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U.S. Spy Chief: 9/11 'Could Have Been Prevented'
ABC ^ | September 19, 2007

Posted on 09/18/2007 10:14:11 PM PDT by ZacandPook

Director of National Intelligence Says U.S. Didn't Connect Available Information

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: able; abledanger; cia; danger; fbi; intelligence; masteroftheobvious; missedopportunity; prequel; qaeda; terrorism; thewall
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The title says it all.
1 posted on 09/18/2007 10:14:14 PM PDT by ZacandPook
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To: ZacandPook

They just figured that out?


2 posted on 09/18/2007 10:16:07 PM PDT by rockrr (Global warming is to science what Islam is to religion)
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To: ZacandPook

We must learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it.

Six years after the anthrax attacks, it’s important to take the time to “connect the dots” of the anthrax mailings.

http://www.anthraxandalqaeda.com


3 posted on 09/18/2007 10:16:22 PM PDT by ZacandPook
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To: rockrr
They just figured that out?

We are talking about the government.
4 posted on 09/18/2007 10:18:02 PM PDT by af_vet_rr
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To: ZacandPook

Tell us about Clinton’s ‘virtual obsession’ with OBL paired with his emperical revulsion at taking him in alive for questioning - which he was offered many times.


5 posted on 09/18/2007 10:20:03 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: ZacandPook
Why is this news?

But for the Jamie Gorelick directive, we could have put the pieces together. Now the democrats want to undo what the patriot act did.

6 posted on 09/18/2007 10:21:05 PM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
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To: ZacandPook

Maybe they should talk to Jamie Gorelick and Socks Burglar.


7 posted on 09/18/2007 10:23:09 PM PDT by Waryone (Constantly amazed by society's downhill slide.)
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To: ZacandPook
Of course it "Could" have been prevented. So could have Pearl Harbor and even the genocide that followed our abandonment of Viet Nam. 20/20 hindsight is always pretty clear.

I clearly recall the weeks leading up to 9/11 as we were hearing warnings of increased terrorist activity, but overseas was placed on high alert, not here at home.

America's long lasting complacency once again let us be caught with our pants down.

A lot of people have a share of blame in that, but the ones I pin most on is the Clinton's for their 8 years of lackluster performance in combatting terror. Their domestic policies didn't help either.

Any child can see that it "could" have been prevented. Now, the question is, what do we do to make sure it never happens again?

My answer to that is to view each candidate running for POTUS very closley and choose who has the strongest anti-terror stance. I believe that person to be Duncan Hunter

8 posted on 09/18/2007 10:23:17 PM PDT by DakotaRed (Liberals don't rattle sabers, they wave white flags)
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To: ZacandPook
Director of National Intelligence Says U.S. Didn't Connect Available Information

Duh! We knew that before the end of 2002.

9 posted on 09/18/2007 10:23:54 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Support Scouting: Raising boys to be strong men and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

This must be a rerun.


10 posted on 09/18/2007 10:26:33 PM PDT by JennysCool (Don't taze me, Bro!)
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To: txflake

Yes, and note that while everyone focused on the July 2001 Presidential Daily Brief about the planned attacks, the CIA provided the same briefing to President Clinton on December 4, 1998. A copy has been provided in the 9/11 report but was overlooked by the media. The PDB explained that Islambouli, the brother of Sadat’s assassin was planning the attacks. Gertz has explained that Islambouli, a close friend of blind sheik Abdel-Rahman, was in a cell with KSM.

On July 4, 1993, United States Postal employee Ahmed Abdel Sattar spoke to the press about Abdel Rahman’s arrest and said “we haven’t decided the time or place, but our Muslim community will demonstrate its outrage at the arrest of the Sheik.” In the indictment of the Staten Island Post Office employee who worshipped in Brooklyn, the United States government alleged that following his arrest, Abdel Rahman, in a message to his followers recorded while he was in prison, urged: “Oh Muslims! Oh Muslims! ... It is a duty upon all the Muslims around the world to free the Sheikh, and to rescue him from his jail.” Referring to the United States, he implored, “Muslims everywhere, dismember their nation, tear them apart, ruin their economy, provoke their corporations, destroy their embassies, attack their interests, sink their ships, and shoot down their planes, kill them on land, at sea, and in the air. Kill them wherever you find them.” His list is a pretty concise summary of the terrorist actions taken over the next decade.

