HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- New blow for September 11
inquiry
Matthew Engel in
Washington
Wednesday May 1, 2002 The Guardian The US Congress's hopes of
discovering why American intelligence failed to get a hint of plans for
September 11 dwindled further yesterday with news of the resignation of the
former CIA man who was heading its investigation.
Britt Snider left after two months amid strong signs that he had been forced
out. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the intelligence committees
of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The immediate issue seems to have been a personnel matter, but there were
growing complaints among some committee members that Mr Snider was too close to
his old colleagues and preparing for a whitewash. However, his departure is
thought likely to add to tensions on the committee and force the postponement of
hearings on the issue.
Mr Snider's former boss, George Tenet, is now a presidential favourite and
seems to be fireproof. But some important congressional figures, including the
senior Republican senator on the committee, Richard Shelby, are deeply critical
of Mr Tenet and the agency in general for a catalogue of apparent failures,
dating back to the first World Trade Centre bombing in 1993.
Senator Shelby said: "A thorough and unbiased investigation will reveal that
the intelligence community is encumbered by ossified and entrenched
bureaucracies, which inhibit its ability to confront current and emerging
threats."
Mr Snider's departure coincided with the release of a speech by the FBI
director, Robert Mueller, made two weeks ago, in which he admitted that his
agency has found almost nothing that gives a hint about the planning of the
hijacks.
"In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either
here in the United States or in the treasure trove of information that has
turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the
September 11 plot," he said.
There is also growing frustration in Washington about the inability of
interrogators to extract information from detainees, including those held at
Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
William Webster, a former director of both the CIA and FBI, has called for
detainees to be injected with a so-called truth serum.
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