9/11 Commission Staff to conclude attacks were preventable

[Somawas]

NEWSWEEK: 9-11 Commission Staff Has Concluded Attacks Were Preventable, Lapses By CIA Primarily Responsible, Say Sources
Sunday June 27, 10:51 am ET
'I Can Tell You There Will Be a New DCI This Year,' Says White House Official


NEW YORK, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Sources tell Newsweek that the 9-11 Commission staff has concluded that the terror attacks were probably preventable-and that lapses by the CIA are primarily responsible. A report due out next month from the Senate intelligence committee is also expected to castigate the CIA over several pre-war mistakes, report Senior Editor Michael Hirsh and Investigative Correspondents Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball in the magazine's July 5 issue (on newsstands Monday, June 28).
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040627/NYSU002 )
Heading into an election that will likely hinge on national-security issues, the White House says that no decision on former CIA Director George Tenet's successor has been made, and that the president is still considering at least two candidates, reports Newsweek. But Bush officials have clearly changed their minds about leaving Deputy Director John McLaughlin, who is set to take over next month, in place throughout the election. "I can tell you there will be a new DCI this year," one official tells Newsweek. Bush, says one White House official, wants to be able to refer "the reform issue" to someone new "as the reports come" in. The administration also wants "to have someone up there making sure things are being done" should a terrorist attack occur before Nov. 2, he says.

Some White House officials have suggested that the popular House intelligence committee chairman Porter J. Goss would be easily confirmed as Tenet's successor. Many of his Hill colleagues think he's campaigning hard for the job, but some Goss critics, even in the GOP, see him as another believer in the notion that intel problems can be solved by throwing money and personnel at them. One says that if Bush nominates Goss, "then I want Tenet back." The Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat, Jay Rockefeller, also issues a warning: "The selection of a politician -- any politician, from either party -- would be a mistake."

(Read Newsweek's news releases at http://www.Newsweek.com .
Click "Pressroom.")


http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040627/nysu008a_1.html

[molly]

1. Richard Clarke would make a credible DCI - in the Kerry

WH.

[progressivebydesign]

2. Hmmm... pin it on the CIA?

Bush is responsible. It's HIS CIA. HE was the one that never read the reports, took long vacations, and ignored the warnings.

[NMDemDist2]

3. Asscroft ignored the warnings and the CIA did too

stupid to hang it all on Tenet tho IMO

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. That seems to conflict with earlier findings by the panel...

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4734564/>

Excerpts:

"By the time a CIA briefer gave President Bush the Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief headlined 'Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US,' the president had seen a stream of alarming reports on al Qaeda's intentions. So had Vice President Cheney and Bush's top national security team, according to newly declassified information released yesterday by the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

...snip...

"In April and May 2001, for example, the intelligence community headlined some of those reports, 'Bin Laden planning multiple operations,' 'Bin Laden network's plans advancing' and 'Bin Laden threats are real.'

The intelligence included reports of a hostage plot against Americans. It noted that operatives might choose to hijack an aircraft or storm a U.S. embassy. Without knowing when, where or how the terrorists would strike, the CIA 'consistently described the upcoming attacks as occurring on a catastrophic level, indicating that they would cause the world to be in turmoil,' according to one of two staff reports released by the panel yesterday.

"Reports similar to these were made available to President Bush in the morning meetings with Tenet," the commission staff said.

The information offers the most detailed account to date of the warnings the intelligence community gave top Bush administration officials, and provides the context in which a CIA briefer put together a memo on Osama bin Laden's activities in the Aug. 6 PDB for Bush.

The government moved on several fronts to counter the threats. The CIA launched 'disruption operations' in 20 countries. Tenet met or phoned 20 foreign intelligence officials. Units of the 5th Fleet were redeployed. Embassies went on alert. Cheney called Crown Prince Adbullah of Saudi Arabia to ask for help. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice asked the CIA to brief Attorney General John D. Ashcroft about an 'imminent' terrorist attack whose location was unknown."

[jobycom]

10. Yep. CIA told Bush it was going to happen, Bush did nothing. Why

would that be the CIA's fault?

An earlier story said that the Republicans on the panel would not allow the panel to blame Bush for anything, so they decided to set the blame somewhere else. In the old days, an honest media would point out how little sense it makes to blame the people who warned of the attack and not blame the people who refused to respond to the warnings. But those days are gone.

[Stephanie]

11. Tenet had his "hair on fire" according to Clarke

Why is the report coming down on Tenet? I don't get it.

