I just realized - Dick Cheney admits culpability for 9/11!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

From today's speech:

"Nine-eleven caused everyone to take a serious second look at threats that had been gathering for a while, and enemies whose plans were getting bolder and more sophisticated."
****************************************************************************************
Isn't he saying that prior to 9/11 their initial looks were NOT serious plus acknowledging that the threats HAD BEEN GATHERING FOR AWHILE?!!

We know this to be the case because everyone in the Clinton administration had targeted Al Qaida as a huge threat, far from being case closed, as Cheney maintains just a few sentences later. I also recall reading that the Clinton admin tried to especially brief the Bushies on Al Qaida but were rebuffed. AND you have the July 10th Tenant, Rice and Black meeting "10 on a scale of 10" AND you have the August 6 PDB!!!

Cheney FINALLY admits that they took none of it seriously!


edit to add link to speech.
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/05/21/text-dick-cheney-speech-on-national-security-21-may/

[Turborama]

1. K&R for good observation

I wonder if this will get picked up by any of the MSM?

[truedelphi]

8. Only if - somehow - Nancy Pelosi can take the blame! n/t

[alsame]

2. LIHOP at the very least. They needed the "New Pearl Harbor". n/t

[KayLaw]

12. That's what he said.

Means, Motive, and Opportunity.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

19. I think they "made it happen on purpose"

then did everything they could to "cover their trail", and clean up the crime scene before it could be properly investigated.

[Stephanie]

3. Tenet's hair was on fire, Richard Clark couldn't get their attention

Instead they went on vacation. For an ENTIRE MONTH. The ENTIRE ADMINISTRATION took August off. Bush's unprecedented, hastily planned month long vacation was, I believe, in direct response to the threats. He saved himself and the rest of us be damned. Dick too - spent August fishing in WY.

[MiniMe]

4. Richard Clarke was practically doing handstands trying to warn them,

and nobody would listen.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. Again, part of the public record.

He must have written the speech himself without realizing what an admission he was making.

[Sydnie]

6. What was the name of the operation that they canceled shortly after taking over?

The one where Clarke and his group were tracking these people yet they dismantled the program?

Damn ... I wish I could remember the name!

[glitch]

9. I know what you are talking about. I think it was the FBI's anti-terror team that John O'Neill led.

IIRC he quit in disgust, later to be working at the WTC and killed on 9/11.

[leveymg]

21. Operation Catchers Mitt

See, Why 9/11 Happened: Bush Cancelled Operation "Catchers Mitt ...Why 9/11 Happened: Bush Cancelled Operation "Catchers Mitt", ... after a federal judge severely chastised the FBI for improperly seeking permission to ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2105926 - 99k - Cached - Similar pages

There was also Able-Danger. but that was a DIA program not FBI.

Tenet also travelled to Crawford in mid-August and he tried to again convince Bush to roll-up the AQ cells known to be inside the US, but for some reason -- and this is really the Big Issue -- Bush refused. It's not as if the nature of the threat hadn't been made clear to him in many briefings during the summer. Why did Bush fail to issue the arrest order, which only the President could do?

Ultimately Bush, will have to answer that question.

[Blue_Roses]

7. K&R!

[bleever]

10. Yes!

Bingo.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

11. Slate 2004 - Dick Clarke Is Telling the Truth :Why he's right about Bush's negligence on terrorism

http://www.slate.com/id/2097685/

The Principals meeting, which Clarke urgently requested during Bush's first week in office, did not take place until one week before 9/11. In his 60 Minutes interview, Clarke spelled out the significance of this delay. He contrasted July 2001 with December 1999, when the Clinton White House got word of an impending al-Qaida attack on Los Angeles International Airport and Principals meetings were called instantly and repeatedly:

In December '99, every day or every other day, the head of the FBI, the head of the CIA, the Attorney General had to go to the White House and sit in a meeting and report on all the things that they personally had done to stop the al Qaeda attack, so they were going back every night to their departments and shaking the trees personally and finding out all the information. If that had happened in July of 2001, we might have found out in the White House, the Attorney General might have found out that there were al Qaeda operatives in the United States. FBI, at lower levels, knew never told me, never told the highest levels in the FBI. ... We could have caught those guys and then we might have been able to pull that thread and get more of the conspiracy. I'm not saying we could have stopped 9/11, but we could have at least had a chance.

**********************************************************************************************************************

So, Dick Cheney, that's how a White House behaved who TOOK THE THREAT SERIOUSLY!!!

[pleah]

13. I said they let it happen as I watched it happen that morning.

And, it has been proven that they ignored warnings.

Will anything happen to "dick"? He has admitted to torture and admitted he let 9-11 happen.


