In the initial AP press release, theres was the following statement:
"Frist disclosed the effort to declassify Clarke's testimony in remarks on the Senate floor, then talked with reporter. He said he personally didn't know whether there were any discrepancies between Clarke's two appearances."
The GOP is freaking out; in the last 3 years, I have not seen them close ranks and put their defense strategy in place so quickly. This one has them very worried.
From the UK:
news.independent.co.uk
"...
the increasingly dark forebodings of the intelligence community failed to resonate. The preliminary report of the commission notes the "tension" felt by John McLaughlin, the deputy director of the CIA, between the understandable wish of a new administration to get its own take on an issue, and the URGENCY of the situation on the ground. The sudden spike in intercepted "chatter" suggesting one or more impending terrorist strikes went unheeded or was DONWNPLAYED because of the assumption they would be abroad. In May, according to private testimony from Ms Rice, Mr Bush expressed frustration as George Tenet, the CIA director, warned again of terrorist threats in his daily briefing.
By July, so nervous were intelligence specialists that two unidentified CIA officers dealing with al-Qa'ida contemplated resignation in order to go public with their FEARS. But, by the end of July, the "chatter" had subsided. Wrongly, Mr Tenet concluded that any attacks had been POSTPONED.
The Germans warned the WH repeatedly in both July and August that a hijacking was possible. This point came out not long after 9/11 but was pretty much ignored because it was deemed politically incorrect to be critical of the WH.
On 4 September the day the new blueprint for action against al-Qa'ida was approved Mr Clarke wrote to Ms Rice asking how she would feel if hundreds of Americans were killed in a terrorist attack. A week later, the Eastern seaboard was attacked.
..."
Even with all we know, I don't think they could have prevented 9/11 but for what they've done by going after Iraq instead of al Qaeda, if they get hung on this one, it would be fine by me.
ted |