The tactic of lethal letters delivered by the US Post Office — although not mentioned in this list by Abdel-Rahman - - was not merely the modus operandi of the militant islamists inspired by Abdel-Rahman, it was their signature. The islamists sent letter bombs in late December 1996 from Alexandria, Egypt to newspaper offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. and people in symbolic positions. Musical Christmas cards apparently postmarked in Alexandria, Egypt on December 21, 1996 contained improvised explosive devices. The bombs were mailed on the Night of Decree or Night of Measures. The letters were sent in connection with the earlier bombing of the World Trade Center and the imprisonment of the blind sheik, Sheik Abdel Rahman. The former leader of the Egyptian Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya (”Islamic Group”), Abdel-Rahman was also a spiritual leader of Al Qaeda.

The letter bombs were sent in connection with the treatment of the Egyptian islamists imprisoned for the earlier attack on the WTC and a related plot. The purpose of the letter bombs — which resulted in minimal casualty — was to send a message. (There initially was an outstanding $2 million reward — under the rewards for justice program, the reward now is up to $5 million.) There was no claim of responsibility. There was no explanation. Once one had been received, the next ten, mailed on two separate dates, were easily collected. Sound familiar? Two bombs were also sent to Leavenworth, where a key WTC 1993 defendant was imprisoned, addressed to “Parole Officer.” (The position does not exist).

The FBI suspected the Vanguards of Conquest, a mysterious group led by Egyptian Islamic Jihad head Ayman Zawahiri. The group can be thought of as either the military wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad or perhaps just EIJ by another name. It is sometimes known as the New Jihad. Yassir Al-Sirri was the Egyptian Islamic Jihad/ Vanguards of Conquest publicist and worked out of his London-based home while on the public dole. Another group under suspicion for the mailings was the Egyptian Islamic Group. The blind sheik Abdel Rahman simultaneously was the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Group and Egyptian Islamic Jihad/Vanguards of Conquest. The next month, on February 12, 1997, the Islamic Group, for its part, issued a statement: “The Islamic Group declares all American interests legitimate targets to its legitimate “jihad until the release of al prisoners, on top of whom is Abdel Rahman.”

Abdel-Rahman’s friend, Ayman Zawahiri, was head of Al Qaeda’s biochemical program and the blind sheik’s son. Mohammed was on Al Qaeda’s three- member WMD committee. Ayman named his biochem program Zabadi or “Curdled Milk.” The CIA has known of Zawahiri’s plans to use anthrax since July 1998, when the CIA seized a disc from Ayman Zawahiri’s right-hand, Ahmed Mabruk during his arrest outside a restaurant by the CIA in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the time, Mabruk was the head of Jihad’s military operations. Mabruk was handed over to Egyptian authorities. A close associate and former cellmate in Dagestan in 1996, Mabruk would be at Ayman’s side while Ayman would fall to his knees during trial and weep and invoke Allah. Their captors reportedly did not know the true identity of the prisoners. The CIA refused to give the FBI Mabruk’s laptop. FBI’s Bin Laden expert John O’Neill, head of the FBI’s New York office, tried to get around this by sending an agent to Azerbaijan to get copies of the computer files from the Azerbaijan government. The FBI finally got the files after O’Neill persuaded President Clinton to personally appeal to the president of Azerbaijan for the computer files. FBI Special Agent Dan Coleman would later describe the laptop as the “Rosetta Stone of Al Qaeda.” O’Neill died on 9/11 in his role as head of World Trade Center security. He died with the knowledge that Ayman Zawahiri planned to attack US targets with anthrax — and that Zawahiri does not make a threat that he does not intend to try to keep.