:shrug:

[KayLaw]

14. He was already questioned about it.

Remember? Compare his questioning, he who actually had MMO as I said earlier in the thread, to innocent citizens of Iraq and other countries.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

15. Buried in here is also an assertion that Congress authorized torture

as a "necessary and appropriate force". I wonder if they think they were authorizing torture. I doubt it.
***********************************************************************************************************

From today's speech:

The key to any strategy is accurate intelligence, and skilled professionals to get that information in time to use it. In seeking to guard this nation against the threat of catastrophic violence, our Administration gave intelligence officers the tools and lawful authority they needed to gain vital information. We didn’t invent that authority. It is drawn from Article Two of the Constitution. And it was given specificity by the Congress after 9/11, in a Joint Resolution authorizing “all necessary and appropriate force” to protect the American people.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. And of course, there's the comment about A Q Khan and nuclear proliferation

"We didn’t know what was coming next, but everything we did know in that autumn of 2001 looked bad. This was the world in which al-Qaeda was seeking nuclear technology, and A. Q. Khan was selling nuclear technology on the black market."
*********************************************************************************************************
A Q Khan
from wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Qadeer_Khan
2003 revelations from Iran and Libya

In 2003, Libya gave up nuclear weapons-related material including these centrifuges that were acquired from Pakistan's AQ Khan nuclear "black market".<21>In August 2003, reports emerged of dealings with Iran; it was claimed that Khan had offered to sell nuclear weapons technology to that country as early as 1989. The Iranian government came under intense pressure from the United States and the European Union to make a full disclosure of its nuclear programme and, finally, agreed in October 2003 to accept tougher investigations from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA reported that Iran had established a large uranium enrichment facility using gas centrifuges based on the "stolen" URENCO designs, which had been obtained "from a foreign intermediary in 1987." The intermediary was not named but many diplomats and analysts pointed to Pakistan and, specifically, to Khan, who was said to have visited Iran in 1986. The Iranians turned over the names of their suppliers and the international inspectors quickly identified the Iranian gas centrifuges as Pak-1's, the model developed by Khan in the early 1980s. In December 2003, two senior staff members at KRL were arrested on suspicion of having sold nuclear weapons technology to the Iranians.
***********************************************************************************************************************

Now, how did they deal with this nuclear threat from Iran? By OUTING the CIA agent dealing with it!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2005/Outed_CIA_officer_was_working_on_0213.html
*************************************************************************************************************************

I am starting to see this as less than a speech but more as a confession.

[bleever]

17. Olbermann picked up on the same thing.

Unless he was actually tipped off by your post. :toast:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

18. I'm happy to be in the same frame of mind as KO!

:loveya:

Great minds think alike and all that! Thanks for toast. Next one's on me.

[JohnnyBoots]

20. "Willfull Ignorance" more likely and much more criminally negligent. nt

[jamieque]

22. I agree...

However, from what Cheney has said lately and it comes off as more admission to guilt. If all the facts and details about what the Bush Administration did before and after 9-11 came out I think it would be more then enough to put all of these criminals away for life.

Think about it...

Cheney has been too outspoken lately...

Something is up and I think you all will agree with me on this. They knew something was going to happen and they did nothing to stop it. The case that Bush, Cheney and many of their cohorts were just as responsible for the deaths all those people in the World Trade Center Twin Towers as the terrorists themselves.

Then there is all the War Profiteering that happened on their watch when we illegally invaded Iraq on the false charges of 'They have weapons of Mass Destruction...'

What total BS that turned out to be? Oh and lets not forget the deaths of our brave soldiers and the innocent citizens of Iraq. All of this and the ton of screw ups and lapses in common sense by Bush and Cheney's faulty leadership and corrupt morals has rightfully earned these assholes a lifetime sentence in a prison cell.

If Cheney was smart he would shut his mouth now before he says too much more. The more he speaks out the more people begin to wonder why is he putting himself out in front so much. I for one don't believe a thing this corrupt individual has to say. Think about it. We nearly destroyed Iraq with all our bombing for a president who has already stated the reason why he did what he did. Remember what he said: "This is the man aka the now deceased Sadam Hussien who threaten to kill my daddy." Bam... open and closed case. This was all a matter of vindictiveness. Bush admitted it! Oh and lets not forget that Bush cheated and made a mockery out of our political system when he took the voters rights in Florida and flushed them down the drain thanks to help from his no good brother the then Gov. Jeb Bush. Oh and the fact they rammed all the BS lies about National Security down our collective throats to keep us afraid and in the dark.

The last 8 years of hell we had to deal with were a mistake that has greatly damaged our country's world image and our economy. The so-called fiscal responsible Republicans were all in favor of this expensive war of terror that has gotten us deep in debt. Oh and the fact that they have weaken regulations and sold all of us out in favor of kissing the collective asses of the Special Interest groups should make all of you angry. I know it has pissed me off because my tax dollars paw these assholes salaries. I feel betrayed and used.

