Clinton aides told Bush team Al Qaeda posed worst threat facing the nation

[scottxyz]

Clinton Aides Plan to Tell 9/11 Panel of Warning Bush Team on al-Qaeda

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/politics/20PANE.html?pagewanted=1&hp

Senior Clinton administration officials called to testify next week before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks say they are prepared to detail how they repeatedly warned their Bush administration counterparts in late 2000 that Al Qaeda posed the worst security threat facing the nation — and how the new administration was slow to act.

They said the warnings were delivered in urgent post-election intelligence briefings in December 2000 and January 2001 for Condoleezza Rice, who became Mr. Bush's national security adviser; Stephen Hadley, now Ms. Rice's deputy; and Philip D. Zelikow, a member of the Bush transition team, among others.

[jamesinca]

1. I have heard that this was in an interview on the History channel

Some time back, I guess about a year ago. Clinton, Mr President, said that they repeatedly warned about the al-Qaeda. In the Suskind book about Paul O'Neil, it is stated that on Jan 30, 2001 the plans were being made to attack Iraq. Wesley Clark said that he was contacted by the administration to say that Iraq had something to do with 9/11 and he refused. Shortly after that he stepped down from his post as NATO commander.

[Ladyhawk]

2. I read about this in the "Operation Ignore" section of Al Franken's book.

I had to put the book away for at least a week while I mulled over the ramifications. Either Bush was extremely incompetent, or there's something to the LIHOP idea. Either way, Bushco dropped the ball. Either way, they are at least in some way responsible for the lives lost on 9-11. It sickens me that they have used these lives to further their own imperialistic agenda. It sickens me that they are still using 9-11 and its victims to further their political aims.

They should be ashamed, but instead they flaunt the image of the dead. Sick! Sick! Sick!

[Flubadubya]

12. "They should be ashamed..."

They should be more than ashamed... they should be emprisoned! :grr: :mad:

[LiberalManiacfromOC]

14. just a little comment....

Al Franken's book is the best piece of literature ever :D and im reading Price of Loyalty now. Also a great book. Both prove bush's slowness to react.... why do people consider him to be a good president for security? i thought he'd rather stay in Florida like on 9/11. :mad:

[willat]

31. Iraq

"These people have no clue, they have no idea about the meaning of terrorism and the meaning of freedom," said Urfali, who said his family has lived in exile from Iraq since 1958. "These protesters talk in the name of Iraq and none of them are from Iraq, none of them lived in the terror."

[truthisfreedom]

3. and if Kerry's team is on the ball, this will be all over the news for

weeks to come.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Finally! I knew it!

I knew there was a reason big dog was holding out on his book! Boy, does he have a story to write! Bring it on, Bill!

[Gunit_Sangh]

5. I liked this comment

"But given the witnesses' prominence in the Clinton administration, supporters of Mr. Bush may see political motives in the testimony of some of them. "

Telling the truth under oath = political motives

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Put Condi on the stand.

There's one way to find out for sure. Put Condi on the stand. She'll either corroborate the allegation, or she'll perjure herself.

[xchrom]

7. she'll lie

and bushco under the dirction of rove will turn into a giant chameleon to get out of this.
it will be up to folks like us to keep the heat on. there are some democratic senators who will look for blood with this and they will need our support. as well as kerry.

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Of course she will lie

but it's so much fun to watch her when she does. She turns into a little booble head and she gets really nervous, blinking and talking faster. She's one of the worst liars I've ever seen.

[IconoclastIlene]

17. Truer words were never said.

We have been watching this bobble head for way to long; I'll be glad to say goodbye Condie...best of luck someplace else.

[calimary]

23. Make sure to call them - you can do it TOLL FREE.

See my sig line.

It wouldn't hurt to call a republi-CON or two, just so they know that the "entire country" is NOT in lockstep with these fiends. They'll scoff at one person. They'll hesitate if it's a bunch of people. They'll get scared if there are legions of us - if they know we are on to them.

Please call, First Thing Monday Morning, if you can.

