"The Match Begins Tomorrow." "Tomorrow Is Zero Hour."

[journalist3072]

On September 10, 2001 the super-secretive National Security Agency intercepted Al Qaeda operatives boasting (in Arabic): "the match begins tomorrow" and "tomorrow is zero hour."

However, it was not translated until September 12, one day after the United States was attacked.

Here are two questions I would like answered by my government:

1. Why was this communication not translated on the same day it was intercepted? What good does it do to intercept communication between members of Al Qaeda, if you aren't going to translate it in a timely manner?

2. The American public might not have ever know about this intercepted communication, had it not been for Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Sen. Shelby divulged the information about this intercepted communication, to Fox News' Carl Cameron.

The Bush apologists have called news organizations like the New York Times "treasonous" for divulging details about the domestic spying program, saying it could harm national security.

Yet, why is it ok for a Republican Senator to tell someone from Fox News that we were listening in on Al Qaeda the day before 9/11? And that we did not translate their communication until the day after the attacks?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002/06/20/zero-day-usat.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40886-2004Aug4.html

[EVDebs]

1. Greg Palast mentions an NSA 'policy shift' in his article

""A top-level CIA operative who spoke with us on condition of strictest anonymity said that, after Bush took office, "There was a major policy shift" at the National Security Agency. Investigators were ordered to "back off " from any inquiries into Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks, especially if they touched on Saudi royals and their retainers. That put the Bin Ladens, a family worth a reported $12 billion and a virtual arm of the Saudi royal household, off limits for investigation. Osama was the exception; he remained a wanted man, but agents could not look too closely at how he filled his piggy bank. The key rule of any investigation, "follow the money," was now violated, and investigations-at least before September 11-began to die.""

Khan Job
http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/palast/palast3.html

Also, on Sept 11th at that FL school another DU poster pointed out that Bush was travelling with the NSA's 'Situation Room' officer , Capt. Deborah Loewer, USN/NSA. Por que ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=114370&mesg_id=114370

[journalist3072]

2. Sh&t! You just blew my mind with that! Why isn't that in the MSM? eom

[EVDebs]

5. The key is Ptech and the WhiteHouse

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2079298&mesg_id=2082441

Ptech, now GoAgile, apparently STILL has WhiteHouse, FAA, AirForce, DOD access to computers. Why ? This makes the Dubai Ports scandal look puny.

Also, conservatives continue to religiously cover up for Bush. This article hoists them on their own petard

Dollars of terror, by Rachel Ehrenfeld
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17730

which says:

""Ptech is used primarily to develop enterprise blueprints at the highest level of US government and corporate infrastructure. These blueprints hold every important functional, operational, and technical detail of the enterprise. A secondary use of this powerful tool is to build other smart tools in a short period of time. Ptech’s clients in 2001 included the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy, Customs, Air Force, the White House, the FAA, IBM, Sysco, Aetna, and Motorola, to name just a few. ""

See Ptech under Paul Thompson's 9-11 timeline also
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?id=1521846767-1810

and

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&financing_of_al-qaeda:_a_more_detailed_look=bmiPtech

with "1996-1997: Ptech Begins to Get US Government Contracts"

The cookie crumbs lead to the WH. GoAgile apparently still is IN the Bush WH. If Clinton's administration DOD, run first by Wm. Perry and then Wm Cohen, (R-ME) btw, we can rightfully ask "was WJC being sandbagged" by the neocons to take the rap ?

Looks to me that neocons, in control of DoD daytoday operations, were setting up the Office of Special Plans even during Clinton's time in office...waiting, waiting, waiting.

From Wm Perry's defenselink.mil bio , I think you'll enjoy this:

""Shortly after President Clinton's reelection in November 1996, Perry made known his decision to step down as secretary. He spoke of his growing frustration over working with a Congress so partisan that it was harming the military establishment, and said that he did not think the results of the 1996 congressional election would decrease the partisanship. He later explained that his decision to retire was "largely due to the constant strain of sending U.S. military personnel on life-threatening missions."""

Way to go Republikans.

[newspeak]

13. remember after 9/11

on television, where they interviewed a man who worked for INS? He stated on television that they were told to treat SA citizens coming in US with kid gloves--to the point of bypassing security. This was on main stream media, why don't some people get a clue what went down and how much we were left unprotected. Remember when Condi said they had no idea they would use planes as weapons? We know they had an idea, because military training exercises reflected that maneuver? It seems so many blatant lies on television!!!!

[Parisle]

3. I remember it clearly,...

---- And if you recall,... this was a story which was quickly scuttled by the media and the administration. It was laid to rest by a sequence of events that had cover-up written all over it,..... but we never found out exactly WHAT was being covered up.

[ck4829]

4. Maybe if we had more translators

But no, many were discharged because they were gay.

The Path to 9/11

[EVDebs]

6. Lt Col Steve Butler of Def Language School spoke out

and was almost courtmartialled. Lucky for Bush there was no trial or much could have been learned.

[journalist3072]

7. Isn't it interesting that

The man who was head of the NSA during that time, Michael Hayden, was recently promoted to head the CIA?

As the one leading the NSA, he should have ensured we had enough translators, if we did not. Yet, his incompetence was rewarded with a promotion.

[Rob H.]

8. "...incompetence was rewarded with a promotion"

That's the classic Bush administration pattern--Condoleeza Rice is a perfect example.

Edited to add that Bolton is also a perfect example of Bush's propensity to install people in positions they have no business holding. Tragically for the rest of us, in Bush's world it probably makes perfect sense to him to appoint as our ambassador to the United Nations someone who hates it and everything it stands for.

[journalist3072]

9. I have an op/ed I wrote on Demopedia about this very subject

Here:

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Rewarding_incompetence

[Rob H.]

10. That's an excellent article

I'm glad you posted it--I have it bookmarked for future reference, too. :)

[journalist3072]

11. Thank you! I appreciate that! eom

[bvar22]

12. Interesting. In August of 2001,

John Ashcroft (who had stopped flying commercial Airlines) DENIED the FBI request for more translators:

"Late August 2001 Internal FBI FY2003 Budget Request to Ashcroft (at http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B... ): FBI specifically asks for, among other things, 54 translators to translate backlog of intelligence gathered (line 3 under Foreign Language Services, cost of $5.1 million), 248 counterterrorism agents and support staff (line 14 entitled CT field investigations, cost of $28 million), and 200 professional intelligence researchers (line 16, entitled Intelligence Production, at a cost of $20.8 million). FBI has repeatedly stated that it has a serious backlog of intelligence data it has gathered but simply does not have the staff to analyze or translate it into usable information." ...

"9/10/2001 Official FY2003 Dept. of Justice Budget Request To White House (at http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B... ): shows that Ashcroft ignored FBI's anti-terrorism requests ... Ashcroft was planning to ignore the FBI's specific requests for more translators, counterintelligence agents and researchers, mentioned above. It additionally shows Ashcroft was trying to slash funding from counterterrorism and grants and other homeland defense programs before 9/11." ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2082072

[EVDebs]

14. Office of Special Plans

""...long before 9-11..."

The Lie Factory
(Office of Special Plans)
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/01/12_405.html

Set up who, what, when, where, and why ?