WP: 9/11 Panel Seeks Author of Brief

[swag]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6590-2004Apr12.html

The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, rebuffed once previously, asked again yesterday to interview the CIA analyst who wrote the Aug. 6, 2001, intelligence briefing given to President Bush on al Qaeda's threat to the United States, according to administration sources.

"A new request from the commission has just come in, and it is being considered," said a senior intelligence official, who requested anonymity because such negotiations are supposed to be conducted privately.

The commission wants to interview the author of the article in the now-famous President's Daily Brief to determine her purpose in assembling the document and how much information she sought in doing so.

Commission Chairman Thomas H. Kean (R), a former New Jersey governor, said yesterday the Bush administration in the past refused to allow the panel to interview CIA analysts responsible for assembling the briefs, which are among the government's most sensitive and closely held intelligence documents.

. . .

[skooooo]

1. Wheeeeeeeee! Heh heh heh.. This thing will not die!

[Oilwellian]

2. I know why they're asking this

I've heard the talking parrots say several times today that it was Bush who asked for the August 6th PDB. Ben-Veniste clarified last week during Condi's hearing that it was the CIA who initiated it, not Bush.

[skooooo]

3. And the significance of that would be...?

If Bush didn't ask for it, it means he was even more disengaged than if he had asked for it?

[Demoiselle]

4. Absolutely right, skooooo!

eom

[Oilwellian]

6. You've got it

If he asked for it as he claims, it would appear he was very concerned about the chatter they were receiving for the entire summer. If the CIA initiated it, it's obvious he could have cared less about Tenet and Clarke with their hair on fire.

[senseandsensibility]

11. Not to mention

that both he and Rice lied about him asking for it.

[dogonarug]

19. Hair on fire

If shrub had asked for the report out of concern over heightened chatter, then how could he go to count sticks in Crawford the next day after receiving such an ominous warning? He took NO ACTION! He obviously didn't give a shit, cause he didn't ask for it! My bet it was the CIA who started things...maybe for nothing other than CYA.

[Jane Austin]

9. And . . . both he and Rice would have been lying

like a couple of rugs.

[nolabels]

15. So which means in terms for us lackies.............................

They lied to everyone publicly but under oath had to tell the truth or they would perjure them selves :hi:

[LiberalFighter]

17. Cheney must not had cleared it for his eyes.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Time to write the commission

How did the reporter see an 11 1/2 page report and Bush only handed over 1 1/2 pages.

I still have the original artical on my computer for 2 years now and it does say 11 1/2 pages

[Oilwellian]

8. Was it one of these articles?

Deadly Mistakes
U.S. Investigators Knew About Planned Terror Attacks, Let the Suspects Get Away.
More Clues That CIA and FBI Could Have Prevented the Attack on America
by Oliver Schröm
Die Zeit
October 1, 2002

"Crawford, Aug. 6, 2001. U.S. president George W. Bush is on vacation. He wants to spend the whole month at his ranch in Texas. Every morning, however, he still receives his Presidential Daily Brief, or PDB, wherein the CIA informs the president about the country's security situation. On this morning, the report is straight from the CIA director. His PDB runs 11 and one-half printed pages, instead of the usual two to three, and carries the title, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Therein the CIA chief explains that al Qaeda has decided to carry out attacks within the United States, and that presumably members of the terrorist organization have been in the country for some time. It is unclear whether the CIA director informed the president about the statements of arrested al Qaeda members. According to their confessions, the terrorist organization for some time has been thinking about hijacking planes and using them as missiles."

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/diezeit100102.html



Whatever the definition, the document is the innocuously named President's Daily Brief, a 10- to 12-page report produced overnight by the CIA. In recent weeks, it has become the hottest property in Washington. Two powerful bodies are demanding to see it: the nonpartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is trying to determine how the Bush administration reached its conclusions about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Negotiations and threats of subpoenas continued last week, but so far the White House has claimed that the PDB, as it is called, is off limits under executive privilege. No one remembers any White House ever giving it up.

More...

http://www.iht.com/articles/117157.html

[ezee]

12. Ive seen this also

and I sent a copy to the commission. I have also read the item with Ben-venesta stating for the record that bush didnt request the pdb info. He was speaking to Tenant, and read it into the record.

[LiberalFighter]

22. That is confusing...

Washington Post
Under Bush, the Briefing Gets Briefer: Key Intelligence Report by CIA and FBI Is Shorter, 'More Targeted,' Limited to Smaller Circle of Top Officials and Advisers

[grasswire]

7. I have other questions

Was that the only intelligence briefing Bush got that day? And what does the "THREAT ASSESSMENT" say for the same day? Bush gets a threat assessment every day, reportedly. A matrix kind of thing.

[KAZ]

10. And frat-boy received 40 breifings from Tennet re: the threat.

The 08/06 memo did not happen in a vacuum.

[swag]

13. I think they probably have a lot to ask this person

Who initiated the inclusion of this material in the PDB? Was the PDB material adapted from other material? What detail documents are available that would support this summary? How did the administration follow up with you on the information contained in the PDB? What was your involvement with the August 7 memo to agencies that omitted current threat information?

What was the intent of current threat information in the memo?

How would you characterize the last two paragraphs that we have of these 1.5 of 11.5 pages: historical? current?

What were the scope and nature of the 70 current investigations. Were these investigations of Al Qaeda, of other groups, individuals as well?

Was any effort made at interagency coordination?

Who delivered the briefing to the President?

Did the President sign or initial the PDB?

[opihimoimoi]

14. Was any effort made to insure the Prez got the seriousness of the

situation?

Was the President aware there was 1 1/2 pages? and that the warning was on the 2 nd page?

And why wasn't America notified/warned?

\Why did the President hide the warnings or deal with it to prevent easy high jackings??

[MetaTrope]

16. I know, it was...Valerie Plame!

As good an answer as any.

[freethought]

18. Looking for the PDB author, eh?

I can just see this testimony. "Actually Mr. Chairman when I was asked to write the PDB I was also asked if I could do it in comic style with word balloons and color pictures. I was told that's what keeps the President's attention."
I guess they opted to keep it short.

[Rex]

20. Yup, Dubya gets the special K edition

Dear Emperor Almighty,

The evil doers are being meanies and that really really bad man whose family works with your daddy has become Mr. Grumpypants. Lollipop Land might be in trouble. Strap on your magic sword and try to get to the bonus stage in Zelda III.

Hugs & Kisses,

Little Bo Peep.

[BostonTeaParty04]

21. If bush asked for a briefing, then where is HIS memo asking for it?

God, I really hope their lies are revealed to all!!

[murielm99]

23. This guy, a former CIA person, has a different, but no less critical take

on it.

He says, "I wrote about 40 PDB's during my four-year tenure at the CIA. This particular PDB article was written in response to a presidential request. I am told that Bush's request was a reaction to the intelligence warnings he was hearing during the daily CIA morning briefings....

snip

The PDB article released Saturday is a classic CIA response to such a request. It lays out the historical and evidentiary antecedents to undergird that analyst's belief about the nature of the threat and provides current intelligence indicators that reinforce the basic conclusion of the piece -- ie. Bin Laden was determined to attack the United States. . . However, anyone familliar with the nature of Bin Laden and Al Quiaeda should have asked, "What are they planning and what can we do to stop it?"

snip

The PDB revealed another very fascinating item -- the analyst who wrote the piece had access to details about FBI investigations. This is something I never had access to when I was writing PDB's. It was forbidden territory. In other words, Bill Clinton has opened some level of cooperation between the BBI and CIA.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18393