[Nevernose]

21. She refuses to give sworn testimony

Which is essentially saying "I intend to lie."

[PaDUer]

33. Who does she think she is..

swear the bitch in!

[Kool Kitty]

28. Now you know why she refuses to testify

under oath.

[dbt]

8. WooHoo! Let the tapdancing begin!

However will the Regime keep this shit from coming out?

:evilgrin:
dbt

[calimary]

26. They'll succeed if folks like us do nothing about it.

And as long as we let our reps do nothing about it. And we let our media do nothing about it.

The battle is on. Note my sig line, for starters.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[colonel odis]

10. they'll rely on their bootlickers to discredit the testimony

hannity, o'reilly, rush .... the usual suspects.

the fact that condi and her crew were told that about al-qaeda has been reported. franken's book, i believe, cited the time magazine and nyt stories that originally reported it.

the clinton folks' testimony may put it in nice, big capital letters so the boneheads in the mainstream media will, first of all, understand it. then, gee, maybe REPORT IT!?!?!?!?!

it's a pretty damning statement about the bush administration and where their priorities were.

we have got to get those bastards out of office.

[nicecakes]

11. Too bad Clinton could not serve a third term

None of this would have happened if he was in command. In fact, he would have finally used that drone to missile AQ like bush should have done. When the Clinton library is completed it will clear up all the bad press that he has been served.

[LiberalManiacfromOC]

15. well.......

thats why Gore was running

[Poiuyt]

16. Star Wars Defense

I heard Clinton say that he told bush the first priority should be AQ, but bush wanted to build a Star Wars type missile defense system. Remember that?

Sandy Berger also told Rice that AQ was the biggest threat to the US, but she said that they felt that Iraq was the biggest threat.

[Yavin4]

18. If Gore Was President, 9/11 Would Not Have Happened

The intelligence community took their eyes off of AQ and focused on Iraq in order to please the new boss. That's how the terrorists got through.

[JoFerret]

22. Possibly. But one thing for sure is

we would not now be the enemy of the world and we would all be much safer as a result of not creating breeding grounds for terrorism all over the globe.

[Pale_Rider]

19. Why Is Bush And His National Security Team Acting So Guilty About 9/11?

Why Is Bush And His National Security Team Acting So Guilty About 9/11?
http://www.uspoliticstoday.com/news.php?nid=3889

Early in 2002, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said "no one could have predicted that they would try to use a hijacked airplane as a missile…” to bring down the World Trade Towers.

Early in 2004 she is fighting hard not to have to repeat that claim under oath.

Because it was a lie.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on New York and Washington most Americans were ready to believe that Osama Bin Laden hit us with a sucker punch that no one could have seen coming. The evidence is now overwhelming that the punch was telegraphed in advance and that gross incompetence let that punch land and do its terrible damage.

Just before Christmas, and under-reported by the press, was this startling statement by Thomas Kean, chairman of the independent commission investigating 9/11:

"This was not something that had to happen."

They knew of the threat and thousands of Americans died.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. kick

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kadie]

25. The bushie administration

was so arrogant that they wouldn't give any amount of validity to anything from the Clinton Administration. I just hang my head at how sad the entire situation is.

[struggle4progress]

27. kick

:kick:

[seemslikeadream]

29. Philip D Zelikow - Executive Director 9/11 Commission AND

Consider this passage from a piece in today's Times ...

They said the warnings were delivered in urgent post-election intelligence briefings in December 2000 and January 2001 for Condoleezza Rice, who became Mr. Bush's national security adviser; Stephen Hadley, now Ms. Rice's deputy; and Philip D. Zelikow, a member of the Bush transition team, among others.
One official scheduled to testify, Richard A. Clarke, who was President Bill Clinton's counterterrorism coordinator, said in an interview that the warning about the Qaeda threat could not have been made more bluntly to the incoming Bush officials in intelligence briefings that he led.

At the time of the briefings, there was extensive evidence tying Al Qaeda to the bombing in Yemen two months earlier of an American warship, the Cole, in which 17 sailors were killed.

