http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/26/rice-clinton-terrorism/
Rice Falsely Claims Bush´s
Pre-9/11 Anti-Terror Efforts Were `At Least As
Aggressive´ As
Clinton´s
This morning, in the Fox-owned
New York Post, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice reacts
angrily to President Clinton´s criticisms of how
the Bush administration
approached the terrorist threat during their
first eight months in office.
(The Post headlines the article "Rice Boils
Over Bubba") An
excerpt:
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice yesterday accused Bill Clinton of
making "flatly false" claims
that the Bush administration didn´t lift a
finger to stop terrorism
before the 9/11 attacks.
... "What we did in the eight
months was at least as aggressive as what the
Clinton administration did in
the preceding years," Rice added.
The 9/11 Commission Report
contradicts Rice´s claims. On December 4,
1998, for example, the Clinton
administration received a President´s
Daily Brief entitled "Bin
Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other
Attacks." Here´s how the
Clinton administration reacted, according to the
9/11 Commission
report:
The same day,
[Counterterrorism Czar Richard] Clarke convened a meeting
of his CSG [Counterterrorism
Security Group] to discuss both the
hijacking concern and the
antiaircraft missile threat. To address the
hijacking warning, the group
agreed that New York airports should go to
maximum security starting that
weekend. They agreed to boost security at
other East coast airports. The
CIA agreed to distribute versions of the
report to the FBI and FAA to
pass to the New York Police Department and
the airlines. The FAA issued a
security directive on December 8, with
specific requirements for more
intensive air carrier screening of
passengers and more oversight
of the screening process, at all three New
York area airports. [pg.
128-30]
On August 6, 2001, the Bush
administration received a President´s Daily
Brief entitled "Bin Laden
Determined to Strike U.S." Here´s how the Bush
administration reacted,
according to the 9/11 Commission report:
[President Bush] did not
recall discussing the August 6 report with the
Attorney General or whether
Rice had done so.[p. 260]
We have found no indication of
any further discussion before September 11
among the President and his
top advisers of the possibility of a threat
of an al Qaeda attack in the
United States. DCI Tenet visited President
Bush in Crawford, Texas, on
August 17 and participated in the PDB
briefings of the President
between August 31 (after the President had
returned to Washington) and
September 10. But Tenet does not recall any
discussions with the President
of the domestic threat during this period.
[p. 262]
Rice acknowledged that the
9/11 Commission report is the authoratative
source on this debate: "I
think this is not a very fruitful discussion.
We´ve been through it. The
9/11 commission has turned over every rock and
we know exactly what they
said."
Digg It!
Alamaine, IVe
Grand Forks, ND, US of
A
~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
"All
are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a
philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce
(1842-1914)
Don't ask about caste or
riches but instead ask about conduct. Look
at the flames of a fire. Where
do they come from? From a piece of
wood"and it doesn't matter
what wood. In the same way, a wise
person can come from wood of
any sort. It is through firmness and
restraint and a sense of truth
that one becomes noble, not through
caste. -Sutta Nipata
~~~~~~~
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