11 posted on 09/18/2007 10:28:52 PM PDT by ZacandPook
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To: Alas Babylon!; American_Centurion; An.American.Expatriate; ASA.Ranger; ASA Vet; Atigun; Ax; ...
Hillary Campaign Update........ping.

DNI?

Never heard of him.
12 posted on 09/18/2007 10:29:46 PM PDT by BIGLOOK (Keelhauling is a sensible solution to mutiny.)
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To: ZacandPook
OMG, lol, most knew this the minute the 2nd plane hit.

Good grief, what a bunch of navel gazing, sniveling crap.

13 posted on 09/18/2007 10:30:11 PM PDT by roses of sharon
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To: ZacandPook

TGS! Omg. What on earth have you been up to.


14 posted on 09/18/2007 10:33:54 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: ZacandPook

MIDI - FLOWERS ON THE WALL http://members.tripod.com/~gloco/music6.html

There’s a reason that we had been so vulnerable
For eight long years Bill Clinton slung it...of it, he’s full
He refused to do the job that he was sent to do
Though you’re not an intern, we can still say it — he has screwed you too

Clinton knew about it all...while Gorelick built the wall
She said do not share intel...hey, Gorelick, this thing smells
Bill spent his time dropping trousers...he could not resist
And he ignored...ignored terrorists

So far Gorelick thinks she got a pass on the whole thing
Sorry, Jamie, lots of trouble we are gonna bring
You will pay for what you’ve done...you can’t hide anymore
Get your umbrella, it’s getting cloudy...when it rains, it pours

Clinton knew about it all...while Gorelick built the wall
She said do not share intel...hey, Gorelick, this thing smells
Bill spent his time dropping trousers...he could not resist
And he ignored...ignored terrorists

Al Qaeda grew while Billy Boy pretended all was fine
It’s a law enforcement matter...that had been the line
He refused to pay attention when he read reports
So here’s the solution, file the papers...we’ll take them to court

Clinton knew about it all...while Gorelick built the wall
She said do not share intel...hey, Gorelick, this thing smells
Bill spent his time dropping trousers...he could not resist
And he ignored...ignored terrorists
He ignored...ignored terrorists...he ignored...ignored terrorists


15 posted on 09/18/2007 10:34:06 PM PDT by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: ZacandPook
This kind of speculation does no darn good, except to allow ABC News to take another Left-handed swipe at George W. Bush. The "root cause" of the 9/11 attacks was a willful suspension of disbelief on the part of too many in our Government that that a bunch of pissant terrorists would actually attack the Homeland of the world's only superpower. In short, the same fatal combination of wishful thinking and arrogance that led to Pearl Harbor.
16 posted on 09/18/2007 10:38:04 PM PDT by pawdoggie
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To: txflake

The “Presidential Daily Brief” on December 4, 1998 to President Clinton, titled “Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks,” states: “1. Reporting [ redacted ] suggests Bin Ladin and his allies are preparing for attacks in the US, including an aircraft hijacking to obtain the release of Shaykh Umar ‘Abd al-Rahman, Ramzi Yousef, and Muhammad Sidiq Awda’” Awda was al-Hawali’s fellow radical Saudi sheik who was detained from 1994 through 1998. US Sheik Al-Timimi drafted letter for al-Hawali and had it hand-delivered to members of Congress on first anniversary of anthrax letters to Senators. Sheik Abdel-Rahman, Awda and al-Hawali were all expressly the subject of Bin Laden’s 1996 declaration of war against the US.

The December 1998 PDB continued: “One source quoted a senior member of Gama’ at al-Islamiyya (IG) saying that, as of October, the IG had completed planning an operation in the US on behalf of bin Ladin, but that the operation was on hold. A senior Bin Ladin operative from Saudi Arabia was to visit IG counterparts in the US soon thereafter to discuss options — perhaps including an aircraft hijacking.” The December 4, 1998 PDB stated: “IG leader Islambouli in late September was planning to hijack a US airliner during the “next couple of weeks” to free ‘Abd al-Rahman and the other prisoners, according to what may be a different source.” Islambouli was the brother of Sadat’s assassin. Islambouli is still at large and is working with Zawahiri. He can be thought of as the leader of those IG members who support Al Qaeda.

