Congressman Conyers:Ignoring the Terrorist Threat

[cal04]

More is coming out of the the Woodward book that buttresses earlier reporting about the key failure of the Bush Administration: the sustained failure to address the pending threat of 9/11.

Woodward highlights a July 10, 2001 visit paid to Condoleezza Rice by CIA Director, George Tenet, and his counterterrorism chief, Cofer Black. On page 49 of State of Denial, Woodward describes the intelligence that prompted this meeting:


(T)here was such a huge volume of data that an intelligence officer's instinct strongly suggested that something was coming. He and Black hoped to convey the depth of their anxiety and get Rice to kick-start the government into immediate action.


Tenet is attributed to have had these remarks to White House counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke about the pending danger this intelligence suggested:


"It's my sixth sense, but I feel it coming. This is going to be the big one"


George Tenet and Richard Clarke are two people to whom the Administration should have been listening to at this time. These two who had served in the same posts during the Clinton Administration. An administration that had some experience stopping a major terrorist attack: The Millenium attacks planned for Los Angeles airport and other sites worldwide.

Unfortunately, at this July 10 meeting


Rice "was polite but (Tenet and Cofer) felt the brush off... no immediate action meant great risk. Black felt the decision to just keep planning was a sustained policy failure. Rice and the Bush team had been in hibernation too long. 'Adults should not have a system like this,' (Black) said later."


I keep coming back to the actions the Clinton Administration took. They were able to prevent the first global series of terrorist attacks. The Millenium plot was a trademark al Qaeda plan to simultaneously strike a number of different sites. President Clinton also bombed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's hideout in Afghanistan. There was a sense of urgency in responding to this terrorist threat.

The comparison between the two administrations is striking. The Clinton Administration fought terrorism and stopped a massive attack dead in its tracks. Without torture or warrantless eavesdropping. The Bush Administration received the stark warning, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." and sat on their hands.

No wonder the right wing has gone to great lengths to distort President Clinton's conduct. They're hoping distract attention from President Bush's catastrophic failures.

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000560.htm#comments

[redqueen]

1. I love this man!

"The Clinton Administration fought terrorism and stopped a massive attack dead in its tracks. Without torture or warrantless eavesdropping. The Bush Administration received the stark warning, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." and sat on their hands."

:loveya: