and the Saudi royal family.

[DemonFighterLives]

54. The Story appears to have changed

It doesn't tell of the La Guardia call and nothing about a criminal act. HMM!

Edit to add link to Memory Hole transcripts. This came out weeks ago so I don't know if it includes the current topic.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/

I've checked out some of them, but there is a lot there.

[DoYouEverWonder]

59. SOB's I hate when they do that. Here's another link

Port Authority Releases 9/11 Transcripts

Time to make a hard copy of this one. Unfortunately some of the original story has been deleted from this one too.

Here's a few more paragraphs before it disappears:



In another exchange at 9:07 a.m., four minutes after the second plane struck, a LaGuardia ground control dispatcher tells pilots waiting for takeoff: "Nobody is going to be leaving LaGuardia right now. Everybody stand by."

The Federal Aviation Administration had just banned all takeoffs for flights going to or through New York airspace. About 15 minutes later, the FAA banned takeoffs of civilian aircraft nationwide.

The Port Authority, which owns the trade center and operates its own police force, had initially sought to withhold the transcripts, fearing it could traumatize families of those who died.

The Port Authority said the transcripts released yesterday were delayed because the tapes were discovered later.

[Clyde39]

66. WHY did he stay at the school for 1/2 hour?

He just sat there while we were under attack....no one ever talks about this VERY distrubing fact. Shouldn't the president have been immediately whisked away to plan and discuss....at the very least?

[lfairban]

68. What about the kids at the school?

Shouldn't they have been sent home right away since the school could have been a target? They kept shuttling the president around because they thought he might be in danger.

[TomNickell]

75. Here's a link to a related set of transcripts...

Takeoffs Continued Until Second Jet Hit Trade Center, Transcripts Show

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/30/nyregion/30AIRP.html

There is no evidence of conspiracy here. Just the expected confusion.

The link given didn't seem to be the story described in the post.

[DoYouEverWonder]

77. Newsday kept the headline

but changed the body of the story completely since the original that they posted yesterday. I guess once Rove got wind of it, he got them to change their tune?

[proud patriot]

79. So important

We must get answers ..keep the pressure on