"National Security" my lily white ass!

[bain_sidhe]

Brought this over from LBN... a portion of a post from DUer Stephanie that had a LOT of great information (post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=479763#479778 ) about pre-9/11 information and activities. I'm reposting here in GD because the particular article that struck me is not "late breaking news." In fact, it's several months old, and as far as I know, has not been widely noticed. It should be. It is the most damning evidence of a White House cover-up I've ever seen:

One such CIA briefing, in July 2001, was particularly chilling and prophetic. It predicted that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike “in the coming weeks,” the congressional investigators found. The intelligence briefing went on to say: “The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.”

The substance of that intelligence report was first disclosed at a public hearing last September by staff director Hill. But at the last minute, Hill was blocked from saying precisely who within the Bush White House got the briefing when CIA director Tenet classified the names of the recipients. (One source says the recipients of the briefing included Bush himself.) As a result, Hill was only able to say the briefing was given to “senior government officials.”

www.msnbc.com/news/907379.asp?0cv=KA01

So it's not a a matter of "national security" for the American people to know this information, but it IS a matter of "national security" for us to know WHO KNEW this information???? You need look no further for proof that Bush is using the "classification" system soley to protect his political fortunes. The reason they give for classifying most of these documents is that, by knowing what information was given, "terrists" could figure out who they got the information from. Since the information itself isn't classified, that CAN'T be the case here. What do terrists care about who got the information once it was given? The ONLY people who would care about who got the information is the American people. The only reason to classify the recipient list is to hide that information from us, not from terrorists. The ONLY reason.

:grr:

It also angers me that this article is a "Newsweek web exclusive." This is the first I've seen it. I get Newsweek magazine. You can bet if they'd reported this in the magazine, a LOT more people would know about it, a lot more people would be talking about it, and a lot more people would be be storming the gates over it.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[hippiechick]

1. KICK

Holy Moly, Batman !!


:hippie:

[bain_sidhe]

2. Thanks for the kick!

I'm surprised people don't seem to be more interested, but hey, it's Easter, and what do I know anyway??? :D

[Beam Me Up]

4. Very interesting indeed

Lots of people are 'have lives' and are away from their monitors on Easter PLUS we have almost been deluged with information in the wake of the PDB.

[bain_sidhe]

7. "Lots of people are 'have lives' "

:wow: No kidding? What do they do with them?? Can anybody have one, or do you have to know somebody (anybody) ;)

Ok, you outed me. DU is my life these days! But yeah, I figured the Easter thing was part of it. We don't celebrate it, so I can spend all my time in here saying "where is everybody?" :D

[Beam Me Up]

11. lol

SORRY; obviously didn't edit my syntax before I posted. It is true, a lot of people DO have lives out side of reading and posting on DU but, apparently like you, I don't happen to be one of them. Not totally true but damn closer to the truth than I like to admit.

CYA

BMU

[bain_sidhe]

15. LOL backatcha

Yeah, maybe it's not my entire life... but close enough for a certain amount of discomfort over the fact. Well, sometimes...

[question everything]

12. This information was posted here several weeks ago

at least the one about Ashcroft flying private. It started by a pilot from Texas (do not recall his username here) who heard about it and concluded that something was in the wings.

Then someone brought the link from the CBS news. I know that I forwarded that info to others....

[bain_sidhe]

14. Yep, many of the things

in Stephanie's post have been posted before, but this was the first I'd seen the one about classifying only the recipient list of the CIA briefing - not the PDB we've been discussing over the last week - this was an earlier one which was released to the public during the Congressional hearings on 9/11. ONLY THE NAMES OF THE RECIPIENTS were classified. The actual information in the briefing wasn't.

**edit: :argh: (AKA, typos)

[Vickers]

3. Great stuff

The first line from the MSNBC article you link to:

"Even as White House political aides plot a 2004 campaign plan designed to capitalize on the emotions and issues raised by the September 11 terror attacks..."

Jeebus, it's not like they'd POLITICIZE 9/11, huh? :eyes:

Another fancy piece of work:

"The report names names, gives dates and provides a body of new information about the handling of many other crucial intelligence briefings—including one in early August 2001 given to national-security adviser Rice that discussed Al Qaeda operations within the United States and the possibility that the group’s members might seek to hijack airplanes."

