Report Ends Much Debate

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Registered: 06-17-2004
Report Ends Much Debate
53
Fri, 07-23-2004 - 5:47pm
WOLFOWITZ--STRIKE BIN LADEN HARD
Richard Clarke has gone after Paul Wolfowitz very aggressively as Mr. Iraq who had no interest in bin Laden. But check out page 214, describing a pre-9/11 debate over the Predator. Wolfowitz wanted a robust military option:

"The Defense Department favored strong action. Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz questioned the United States’ ability to deliver Bin Ladin and bring him to justice. He favored going after Bin Ladin as part of a larger air strike, similar to what had been done in the 1986 U.S. strike against Libya. General Myers emphasized the Predator’s value for surveillance, perhaps enabling broader air strikes that would go beyond Bin Ladin to attack al Qaeda’s training infrastructure."
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/04_07_18_corner-archive.asp#036402

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 12:50am

<<Thanks for your links.>>


:0)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:19am

Nothing amiss with Saudi flights after 9/11:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10070-2004Jul23.html


In their report, released Thursday, the commissioners found nothing amiss in U.S. officials' decision to allow the nine chartered flights between Sept. 14 and 24 that carried 160 people, mostly Saudi nationals, to the desert kingdom. The report also concluded that FBI officials properly interviewed almost all the bin Laden family members, who were on one flight that departed Sept. 20, seven days after the grounding was lifted.


"We found no evidence that any flights of Saudi nationals . . . took place before the reopening of national airspace on the morning of September 13," the commission said. It added that it found "no evidence of political intervention" to allow the flights, noting that the highest-ranking official to sign off on them was then-White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke.


"We believe that the FBI conducted a satisfactory screening of Saudi nationals who left the United States on charter flights," the commission added. In details scattered over four pages of text and footnotes, the commission said that FBI officials interviewed "all persons of interest" on the flights, concluded then that none was connected to the attacks and "have since found no evidence to change that conclusion."


FBI officials kept close tabs on the Sept. 20 flight as it stopped in five U.S. cities to pick up bin Laden family members before leaving for Saudi Arabia. Twenty-two of the 26 people on board were interviewed by the FBI, and "many were asked detailed questions," the report said.


The bureau had more opportunity to get information from them than it ordinarily would have, the commission said, because the U.S. government does not routinely run checks on foreigners leaving the country. Collecting them in one location was fortunate for the FBI, because it could not have talked to them if they had simply left on regular commercial flights, it added.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:26am

One of Bush's first priorities was dealing with bin Laden:


"In his first CIA briefing, Bush wanted to know if the CIA could kill bin Laden, and he was told that eliminating bin Laden would have an effect but not solve the problem. "


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:31am

Bush was not obsessed with Iraq:


"The report describes...Bush as less interested in Iraq in the period before and after the attacks than some former aides have described in best-selling books. "


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:41am

Clinton's instructions for dealing with bin Laden ambiguous:


"Clinton wanted bin Laden dead, the report said, but "this intent was never well communicated or understood within the CIA."


In December 1998, Clinton signed a memo that would have allowed tribal officials in Afghanistan to kill bin Laden if they determined capture was not feasible. But in February 1999, Clinton received another memo that would have given the same guidance to the Northern Alliance -- opposition forces fighting the Taliban. This time, Clinton crossed out the language he had approved two months earlier and inserted more ambiguous language.


No one could explain why Clinton did this, the report said. Clinton told the commission "he had no recollection of why he rewrote the language."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:47am

Not responding to bin Laden's attack on Cole resulted in plans for larger attacks:


"Both administrations dithered on whether to blame al Qaeda publicly for the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen, killing 17 members of the ship's crew. The report said bin Laden expected retaliation and appeared disappointed that the United States did not.


An intelligence source reported that "Bin Laden wanted the United States to attack, and if it did not he would launch something bigger," the report said"


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23_2.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 1:56am

Clinton didn't retaliate for Cole because he didn't think evidence was strong enough:


< >>


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23_2.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 2:00am

After getting SAME report, Bush administration decided not to retaliate because they didn't think it would be effective:


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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 2:19am

Bush was not focused on attacking Iraq after 9/11:


"In the weeks immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, some key advisers, such as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, pressed for an attack against Iraq. The report said Bush shrugged off the advice.


When Bush met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair nine days after the attacks, Blair asked about Iraq. According to a memo of the conversation obtained by the commission, Bush replied that Iraq was not an immediate problem. Although some members of his administration expressed a different view, Bush told Blair that he was the he making the decisions."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23_2.html

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sat, 07-24-2004 - 2:20am

Bush did not intimidate Clark and press him to implicate Iraq:


"Bush told the commission that former White House counterterrorism coordinator Richard A. Clarke had mischaracterized an incident in his book, "Against All Enemies." In the book, Clarke said Bush, wandering into the situation room, pressed him in an intimidating fashion to find out whether Saddam Hussein was behind the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush dismissed the idea that he would have wandered into the situation room alone, saying, "I don't do that."


Bush acknowledged that he might have asked Clarke about Iraq shortly after the attacks, and another aide recalled an exchange between Clarke and Bush on Iraq but did not find the president's manner intimidating, the report said. "


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10116-2004Jul23_2.html

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