http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/07/29/findlaw.analysis.dean.911/index.htmlThe September 11 report raises more questions about the White HouseBy John W. DeanFindLaw ColumnistSpecial to CNN.com(FindLaw) --The recently released Report of the Joint Congressional Inquiry Into The Terrorist Attacks Of September 11, 2001, and its dismal findings, have been well reported by the news media. What has not been widely reported, however, is the inescapable conclusions that must be drawn from a close reading of this bipartisan study.
Obviously, Republicans were not going to let Democrats say what needed to be said, or maybe Democrats did not want to politicize the matter. But since the facts could not be ignored or suppressed, they reported them without drawing certain obvious, not to mention devastating, conclusions.Bluntly stated, either the Bush White House knew about the potential of terrorists flying airplanes into skyscrapers (notwithstanding their claims to the contrary), or the CIA failed to give the White House this essential information, which it possessed and provided to others.
Bush is withholding the document that answers this question. Accordingly, it seems more likely that the former possibility is the truth. That is, it seems very probable that those in the White House knew much more than they have admitted, and they are covering up their failure to take action.The facts, however, speak for themselves.Bush's claim of executive privilege for his daily intelligence briefingOne of the most important sets of documents that the congressional inquiry sought was a set of copies of the President's Daily Brief (PDB), which is prepared each night by the CIA. In the Appendix of the 9/11 Report we learn that on August 12, 2002, after getting nowhere with informal discussions, Congress formally requested that the Bush White House provide this information.More specifically, the joint inquiry asked about the process by which the Daily Brief is prepared, and sought several specific Daily Brief items. In particular, it asked for information about the August 6, 2001 Daily Brief relating to Osama Bin Laden's terrorist threats against the United States, and other Daily Brief items regarding Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and pre-September 11 terrorism threats.The joint inquiry explained the basis for its request: "the public has a compelling interest ... in understanding how well the Intelligence Community was performing its principal function of advising the President and NSC of threats to U.S. national security."In short, the joint inquiry wanted to see the records. Bush's public assertion that his intelligence was "darn good" was not sufficient.The inquiry had substantial background material, for the Clinton administration's national security team had been very forthcoming. As a result, it warned President Bush of the inevitable consequences of refusal to provide access to the requested Daily Briefs.The Inquiry told Bush: "In the absence of such access, we will have no choice but to extrapolate the number and content of
items on these subjects from the items that appeared on these subjects in the Senior Executive Intelligence Brief and other lower level intelligence products during the same period."Bush nevertheless denied access, claiming executive privilege. While the Inquiry did not choose to draw obvious conclusions, they are right there in the report for everyone else to draw. So I have drawn them, to see what they look like.Revealing information in the 9/11 report
After pulling together the information in the 9/11 Report, it is understandable why Bush is stonewalling. It is not very difficult to deduce what the president knew, and when he knew it. And the portrait that results is devastating.<snip>
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