That is why I am thinking about forming a new organization called CRUSADE. CRUSADE would be a non-profit organization that would look into finding ways the public could limit the power of the government. One such way would be to put a 12 year term limit on all the politicians in both parties. They couldn't serve more then 12 years and they would only get a chance to serve all 12 years if the people of the country feel they did a good job. A special election would be held at the end of the eight years and it would be determined then if the contributions, and deeds of the politicitians were done not only in favor of their home states but the whole country at large. The reason for this idea is so that we the people would be able to send new ideas to Washington DC that would be able to flourish instead of dying like the currently do. I am sure you know what I mean by that statement. How can there be any change in this country when our leaders never change? Also, these limits would greatly help diminish the corruptive influence of Special Interest groups on the politicians themselves. They wouldn't be in power long enough for these trouble making groups get their claws on them. Also, it would cut down on all the political BS that we have to put up with. They would HAVE to do the jobs they went to Washington DC to do. All the political game nonsense would be stopped dead in its tracks because they wouldn't have time play. Of course, we all know the special interest groups would try some other way to get in so putting together a special Task Force of Rules and Oversight would be a good idea. This group would monitor these groups and make sure they are kept in line. Also, this group would be structured in a way that kept potential corrupting forces aka 'worms' from sneaking in to undermine it and take over.

Also, cutting back on their salaries wouldn't hurt either. I believe they should only get a pay raise if they have earned it and considering how much both parties have screwed up over the years I think they need a pay cut. Think about it... How many of you have worked at fast food restuarants over the years? I bet many of you have. I have and you know what they don't pay nearly enough for all the hard work these people do. Why should our politicians have the right to give themselves a pay raise when the employees of companies can't?

Doesn't make much logical sense does it? Then again nothing makes logical sense in our screwed up country these days. Companies keep shipping our jobs overseas but want us to buy their crappy goods at the same time they are laying us off in the thousands. That sounds so stupid and self-destructive. If these idiot companies would stop worrying about being so damn greed and realize that every time they lay off someone they are cutting their own throats as well as everyone elses. The whole economy takes a hit when these idiots do what they do and notice that it is always us employees on the work floor who get cut and none of the upper management...

Gee... I wonder why? If these imbeciles keep cutting jobs at the rate they are going our money will be as worthless as toilet paper. And you all know what we do with toilet paper. Right? Also, there is the fact that we are funding China's military growth with our money. We aren't paying off our debts. How the hell can we with NAFTA, CAFTA and all the other stupid trade agreements that were flawed from the moment they were first proposed by our idiot politicians who are suppose to be helping us, their employers. Yes, we are their employers because we pay for them to represent us. Unfortunately, these assholes haven't been doing that... Have they? Now do you see why I proposed a permanent 12 year term limit on all of them. They have forgotten what they went to Washington DC to do and that is to REPRESENT US THE PEOPLE. They should be trying to help us but instead they are hurting us... all of us and yes I am including the rich assholes who never seem to have enough money to shut the hell up. Enough is enough and it is as our new president has so eloquently said, "Time for a change."

Think about it... We either change our broken system into one that cares about everyone or it is really game over for all of us. We are now being faced with the fate of our nation staring us right in the face and it is time to take action and stand up. If our politicians won't do their jobs then we need to make them. If the companies we work for are going to put their own profit over doing what is fair and right for their hard workers/employees then they need to be pentalized. I say this because when you look at the current situation of our growing national debt it looks pretty grim. How can we pay off our debts to China and the other nations when the corporations and companies keep firing people to maximize their profit forecasts for their board of directors? I keep waiting for these idiots to wake up and see what I am sure all of you have seen...

Companies seem to have this mentality, "We profit at the expense of our employees labors if the economy takes a bad turn. Nothing personal but we have to maximize our profitiblity at the expense of our long term survivalbility..." What the hell...?

I know I am putting words in their months but their actions speak awfully loud and clear considering their actions are motivated by nothing by cold hearted greed. They should be thinking about the long term survivalbility of there companies instead. How can they survive when they have eliminated their customer base who just happens to be their very own employees...

See how stupid our system is... That is why I agree with Obama about everything being interconnected because it is the truth. Everything is connected. Unemployed people are more likely to commit crimes, break the law, do drugs and end up homeless. None of these outcomes are good for our country. In fact, this is commiting economic suicide. Bush and Cheney, as well as their so-called fiscal party friends knew damn well what they were doing and they didn't care.

See how everything goes around and comes around in a round about way. That is why I say that Cheney and his pals should be brought to justice for what they have done in our name.