Free Republic

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A veil of secrecy will begin to rise Wednesday when a congressional committee reveals some of the information that U.S. spy agencies knew about suspected terrorist activity before the September 11 attacks -- including the disclosure that analysts knew al Qaeda had previously plotted to use aircraft as terrorist weapons. The recently declassified documents will be made public for the first time during an open hearing of the joint House-Senate Intelligence Committee. One of the main questions investigators are probing: Could the September 11 attacks have been prevented? Joint Senate House Intelligence hearings CNN plans coverage of...

The United States Forest Service, now battling one of the worst fire seasons in history, "misplaced" about $215 million intended for wildfire management because of an accounting error, a watchdog group contends. The Forest Service says the money is being recovered. Taxpayers for Common Sense, an advocacy group based in Washington, made public on Friday an internal memorandum from the Forest Service chief, Dale Bosworth, that said the error, made nearly two years ago, had been discovered as the agency tried to improve its accounting practices. The Forest Service expects to spend a record $1.5 billion this year to fight...