Posted on 02/10/2005 7:44:42 AM PST by Max Combined
NEW YORK - Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) officials received 52 warnings prior to Sept. 11, 2001, from their own security experts about potential al-Qaida attacks, including some that mentioned airline hijackings or suicide attacks, The New York Times reported.
The Times said in Thursday editions that a previously undisclosed report by the 9/11 commission that investigated the suicide airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites) detailed warnings given to FAA (news - web sites) leaders from April to Sept. 10, 2001, about the radical Islamic terrorist group and its leader, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The commission report, written last August, said five security warnings mentioned al-Qaida's training for hijackings and two reports concerned suicide operations not connected to aviation.
The Times said that a classified version and a partially declassified version of the 120-page report were given to the National Archives two weeks ago. The Times story cited the declassified version of the document.
Al Felzenberg, former spokesman for the 9/11 commission, which went out of business last summer, said the government had not completed review of the report for declassification purposes until recently. He said the Justice Department (news - web sites) delivered the two versions of the document to the Archives.
An Archives spokeswoman said the unclassified version of the document was not yet available Wednesday night.
The Times gave these highlights from the commission report:
Aviation officials were "lulled into a false sense of security" and "intelligence that indicated a real and growing threat leading up to 9/ll did not stimulate significant increases in security procedures."
It takes the FAA to task for not expanding the use of in-flight air marshals or tightening airport screening for weapons. It said FAA officials were more concerned with reducing airline congestion, lessening delays and easing air carriers' financial problems than thwarting a terrorist attack.
Information in this report was available to members of the 9/11 commission when they issued their public report last summer. That report itself contained criticisms of FAA operations.
Good work!
Check your math.
Thanks for the correction to an embarrassing error but the point remains the same.
When a large government agency and the related regulated businesses have a system, culture and set of practices that need reform but reform is stalled, the subsequent individual failures are little more than finger pointing opportunities. The chance was there, in a timely manner to have broad effect and that chance was missed.
The only reporting on this has been by the New York Times, which underhandedly is attacking the Bush administration. Mind you, that no one else has seen this FAA report from the 911 Commission. Quite frankly, this stinks to high heaven and I will bet that the NY Slimes is not reporting accurately and will be outed once this "phantom" report comes out.
"That report itself contained criticisms of FAA operations."
"Still trying to undermine Bush, even though the election is over."
It seems that the article is pointing fingers at the FAA, not Bush. Where do you see "Still trying to undermine Bush"?
Are you so paranoid that any criticism of any government agency is finger pointing at Bush?
Kerry did nothing as I remember. And these warnings were specific and came from Boston Airport Security. Seems he should have testified before the 9/11 commission.
We received a warning from the State Dept about a terrorist attack just few hours before the first plane hit.
Here are a couple:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1107328/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/529856/posts
They warned all overseas students. Actually, I looked at the email and it was issued on 9/10 for 9/11. There was a sheik who was going to be sentenced or something(maybe in NYC) and there were threats made about it.
And I'll bet not one of those warnings revealed the time, date, method, location or anything about 9/11. Heck, every swingin' d*ck in the middle east claims that airplanes will be falling out of the sky in America. This kinda reminds me of how Jeanne Dixon became famous.
You must be referring to the 96 Gore Airline Security Commission which like most problems during the Clinton Administration were kicked down the road.
Heres an infuriating read about it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,35371,00.html
Al Gore headed a commission to make recomendations on airline security measures. The draft of the report was issued, the airlines made recommendations for changes, the final report was released and several carriers made contributions to Gore's campaign. Nuff said.
Conspicuously absent is the amount of time prior to 9/11 that these reports were issued. I wonder why the author of this article left that bit of information out?
Thanks for those good links at number 30. I had also remembered a freeper original that pre-dated both of those, but I can't recall who posted it now all these months later. Perhaps it will be added as well.
Wow... speaking of the Jersey Girls... where is their outrage over Ward Churchill's diatribe calling their husbands "little Eichmanns"? Oh, that's right... doing that doesn't fit in to their leftist agenda.
bttt
Bump for later read of comments.
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