That very day, CIA’s George Tenet issued a directive to several CIA officials: “We are at war. I want no resources or people spared in this effort, either inside CIA or the Community.” The message in invisible ink read: Post on FreeRepublic if you need to in order to circumvent any initial missteps by the FBI.

The younger brother of Sadat’s assassin, Mohammed, had gone to Pakistan where he had joined Al Qaeda and run a camp. Islambouli operated in Afghanistan and had good connections in Pakistan. He worked for Maktab al-Khidmat (Bureau of Services) in Peshawar. When the blind sheik visited Peshawar, he would stay at a large house outside of Peshawar with both Islambouli and Ayman. Islambouli had an Algerian passport. He left Peshawar, Pakistan for Afghanistan in Spring 1993 upon a crackdown on foreign fighters. In more recent years he reportedly spent some time living in Algeria. Midhat Mursi had connections to Algerians. Perhaps there was a connection between Midhat Mursi and Islambouli.

In his introduction on an August 2006 tape, Al-Zawahiri said the Egyptian group was led by Mohammed al-Islambouli, the younger brother of Khaled al-Islambouli, the militant who assassinated Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981. It was the detention of the assassin’s younger brother, who now claims to lead this faction of the Egyptian Islamic Group merging with Al Qaeda, that had motivated the assassin to seize an opportunity presented to kill Sadat on October 6, 1981. Sadat was killed during the annual Armed Forces parade celebrating Egypt’s successful attack on Israel in 1973. The militants objected to his signing the Camp David Agreement establishing a peace between Israel and Egypt. The assassin was promptly tried, sentenced to death, and executed. Al Qaeda chose the dates of the approval of that agreement and Sadat’s assassination to send the anthrax letters.

The Al Qaeda spymaster Al-Hakayma appeared on the tape. Al-Hakayma was once a “second tier” leader of the original Gamaa, Cairo lawyer Montasser al-Zayat told Al-Jazeera. In front of a grove of palm trees, he announced that the Egyptian Islamic Group had joined Al Qaeda. Al-Hakayma said former members had decided to revive the group and rejected the imprisoned leaders’ adherence to a truce. He vowed loyalty to Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. This was a controversial announcement because the shura members of the group had all announced violence against innocents and dissolved their military wing. A message posted on the Egyptian Islamic Group website in Arabic specifically denied that the blind sheik Abdel Rahman is with the breakaway group: “It is well known [he] was and still is one of the staunchest supporters” of the renunciation of violence. The head of the shura, in his first interview since his release in 2003, told al Jazeera that Zawahiri was lying. One Egyptian Islamic Group leader told Al Jazeera from Germany that support for the merger was limited: “If [some] brothers ... have joined, then this is their personal view and I don’t think that most ... members share that same opinion.”

It was notable that the person making the announcement, Al-Hakayma, was the Al Qaeda spymaster, an Egyptian Islamic Group member himself, who had summarized the Amerithrax investigation in a 2002 treatise on US intelligence apparatus. Al-Hakayma says in the interview that a group of hardliners from Al Jamaa Al Islamiya had joined Al Qaeda, “to help our great scholar, His Eminence the unshakeable Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, languishing in the dungeons of the American prisons, and to repel the attacking enemy which is occupying the countries of the Muslims.”


17 posted on 09/18/2007 10:40:11 PM PDT by ZacandPook
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To: P-Marlowe

Gorelick fashioned “the Wall” at the Clintons’ command because they wanted to impede investigations into “Chinagate” and “Lippogate”, etc. Those scumbags are covered head to toe with the blood of 3,000 Americans.


18 posted on 09/18/2007 10:41:59 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: doug from upland
Gorelick built the wall,

and 911 happened

19 posted on 09/18/2007 10:42:22 PM PDT by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: rockrr
They just figured that out?

Wow, ABC News is really ahead of the curve on this stuff, aren't they?

20 posted on 09/18/2007 10:44:57 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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