[mzmolly]

8. Well, Tenent was Clinton's apointee was he not? It'll be "Clintons CIA"

before you know it. :eyes:

[lovedems]

17. My republican brother is already using that excuse

which I am sure he got from RW hate radio.

He is saying and I quote, "It is Clintons fault. Who is one of the only hold overs from the Clinton administration? Who? Tenet is! This was Clintons guy and he is a failure."

I constantly have to tell him, "we aren't talking about Clinton anymore. Instead of bashing Clinton, I want to see you defend Bush." Of course he can't so he continues to blame Clinton.

[NMDemDist2]

19. here's a bit of history re Tenet and Clinton

snip>
In the mid-1980s, he (Tenent) went to work as an aide to the late Republican senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, then for the Senate Intelligence Committee under Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont. In 1987, he was named staff director for the committee by its then-chairman, conservative Oklahoma Democrat David Boren, who became his main Senate sponsor. He played a key role in winning bipartisan support in 1991 for the nomination of Robert Gates as director of the CIA—a nomination submitted by President George H.W. Bush, the current president’s father.

The incoming Clinton administration in 1993 elevated Tenet to a position on the National Security Council, where he was responsible for monitoring intelligence operations and drafted PDD-35, the document that formed the basis for counterterrorism policy throughout the 1990s. Early in 1995, he was named to the position of deputy director of the CIA, entering the agency for the first time, in the number-two slot, under Director John Deutch.

With ties to both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, newly under Republican control, Tenet was easily confirmed despite his lack of experience in either covert operations or intelligence analysis. This meteoric rise has no parallel in the history of the US intelligence apparatus. It raises many unanswered questions about whom he knows, or what he knows, that has made such a development possible.

snip>

In January 1997, Deutch stepped down, in part because of the series of debacles in Iraq. Tenet became acting director, while the Clinton White House nominated outgoing National Security Advisor Anthony Lake as CIA chief. When Republican opposition in the Senate stalled Lake’s nomination for months—in part because of his role in vetoing the Chalabi-led coup in 1995—the administration backed down. Lake withdrew his name, and Tenet was hastily selected as a replacement who could win approval quickly. He took office on July 11, 1997.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/tene-j07.shtml

[lovedems]

21. Thank you!

I will be forwarding this to my brother. I will like to see him squirm his way out of this one! Thanks! :loveya:

[NMDemDist2]

22. wait! remember that is a socialist web site, he may use that against you

[lovedems]

24. He probably will

but I can use it against him that his party always attacks the messenger and not the message. I will try to engage him in the message.

Edited to add: It is easy for me to make my brother look foolish when he CAN'T engage in the facts. I told him he does himself a huge disservice when he gets his talking points from Hannity and Rush. Facts frequently get in the way of their opinions.

[NMDemDist2]

23. dupe-delete

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. Tenet is well-liked inside the agency for a good reason...

...he's a long-term CIA employee who has worked in the trenches.

Consider the following from his bio:

<http://www.cnn.com/interactive/profiles/tenet/tenet.bio.html>

Excerpts:

"Born George John Tenet, January 5, 1953, Flushing, New York, the son a restaurateur and homemaker who emigrated from Greece after fleeing their native Albania. Has a fraternal twin brother, Bill."

...snip...

"Graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree, 1976, and from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University with a master's degree in 1978.

Research director, American Hellenic Institute, a Greek-American lobbying organization, 1978-79.

Worked for the Solar Energy Industries Association, 1979-82."

MY NOTE: Tenet came from an area of the world that required close attention by American intelligence services. The best candidates to work in those areas would also be fluent in the local languages.

His educational background is the classic formal education desired for those who choose an intelligence or foreign service career. The only thing better would have been a degree from Yale and membership in one of Yale's secret societies.

Note that his first two jobs required extensive travel. What better travel for an individual gathering intelligence in foreign countries.

IMHO, this indicates without coming right out and saying it, that Tenet was a CIA employee as early as 1977-1978. That gives Tenet a career in the CIA of about 27 to 28 years.

[louis-t]

28. I am having same conversations

with a Republican aunt. Can't defend Bush. Every defense starts with "well, yeah but Clinton". Will not answer direct questions about Saudi ties, Paime case, rush to war in Iraq..etc. Replies are very short, very broad, and ignore facts. She completely ignored my rant yesterday: "Isn't our vice-president and president of the Senate a classy guy? Tells Senator Leahy on the floor of the Senate in full view of everyone to 'F.. himself'. So classy. Such a good Christian. Now he's proud of himself. Thinks he's a hero. At least he has the 'moral clarity' thing going for him. So compassionate, such a moral, classy guy."

