Reporter Murray Waas writes in National Journal:
The administration has refused to provide the Sept. 21 President's Daily Brief, even on a classified basis, and won't say anything more about it other than to acknowledge that it exists.
The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.
One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.
3 comments:
Saying:
"A month before the attacks, Bush knew Osama bin Laden was 'determined to attack inside the United States.' "
Is kind of like saying:
"There will be a fatal accident on this holiday weekend"
You know it is going to happen, you just don't know where or when.
Now, I'm sure that steps could have been taken to disrupt the initial attack 9-11 , but there was also considerable evedence that the previous administration could have identified, to come to that conclusion as well.
I know, I know, my statement is automatically rubbish because I DARED to point out another possible shorcoming of the previous President.
BUT, this post is the first evidence I've actually seen to indicate that MAYBE Bush lied about the the intelligence relating to Iraq and Al Qaeda. ( But the Al Qaeda stuff wasn't the primary argument they were using anyway)
I know, you assumed he was lieing anyway, but that is just because you hate him...
Anon:
I know, I know, my statement is automatically rubbish because I DARED to point out another possible shorcoming of the previous President.
You think you know too much. And by the way, we don't hate George W. Bush. Why bother? He's not worth our hate.
Bill Clinton had plenty of shorcomings and shortcoming. Another thing he did not have was the office of president on Sept. 11, 2001.
George W. Bush certainly used al-Qaeda as a justification to invade Iraq in a war of choice. But his chief reason was those pesky weapons of mass destruction that no longer existed.
One reason they no longer existed? According to weapons inspector David Kay, much of the weapons infrastructure was destroyed in a 1998 U.S. bombing campaign launched by -- you knew it was coming -- Bill Clinton.
You linked to a joint resolution hosted on the White House web site:
"Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;
Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of American citizens;"
You gotta find something better than that for me to buy "George W. Bush certainly used al-Qaeda as a justification to invade Iraq in a war of choice."
The joint resolution only mentions the fact that al Qaeda members where IN Iraq, and that Iraq supported terrorist organizations in general. ( Iraq DID pay the families of suicide bombers ... guess what THAT is state sponsored terrorism)
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