"It was very explicit," Mr. Clarke said of the warning given to the Bush administration officials. "Rice was briefed, and Hadley was briefed, and Zelikow sat in." Mr. Clarke served as Mr. Bush's counterterrorism chief in the early months of the administration, but after Sept. 11 was given a more limited portfolio as the president's cyberterrorism adviser.



Now we know about Rice and Hadley, her deputy. But how about Zelikow? He's a former NSC official from the first Bush administration and a close associate of Rice's. The two of them even wrote a book together.

He was in the key meetings where the warnings -- seemingly ignored -- about al Qaida came up. He seems like someone you'd want to talk to to find out what they were warned about and why they didn't take the warnings more seriously.

Well, you don't have to look far to find him. He runs the 9/11 Commission. Zelikow is the Executive Director of the Commission, which means he has operational control of the investigation under the overall management of the two co-chairs Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com /

Clinton Aides Plan to Tell Panel of Warning Bush Team on Qaeda


Mr. Zelikow, the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and a co-author of a 1995 book with Ms. Rice, has been the target of repeated criticism from some relatives of Sept. 11 victims. They have said his membership on the Bush transition team and his ties to Ms. Rice pose a serious conflict of interest for the commission, which is investigating intelligence and law-enforcement actions before the attacks.

Mr. Clarke said if Mr. Zelikow left any of the White House intelligence briefings in December 2000 and January 2001 without understanding the imminent threat posed by Al Qaeda, "he was deaf."

Mr. Zelikow said in an interview that he has recused himself from any part of the investigation that involves the transition, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. He said his participation in the Qaeda intelligence briefings was already well known. "The fact of what occurred in these briefings is not really disputed," he said.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0320-07.htm

[michael_j_martin]

30. Kind of old news

The fact that the Bush regime knew of an immanent threat to America from Al Qaeda and did nothing about it has been reported many times. The fact that the Clinton administration handed them documents outlining steps to take to prevent the attack has also been reported.

The real shocking stuff that is coming out is that Bush and Chaney are personally intimidating senators to help them cover up exactly what they knew. Sen. Tom Daschle is quoted as saying "in recent months the President on one occasion and the Vice President more than once had urged him to block any congressional investigation of this" (knowledge of an imminent terrorist attack).

You can hear the entire report if you go to www.cbsnews.com and then paste this into your address line:
illegal codevlaunch('clip=/media/2002/05/16/video509385.rm')

I have tried to get to this clip directly from CBS News links, but access to this clip seems to be blocked. Only after I copied the link and manually pasted it into the address was I able to see the report. I'm not suggesting a cover-up by CBS, I am expecting some bad web page administration.

The video made me ill after I watched the whole thing. If the Bush regime has learned anything from Nixon and Regan, they will have destroyed any evidence by now.

[michael_j_martin]

32. Correction

That line did not paste correctly, here is the correct report line:

illegal codevlaunch('clip=/media/2002/05/16/video509385.rm')

[michael_j_martin]

34. One more time

When I try to post this it does not post correctly, probably due to the HTML support on this board. You need to type the word javascript followed by : and the word vlaunch then this line('clip=/media/2002/05/16/video509385.rm')

Sorry about the technical difficulties

[Snazzy]

35. Here ya go--

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/videoplayer/newVid/video_display_new.html?/media/2004/03/20/video607609.rm&vidId=3415&title=60$@$Preview$@$Richard$@$Clarke$@$&hitboxMLC=60minutes

Don't blame the CBS webmasters for bad webmastering; they know what they are doing, just have other motives... That link is a little complicated because they want to pop up a window (and really long!). Plus you need a cbs cookie I think. Don't we all!

And Welcome to DU (someone always beats me to that!).

:toast:

[Corgigal]

36. Maybe it's time

for the 9-11 widows and other seekers of truth to picket Condoleeza's home. I like to see her have them arrested.

[lebkuchen]

37. That's all well and good, but a guy's gotta have a vacation

It gets tedious, sitting in the horizontal position eating pretzels in the WH all day.