What was in the Aug 6 PDB?

[scottxyz]

The Presidential Daily Brief (PDB - the CIA's highly sensitive compilation of that day's most significant national security intelligence) given to Bush on August 6, 2001 still remains classified. It is probably the smoking gun which would end up getting Bush impeached.

"The super-secret PDB has emerged in the public eye with the disclosure that President Bush was informed by the Aug. 6 version that terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden might try to hijack an airplane."

- Walter Pincus, WaPo
Friday, May 24, 2002; Page A33

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Aug+6+PDB&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&edition=us&selm=acn9pr%242fk%241%40slb7.atl.mindspring.net&rnum=2

"One PDB was given at the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Aug. 6, and dealt with the possibility that Al Qaeda might hijack airplanes."

- Michael Isikoff
Newsweek, 26 May 2003

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Aug+6+PDB&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&edition=us&selm=bb05s0%242pbj%241%40pencil.math.missouri.edu&rnum=6

"The Aug. 6, 2001 PDB given to Bush while on vacation at his ranch in Crawford {focused} on the prospect of an upcoming Al Qaeda attack and the prospect that terrorists might seek to hijack commercial airliners — a warning that critics have long charged should have triggered a more vigorous response from the White House. The title of the PDB ... was more prophetic than the White House has ever acknowledged: Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Aug+6+PDB&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&edition=us&selm=20040221021704.09014.00000114%40mb-m14.aol.com&rnum=8

What did Bush know and when did he know it? And why did he go golfing on August 7 rather than putting his intelligence chiefs on "high alert" as Clarke points out Clinton did in late 1999 when they prevented the al-Qaeda attack on LAX?

If we can't read this PDB, it should at least be made available to the 9/11 Commission and key members of Congress.

[grasswire]

1. and what was in the classified report...

...that Clarke submitted on September 18? The one that Condi Rice sent back because it was the "wrong answer"?

[Zorra]

2. I posted this on another thread, thought it would be relevant here.....

The PDB from Aug 6th, 2001:
Washington Post
Friday 25 July 2003
With respect to Bush, the congressional panel indicated that it tried to determine "to what extent the President received threat-specific warnings during this period" -- but obtained only limited information.

Among the only clues cited in the report about Bush's knowledge of al Qaeda's intentions against the United States is an Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing (PDB) -- described in the report only as a "closely-held intelligence report" -- that included information "acquired in May 2001 that indicated a group of Bin Laden supporters was planning attacks in the United States with explosives."

The PDB also said "that Bin Laden had wanted to conduct attacks in the United States for years and that the group apparently maintained a support base here." It cited "FBI judgments about patterns of activity consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks," according to the report.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/072603A.shtml

What Bu$h did at dawn the day after he supposedly read the Aug 6 PDB:

(I apologize for the right wing news source, but it makes this info that much better. Scroll down to read the excerpt.)

Bush Golfs, Doesn't Miss Washington
8/7/2001 5:16 PM
President Bush rolled out of his ranch at dawn Tuesday for golf and talk, saying he is thoroughly at home amid the outdoor play and work of his Texas vacation. "I'm the kind of person who likes to be outdoors; it keeps my mind and my spirits up and it keeps me a balanced person," Bush told reporters moments before he teed off at Ridgewood Golf Club on a hill overlooking Lake Waco.

http://www.teamgop.com/archive.php3?m=08&y=2001

Original article was in Washington Post but the page "cannot be found"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42624-2001Aug7.html

[Stephanie]

4. O/T - This "I'm the kind of person" stuff really reveals lack of intellect

I find it so irritating and stupid.

[maggrwaggr]

3. check this out: They ALL ran from Washington like scared rats that month!

thanks go to "Stephanie" for doing the great work (on this other thread, here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1264380#1264568
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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.”
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www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15...
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.
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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.
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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.
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[Stephanie]

5. Thanks for re-posting

Spread the word!

xx
S

[maggrwaggr]

6. I'm happy to spread the word

I wish I owned a goddamn cable news outlet, I'd be all over this shit. I'd probably hire you first thing.