[struggle4progress]

31. Otherwise we'd have to blame the FIB.

[TahitiNut]

4. Since the CIA is rightfully prohibited from domestic activities ...

... and the FBI was quashing field reports regarding terrorist preparations and activities, this amounts to nothing but a scapegoating.


Make no mistake ... there was absolutely nothing that the FBI made public within 48-72 hours of 9/11 that they didn't know at the highest levels long before 9/11. And that was virtually everything. Everything.


Federal agencies are pipelined and compartmentalized deliberately and for a very good reason: to prevent the reins of power from being wielded at the agency level. Every President takes on the job of synthesis and coordination at the cabinet and executive level - supposedly except this one. These people are corrupt, criminal autocrats obsessed with self-interest.

[Tansy_Gold]

5. I agree, TN

All we have to do is think of Colleen Rowley and Kevin Williams. They didn't work for the CIA.

[steely]

25. You hit the nail on the head TahitiNut...

It's the commander in chief who must put it all together and take action if warranted. The CIA is the intelligence gathering arm. And in the months since 9/11, Bonehead has done much to undermine the CIA's process, products, and morale.

[gratuitous]

6. This conclusion would be extraordinarily bad for Stupidhead

Which is probably why his corrupt administration worked so hard to scuttle any commission in the first place, and when it was politically unavoidable, tried to put Henry Kissinger into the chairman's slot. They did succeed in putting Lee Hamilton in there, a man with a proven record of whitewashing inconvenient truths, but even he was unable to stop the truth from leaking out around the edges of the cover-up. But I'm sure he tried his best.

[neuvocat]

14. Exactly.

Bush kept playing his games trying to dodge the issues and blaming Clinton. That shows he was irresponsible. Had he not done so then this impending mess wouldn't be lumped on his head.

[indepat]

9. Where does the freakin' buck stop? If the CIA were at fault, why was

that house not cleaned out on 9-12 or shortly thereafter? And why was there no cleaning out at the FBI, at Justice? Inquiring minds want to know, but I suspect the whitewash is on.

[fearnobush]

12. They are pinning it on the CIA because of Plame. Don't you'all

get it. it's bullshit. CIA is the fall guy. Bush and Chaney really to blame, LIHOP etc.

[Sperk]

13. something being done "AFTER" a pre nov 2 attack?!?!?!?!

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they are definitely planning something! That doesn't even make sense!!!!!


Bush, says one White House official, wants to be able to refer "the reform issue" to someone new "as the reports come" in. The administration also wants "to have someone up there making sure things are being done" should a terrorist attack occur before Nov. 2, he says.

[stepnw1f]

15. All I have to Say Is:

7 minutes.....

[louis-t]

29. "Didn't want to scare the children"

[stepnw1f]

30. Oh Yeah....

that too... lol

[librechik]

16. New DCI This year! How timely!

these jerks just slay me. I mean literally.


:mad:

[Hawkeye-X]

20. You can expect that..

Bush's new DCI will be immediately fired once Kerry is inaugurated and ordered held for treason.

Hawkeye-X

[mountainvue]

18. They should just wait

and let Kerry appoint a new DCI.

[narcjen]

27. Bob Graham pointed out in a CNN interview:

the problem with Tenet is he was way too politicized. Tenet knew the CIA evidence showed no Iraq WMDs, no links to al qaeda, but he ignored it. Tenet was simply telling Bush/Cheney what they wanted to hear, regardless of his own CIA intelligence to the contrary.

The problem wasn't with the CIA, the problem was with its dishonest director (and his masters in the WH with whom he was in cahoots).

[Malva Zebrina]

32. so we have a congress kissing the ass of a Bush, and a

Supreme court doing the same and we have virtually all mainstream media doing the same

and the guy is a total idiot.

How does this happen


Well, it happens when money and power take precedence over truth.

and we, the little guys want to vote for truth and are told that we cannot do that because we must vote for those who kissed Bush's ass
and not be so idiological as to want to vote for truth

you know, there is something about this that is simply a self fulfilling prophecy and that is that the US is doomed to pursue policies of empire and we as it's citizens, born here, through no decision of our own, obliged to consent to barbarism and fascism in order to maintain our very comfortable life style and if we do not have a comfortable life style is IS something that we can aspire to, even though we come from the lowest of all the classes--that is if we can live that long without health care.