2 years ago: Bush was briefed by CIA about attack

Two Years Ago Today

By Allan P. Duncan - August 6, 2003

Two years ago today President George W. Bush received an intelligence briefing at his Crawford ranch titled "Bin Laden determined to strike in the U.S.".

The contents of the briefing have never been released to the American public and have been the center of a firestorm ever since information regarding the briefing hit the news shortly after 9-11.

The Bush Administration has done everything in its power to hide the information contained in the report from both the Congressional Joint Inquiry and the Independent Commission investigations into 9-11, including the citing of Executive Privilege to block its release.

Condoleezza Rice stated in May of 2002 that the briefing only included information about Bin Laden's methods of operation from a historical perspective and contained no specific warnings. Ms. Rice also stated that the administration had never thought of the possibility that planes could be hijacked and flown into buildings.

If what Condoleeza Rice stated is true, then why is the Bush Administration so afraid to release the report?

To answer this question I think it's important to look back on what our intelligence services knew about the threat of hijackings by Al Qaeda prior to August 6, 2001 so that it will put the briefing in a different perspective.

On September 18, 2002, Eleanor Hill, Staff Director of the Congressional Joint Inquiry issued a report. The report revealed that  "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".

From the same report we find that "Between May and July, the National Security Agency reported at least 33 communications indicating a possible, imminent terrorist attack."

In another section of the report we learn "Four terrorism warning reports or warning report extensions issued by the Department of Defense on June 22, June 26, July 6, and July 20, 2001, primarily to alert U.S. military forces and agencies and organizations within the Department of Defense to indications that Usama Bin Ladin's network was planning a near term, anti - U.S. terrorist operation;"

Eleanor Hill's report also had a section titled Intelligence Information on Possible Terrorist Use of Airplanes as Weapons. Here are some of the findings from that section.

"   In January 1995, a Philippine National Police raid turned up materials in a Manila apartment indicating that three individuals - Ramzi Yousef, Abdul Murad and Khalid Shaykh Mohammad - planned, among other things, to crash an airplane into CIA headquarters. The Philippine National Police said that the same group was responsible for the bombing of a Philippine airliner on December 12, 1994. Information on the threat was passed to the FAA, which briefed U.S. and major foreign carriers;   

"   In January 1996, the Intelligence Community obtained information concerning a planned suicide attack by individuals associated with Shaykh Omar Adb al-Rahman and a key al-Qa'ida operative. The plan was to fly to the United States from Afghanistan and attack the White House;   

"   In August 1998, the Intelligence Community obtained information that a group of unidentified Arabs planned to fly an explosive laden plane from a foreign country into the World Trade Center. The information was passed to the FBI and the FAA. The FAA found the plot highly unlikely given the state of that foreign country's aviation program. Moreover, they believed that a flight originating outside the United States would be detected before it reached its intended target inside the United States. The FBI's New York office took no action on the information, filing the communication in the office's bomb repository file. The Intelligence Community has acquired additional information since then indicating there may be links between this group and other terrorist groups, including al-Qa'ida;   

"   In September 1998, the Intelligence Community obtained information that Usama Bin Ladin's next operation could possibly involve flying an aircraft loaded with explosives into a U.S. airport and detonating it; this information was provided to senior U.S. Government officials in late 1998;   

"   In April 2000, the Intelligence Community obtained information regarding an alleged Bin Ladin plot to hijack a 747. The source, who was a "walk-in" to the FBI's Newark office, claimed that he had been to a training camp in Pakistan where he learned hijacking techniques and received arms training. He also stated that he was supposed to meet five to six other individuals in the United States who would also participate in the plot. They were instructed to use all necessary force to take over the plane because there would be pilots among the hijacking team. The plan was to fly the plane to Afghanistan, and if they would not make it there, that they were to blow up the plane. Although the individual passed an FBI polygraph, the FBI was never able to verify any aspect of his story or identify his contacts in the United States.

At the end of this section it states" The CIA disseminated several of these reports to the FBI and to agencies that would be responsible for taking preventive actions, including the FAA. The FAA has staff assigned to the DCI's CTC, the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, and to the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service to gather relevant intelligence for domestic use. The FAA is responsible for issuing information circulars, security directives and emergency amendments to the directives alerting domestic and international airports and airlines of threats identified by the Intelligence Community."

We also know that President Bush was worried about his own personal safety from airborne attacks during 2001.

The Los Angeles Times reported on 9-27-01 that "U.S. and Italian officials were warned in July that Islamic terrorists might attempt to kill President Bush and other leaders by crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations, officials said Wednesday.  Italian officials took the reports seriously enough to prompt extraordinary precautions during the July summit of the Group of 8 nations, including closing the airspace over Genoa and stationing antiaircraft guns at the city's airport."

On September 10, 2002 The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported on the security preparations for Bush on September 10, 2001, "At the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, the Secret Service was getting everything secured for when the president arrived on Sept. 10. That included snipers and surface-to-air missiles on the roof and the Coast Guard patrolling just offshore."

I don't know if it's routine or not, but does the president always have surface-to-air missiles protecting him on the roof of every hotel he stays in? Just wondering. Note that this took place on the eve of 9-11!

So looking back on just some of the evidence that our intelligence services had in their hands prior to the August 6th briefing, its preposterous to believe that the Bush Administration had absolutely no clue that Osama Bin Laden could possibly hijack planes and slam them into buildings.

That's what makes the August 6th briefing so important.

Apparently Bush was given information that Bin Laden was planning an attack in the US and if this fact is revealed, it will then make him accountable for not warning the public and for not taking measures to protect the public from the attacks.

It will also point out the fact, that as Commander-In-Chief of the military on 9-11, our entire national defense system failed under his watch since none of the hijacked planes were intercepted and our nation was totally undefended even though there were numerous warnings of an impending attack.

To make matters even worse, The Pentagon of all places, the headquarters and nerve center of the greatest military power in the world was sneak attacked and the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, didn't even know his own building was being attacked until he heard the crash from his office!

Perhaps the most ironic thing I found in my research into this article was a quote Bush made on August 29, 2001 at the American Legions 83rd Annual Convention, "We recognize it's a dangerous world. I know this nation still has enemies, and we cannot expect them to be idle. And that's why security is my first responsibility. And I will not permit any course that leaves America undefended."

Bush left the United States undefended on 9-11 and nearly 3,000 innocent souls lost their lives because of it. Its time for him to come clean about what he was told on August 6, 2001 and release the documents. "We The People" deserve to know the truth!

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printed from 2 years ago: Bush was briefed by CIA about attack on 2004-05-30 23:46:08