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| Author | Topic: Intelligence on 9-11 was 6 years old.. Meaning CLINTON FAILED.. not Bush |
| Jim Dicken |
posted 8/4/04 9:45 PM
Intel on 9/11 Attacks Was 6 Years Old Both the New York Times and the Washington Post are breathlessly reporting in Tuesday editions that recently discovered intelligence on al-Qaida plots targeting buildings in New York, Newark and Washington, D.C., may be more than three years old, rendering it all but useless. Unmentioned, however, by either the Times or the Post is this salient fact: Al-Qaida plans to attack the World Trade Center and Pentagon were at least six years old when they were implemented on Sept. 11, 2001. When 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef's computer was seized in Manila in 1995, it contained detailed plans to hijack U.S. aircraft and crash them into American landmarks. The plot, dubbed "Operation Bojinka," cited specifically designated targets, including the World Trade Center and Pentagon. When Yousef was arrested in Pakistan later that year and brought to the U.S. to stand trial, he told his FBI captors that attempts to destroy the World Trade Center would continue despite his arrest. Yousef's uncle, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, picked up where he left off, taking his nephew's blueprint to Osama bin Laden for approval and financing. In contrast to the Bush administration's rapid response on Sunday, however, the Clinton administration did nothing - despite clear warnings from Philippine police about Yousef's 1995 plot targeting the twin towers . A 1998 presidential daily briefing headlined "Bin Laden Preparing to Hijack U.S. Aircraft and Other Attacks" warned that al-Qaida would use the hijackings in a bid to free the 1993 World Trade Center bombers. On the morning of Sept. 11, a Filipino investigator who was involved in Ramzi Yousef's arrest sat watching the World Trade Center attack on TV. He was later quoted by the Washington Post exclaiming in horror, "It's Bojinka! We told the Americans everything about Bojinka. Why didn't they pay attention?" Pataki: Howard Dean an 'Embarrassment' New York's Gov. George Pataki minced no words in an interview today, making his distaste for the political ramblings of Howard Dean quite clear. On Fox News' "Your World," interviewer Stuart Varney started off asking the governor about the costs for all of the extra security being put in place in Manhattan due to the heightened threat level. Pataki said that he and Mayor Bloomberg are in favor of having "more of the Homeland Security dollars allocated" per a threat-based analysis, rather than the current system of handing out money equally to localities, whether or not they are high-profile targets. "President Bush has been supportive, Director Ridge has been supportive, and we hope that Congress will be as supportive," he said. Varney then asked: "Can you tell us if there was any political angle in this heightened terror alert. ... Governor Dean says there is a political angle to it. What do you say?" "Governor Dean is an embarrassment," retorted Pataki. "To me, it's quite clear that there is specific information - with specific targets - like we've never seen before." He said that New York would always be a target, but New Yorkers are stronger than the terrorists and their threats. Pataki does not expect New York to empty out for the Republican convention, as did Boston for the Democrats' event. He quipped, "I hope New York City fills up. ... We're going to have tens of thousands of Republicans, and hundreds of thousands of protesters - it's going to be the most exciting place in America." |
| john doe |
posted 2/2/10 9:55 PM
bush isn't the smartest crayon the box either |
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