Well now we have all seen the PDB, but knowledge of its contents have been out there for so long, I just can't believe more stink wasn't made about it.

Not as fancy as a cum-stained dress, I guess.

[bain_sidhe]

6. Huge portions of the Congressional 9/11 Inquiry are still classified

I know it's been mentioned that over 70 pages dealing with the Saudis are "classified" but I wonder if any of the rest of this has been "declassified" yet. The article states that the WH "working group" (working to cover-georgie's ass) was "dragging its feet" on completing the "review" of what could be released. Another paragraph from the article (and note, this was almost a YEAR ago)

The report was completed last December; only a bare-bones list of “findings” with virtually no details was made public. But nearly six months later, a “working group” of Bush administration intelligence officials assigned to review the document has taken a hard line against further public disclosure. By refusing to declassify many of its most significant conclusions, the administration has essentially thwarted congressional plans to release the report by the end of this month, congressional and administration sources tell NEWSWEEK. In some cases, these sources say, the administration has even sought to “reclassify” some material that was already discussed in public testimony—a move one Senate staffer described as “ludicrous.” The administration’s stand has infuriated the two members of Congress who oversaw the report—Democratic Sen. Bob Graham and Republican Rep. Porter Goss. The two are now preparing a letter of complaint to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Seems to me this report just disappeared off the radar... have I just been inattentive?

[Old and In the Way]

5. To this administration, National security = personal security.

It's the ultimate, "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

[punpirate]

8. It's a good point....

Some recipients of the briefing could have been low-visibility CIA people, and it would be appropriate to shield them. However, with regard to the White House, the identity and government role of all recipients would be well-known. Therefore, Tenet's classification of _all_ the names of recipients would be a clear case of politicizing the classification process, if White House personnel or Bush were recipients of the briefing, as they should have been.

Cheers.

[bain_sidhe]

9. Yeah, I suppose it's possible some "undercover" agents

were on the list, and I can see THOSE names being redacted. But as you say, classifying the non-secret, WH recipients is "politicizing classification process." It's nothing BUT politics.

[Desperadoe]

10. low-visibility CIA people???

You mean like Valerie Plame?

[bain_sidhe]

13. Ah, good point

Somebody like that could have been on the briefing recipient list. Probably not Plame, she was doing WMDs.

Still, there's no reason not to just black out the "sensitive" names, and release the rest of the list. The only reason not to is to hide that information from us. It wouldn't help terrists to know which "public" figures in the gov't got the info, it would only help those of us who are asking "who knew, and how much did they know"?

**edited for clarity**

[loudsue]

16. The Devil's in the details, ey? Thanks for pointing this out!

DUers are THE BEST!! What a bunch of sleuths! Absolutely nothing gets by this bunch!!



:kick:

[bain_sidhe]

17. Actually, Stephanie found it

I just got mad about it! ;-)

[TacticalPeek]

18. Kick. n/t

[bain_sidhe]

19. HA! Behold the power of Google!

I have found the original testimony which covers the intelligence that predicted that Bin Laden would launch a strike "within the coming weeks" AND that notes that Tenant specifically refused to declassify any references to the Intelligence Community providing information to the President or White House.

Read it and weep:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/091802hill.html

Among some of the information presented as "available to senior government officials" (remember, we aren't allowed to know which senior government officials)

Concern about Bin Ladin continued to grow over time and reached peak levels in the spring and summer of 2001, as the Intelligence Community faced increasing numbers of reports of imminent al-Qa'ida attacks against U.S.interests. In July and August 2001, that rise in intelligence reporting began to decrease, just as three additional developments occurred in the United States: the Phoenix memo; the detention of Zacarias Moussaoui; and the Intelligence Community's realization that two individuals with ties to Usama Bin Ladin's network - Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi - were possibly in the United States. The two individuals turned out to be two of the 19 hijackers on September ll, 2001.

...

Central to the September 11 plot was Usama Bin Ladin's idea of carrying out a terrorist operation inside the United States. It has been suggested, both in published reports and in interviews, that prior to September 11, 2001, information available to the Intelligence Community had, for the most part, pointed to a terrorist threat against U.S. interests abroad. The Joint Inquiry Staff therefore requested and reviewed reports the Intelligence Community had prior to September 11, 2001 suggesting that an attack within the United States was a possibility. Our review confirmed that, shortly after Usama Bin Ladin's May 1998 press conference, the Intelligence Community began to acquire intelligence information indicating that Bin Ladin's network intended to strike inside the United States. Many of these reports were disseminated throughout the Intelligence Community and to senior U.S. policy-makers.

