Posted on 04/13/2004 5:39:38 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Gorelick Memo Exposes 'Feckless' Clinton Policy Posted April 13, 2004 By Kenneth R. Timmerman
In a dramatic moment of his testimony before the 9/11 commission this afternoon, Attorney General John Ashcroft released a previously classified memo from 1995 that instructed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys around the country to ensure they had "walled off" overseas intelligence information from domestic crime-fighters. The separation between overseas intelligence gathering and domestic criminal prosecution has been widely criticized by both Democrats and Republicans on the committee for having helped make the 9/11 attacks possible.
"[T]he simple fact of Sept. 11 is this," Ashcroft testified: "We did not know an attack was coming because for nearly a decade our government had blinded itself to its enemies. Our agents were isolated by government-imposed walls, handcuffed by government-imposed restrictions, and starved for basic information technology. The old national intelligence system in place on Sept. 11 was destined to fail."
Ashcroft went on to explain the "wall" that had been erected between criminal investigators and intelligence agents was "the single greatest structural cause for Sept. 11 [successes by al-Qaeda]." He said, "Government erected this wall. Government buttressed this wall. And before Sept. 11, government was blinded by this wall."
Ashcroft then described the 1995 memo that initially established the wall, which later impeded the investigations of the 9/11 hijackers and their accomplices. When frustrated field agents complained to headquarters about it in August 2001, Justice replied: "'These are the rules.' ... But somebody did make these rules," Ashcroft said. "Someone built this wall."
Then the attorney general dropped his bombshell: "Although you understand the debilitating impact of the wall, I cannot imagine that the commission knew about this memorandum, so I have declassified it for you and the public to review. Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this commission."
The 1995 memo by then Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick - now a member of the 9/11 commission - explains that the new rules dictated by the Clinton administration to separate criminal investigations from intelligence gathering "go beyond what is legally required." The Gorelick rules were meant to ensure that "no 'proactive' investigative efforts or technical coverages" of terrorist suspects be carried out on U.S. soil.
The result of the 1995 Gorelick rules, Ashcroft said, were devastating, and hampered the ability of U.S. intelligence agencies to communicate the identify of two of the 9/11 hijackers to law-enforcement agencies, even after they had entered the United States. That failure specifically contributed to 9/11.
They already did it.
I was listening to ABC-BS & C-BS radio news (on the road). The only part I heard was "We did not know an attack was coming because for nearly a decade our government had blinded itself to its enemies"
Take it out of context, and it makes Ashcroft appear to be a sniveling weenie.
Wonder why they didn't mention Gorelick's spanking? ;-)
On, Off, or grab it for a Media Shenanigans/Schadenfreude/PNMCH ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~anamusedspectator/
A few minutes later, I knew why.
We should also remember the country was filled with Gorlick, Esquires, since Clinton fired every U.S. Attorney in the country when he took office, something no President had ever come close to doing.
Just read the print version of the Washington Post -- there wasn't a "positive" (GOP side) headline or story on the front page. Instead: articles featuring Pickard's rabid critique of Bush/Ashcroft... and certainly not a mention (certainly not a headline, I did find a reference buried several paragraphs deep in the Pickard article) of the Gorelick "wall" memo. The mainstream media isn't even making a pretense at not being partisan.
The next edition of Websters will HAVE to add the pictures of Bubba, Reno, Gorelick and a whole raft of Clintonistas under the definition of "feckless."
This is Jamie Gorelick of the Attorney General's office, now if I don't come out with my hands up, I'm coming in after me."
Dear Commission members,
I was quite dismayed to learn that Monsoor Ijaz is going to testify in private. This man knows a lot about what went on behind the scenes - he should be made to testify in public!! Please reconsider and have Monsoor Ijaz testify in public.
Further, after John Ashcroft's testimony yesterday, I am left wondering why Ms. Gorelick is on the commission instead of testifying before it. Why isn't she testifying in public about the wall she built between the FBI & the CIA that is one of the main causes for us failing to discover the 911 attack before it happened?
Thank you for your email to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Due to the volume of correspondence and our available resources, we regret that it is not possible to respond to each piece individually and personally. Please be assured that your correspondence will be forwarded to the appropriate staff members for further study. We appreciate your taking the time to share information with the Commission as well as your thoughts, concerns, and opinions and encourage you to continue to follow its work. Information about past and future Commission activities is available on our website at www.9-11commission.gov.
I like the word choice too!
Oh, Gorelick has wronged America, but, I want this to go higher, and higher, and higher.
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