The 9/11 Cover-up

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It's fortunate for George W. Bush he has a mess on his hands in Iraq; otherwise, he might have to worry about a significant cover-up coming undone.

...Bush is more vulnerable regarding warnings about al Qaeda that were sent to the White House during his first eight months in office. In May 2002, media reports revealed that the August 6, 2001, PDB had included material regarding Osama bin Laden's interest in hijacking airliners. That caused a brief controversy for Bush. And in September 2002, the House and Senate intelligence committees disclosed that an early July 2001 intelligence warning had noted, "We believe that [bin Laden] will launch a significant terrorist attack against the U.S. and/or Israeli interests in 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."

The questions are obvious. Was this dramatic July warning shared with Bush and his top advisers? If so, what did they do? And what did the August 6 PDB presented to Bush actually say? How did Bush react to it?

Such queries are not necessarily difficult to resolve. To fulfill its mission, the 9/11 commission ought to provide the answers. But the Bush administration, to date, has acted to stop such answers from reaching the public. When the August 6, 2001, briefing hit the headlines 18 months ago, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice pooh-poohed it and told reporters that the PDB had contained merely a general warning about al Qaeda. And when the House and Senate intelligence committees revealed the existence of the July 2001 warning, the Bush administration refused to allow the committees to say whether this warning had been passed to Bush and his national security advisers. It would only let the committees report that the warning had been furnished to unnamed senior government officials.

...According to the House and Senate intelligence committees' final report on 9/11, the committees were told by an intelligence community representative that an August 2001 intelligence report included information that bin Laden wanted to conduct attacks in the United States, that al Qaeda members had been residing and traveling to the United States for years and had apparently maintained a support structure here, that bin Laden was interested in hijacking airliners (to trade for prisoners), that the FBI had discerned patterns of activity consistent with preparations for hijackings, and that bin Laden supporters were planning attacks in the United States with explosives.

That sure is different than a general warning about al Qaeda. Did this information appear in Bush's August 6, 2001, PDB? The committees are not in a position to say, but their staff has told reporters they strongly believe some – if not all – of this material was included in the PDB. That suggests that Rice misled the public about this briefing and that Bush had been presented with more than a routine warning about al Qaeda. And one Democratic senator on the committee told reporters (including me) that the July warning – the one noting a "spectacular" attack loomed – had indeed gone to senior White House officials and the president.

....but hey, believe what you want....you will anyway.