...

Between late March and September 2OOl,the Intelligence Community detected numerous indicators of an impending terrorist attack, some of which pointed specifically to the United States as a possible target:

In March 2001, an intelligence source claimed a group of Bin Ladin operatives were planning to conduct an unspecified attack in the United States in April 2001. One of the operatives allegedly resided in the United States;

In April 2001, the Intelligence Community obtained information that unspecified terrorist operatives in California and New York State were planning a terrorist attack in those states for April;

Between May and July, the National Security Agency reported at least 33 communications indicating a possible, imminent terrorist attack. None of these reports provided any specific infonnation on where, when, or how an attack might occur, nor was it clear that any of the individuals involved in these intercepted communications had any first-hand knowledge of where, when, or how an attack might occur. If they did know, it was not evident in the intercepts. These reports were widely disseminated within the Intelligence Community;

In May 2001, the Intelligence Community obtained information that supporters of Usama Bin Ladin were reportedly planning to infiltrate the United States via Canada in order to carry out a terrorist operation using high explosives. This report mentioned an attack within the United States, though it did not say where in the U.S., or when, or how an attack might occur. In July 2001, this information was shared with the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), U.S. Customs Service, and the State Department and was included in a closely held intelligence report for senior government officials in August 2001;

In May 2001, the Department of Defense acquired and shared with other elements of the Intelligence Community information indicating that seven individuals associated with Usama Bin Ladin departed various locations for Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States;
In June 2001, the DCI's CTC had information that key operatives in Usama Bin Ladin's organization were disappearing while others were preparing for martyrdom;

In July 2001, the DCI's CTC was aware of an individual who had recently been in Afghanistan who had reported, "Everyone is talking about an impending attack." The Intelligence Community was also aware that Bin Ladin had stepped up his propaganda efforts in the preceding months;

Edited to add even more!!

During the summer of 2001, the Intelligence Community was also disseminating information through appropriate channels to senior U.S. Government officials about possible terrorist attacks. For example:

In June 2001, the Intelligence Community issued a terrorist threat advisory warning U.S. Government agencies that there was a high probability of an imminent terrorist attack against U.S. interests by Sunni extremists associated with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida organization. The advisory mentioned the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, and Italy as possible locations where an attack might occur. According to the advisory, the Intelligence Community continued to believe that "Sunni extremists associated with al-Qa'ida are most likely to attempt spectacular attacks resulting in numerous casualties";

Subsequently, intelligence information provided to senior U.S. Government leaders indicated that Usama Bin Ladin's organization expected near-term attacks to have dramatic consequences on governments or cause major casualties;

A briefing prepared for senior government officials at the beginning of July 2001 contained the following language, "Based on a review of all-source reporting over the last five months, we believe that UBL will launch a significant terrorist attack against U.S. and/or Israeli interests in the coming weeks. The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning";

Later, intelligence information provided to senior government leaders indicated that Usama Bin Ladin's organization continued to expect imminent attacks on U.S. interests;

The Joint Inquiry Staff has been advised by a representative of the Intelligence Community that about a mouth later, in August 2001, a closely held intelligence report for senior goverment officials included information that Usama Bin Ladin had wanted to conduct attacks in the United States since 1997. The information included discussion of the arrest of Ahmed Ressam in December 1999 at the U.S.-Canadian border and the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It mentioned that members of al- Qa'ida, including some U.S. citizens, had resided in or traveled to the United States for years and that the group apparently maintained a support structure here. The report cited uncorroborated information obtained in 1998 (and previously disseminated) that Usama Bin Ladin wanted to hijack airplanes to gain the release of U.S.-held extremists; FBI judgments about patterns of activity consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks and the number of Bin Ladin-related investigations underway; as well as information acquired in May 2001 that indicated a group of Bin Ladin supporters was planning attacks in the United States with explosives;

[bain_sidhe]

20. Kick for new info - actual testimony

See above... link to the actual testimony referred to in the article.

:kick: