Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Chris McConnel]

What Bush Knew and When He Knew It … (from Talkleft)


As TalkLeft noted yesterday, most Americans think the Bush administration is hiding information about its knowledge of terrorist threats prior to 9/11. It seems those suspicions are well founded.

       The daily intelligence briefing delivered to  
        U.S. President George W. Bush a month before  
        the September 11 attacks warns of various  
        scenarios of al Qaeda's intentions to strike  
        inside the United States, sources confirm to  
        CNN.

Condoleezza Rice testified that the briefing contained only historical information, not a warning of future attacks (notwithstanding its title: "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the US.") But that's not quite true. One highlight of the briefing:

       An intelligence report received in May 2001  
        indicating al Qaeda was attempting to send  
        operatives to the United States through Canada  
        to carry out an attack using explosives.

That sounds a bit like a warning of a future attack. In any event, the briefing's historical information would have given a sharp-minded President fair warning that his administration needed to give bin Laden a high priority.

       The classified briefing delivered to President  
        Bush five weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001,  
        attacks featured information about ongoing al  
        Qaeda activities within the United States,  
        including signs of a terror support network,  
        indications of hijacking preparations and plans  
        for domestic attacks using explosives ...

06:01 PM /Archived Link