9/11 - Decoding The PDB

Larry C. Johnson
9/11 - Decoding The PDB
Mon Apr 12, 2004 13:52
63.228.145.202

Decoding The PDB
by Larry C. Johnson
A former CIA analyst—with dozens of PDBs under his belt—looks at whether Bush and Condi were asleep at the switch.
http://tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10224


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Decoding The PDB

Larry C. Johnson is a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. He served with the CIA from 1985 through 1989 and worked in the State Department's office of Counter Terrorism from 1989 through 1993. He also is a registered Republican who contributed financially to the Bush Campaign in 2000.


Are George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice really as clueless as they are claiming to be? Bush and Rice are both on the record misstating what was in the 6 August 2001 PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing). They both insist the information was only “historical” and “not actionable.” They apparently are not alone in their faux ignorance. Republican partisans and even some members of the media are busy bolstering the spin that this was “an historical memo.” Absolute nonsense!

I wrote about 40 PDB’s during my four year tenure at the CIA. This particular PDB article was written in response to a presidential request. I am told that Bush’s request was a reaction to the intelligence warnings he was hearing during the daily CIA morning briefings. Something caught his attention and awakened his curiosity. He reportedly asked the CIA to come back with its assessment of Bin Laden’s intentions. The CIA answered the question—Bin Laden was targeting the United States.

The PDB article released Saturday is a classic CIA response to such a request. It lays out the historical and evidentiary antecedents that undergird the analyst’s belief about the nature of the threat and provides current intelligence indicators that reinforce the basic conclusion of the piece—i.e., Bin Laden was determined to attack the United States. It is true that the piece did not contain specific details about the plot that was launched subsequently on 9/11. However, the details that are included in the piece are so alarming that anyone familiar with the nature of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda should have asked, “What are they planning and what can we do to stop it?”

Remember the furious attacks against Richard Clarke during the past month? Now that we have seen the content of the PDB we know he was telling the truth when he said that President Bush and Condoleezza Rice did not make fighting Al Qaeda a priority prior to 9/11. At a minimum, the details in the 6 August PDB should have motivated Rice to convene a principals’ meeting. Such a meeting would have ensured that all members of the president’s national security team were aware of the information that had been shared with the president. George Bush should have directed the different department heads to report back within one week on any information relevant to the Al Qaeda threat. Had he done this there is a high probability that the FBI field agents concerns about Arabs taking flight training would have rung some bells. There is also a high probability that the operations folks at CIA would have shared the information they had in hand about the presence of Al Qaeda operators in the United States. While Condoleezza Rice is correct that there was no “silver bullet” in that PDB, she conveniently ignores the huge pieces of the puzzle that were in the hands of various members of the U.S. government.

None of these steps were taken. Bush was on vacation and Condi—the smartest woman in Washington we are told—was asleep at the switch.

The PDB revealed another very fascinating item—the analyst who wrote the piece had access to details about FBI investigations. This is something I never had access to when I was writing PDBs. It was forbidden territory. In other words, Bill Clinton has opened some level of cooperation between the FBI and CIA. The FBI, in a break with tradition, was telling the CIA what it was doing in some measure. Unfortunately, with the benefit of hindsight, not enough was shared.
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Bush knew about Al Qaeda’s plans before September 11, 2001
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/abril/lun12/16alq.html


WASHINGTON (PL)—In the wake of heavy pressure, the White House has declassified parts of a memorandum received in August of 2001 by President George W. Bush, alerting him to plans by the Al Qaeda organization to carry out attacks within the United States.

Titled Bin Laden determined to attack in the United States, the report warned that members of Al Qaeda, including some who are U.S. citizens, have lived or traveled to the United States over the years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could help it to carry out attacks.

Five sections of the document were censored, according to the White House, to protect the names of foreign intelligence services that collaborated in compiling the data.

The document, produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was received by Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on August 6, 2001, one month before the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

The information released yesterday reveals that as far back as 1998 the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) detected suspicious activities in the country that could indicate preparations for kidnappings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

Secret reports from foreign governments and the media indicate that (Osama) Bin Laden has wanted to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States since 1997, the document continues. The Islamic organization had been studying ways of hijacking U.S. airplanes to obtain the release of some of their members who had been arrested in 1998 and 1999, it states.

Members of a bi-party commission investigating whether it was possible to avoid the September 11 attacks insisted that the Oval Office make the memorandum public so that citizens would be informed of what the president knew before the attacks.

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9/11 APFN INFO AND LINKS:
HTTP://WWW.APFN.ORG/APFN/WTC.HTM

Coaching Condi and George on Testifying before the 911 Commission
OpEdNews - Apr 9, 2004
... While the Republicans on the commission will cake-walk you through the hearing, the ... But avoid perky, there are 911 widows present and they don't like perkiness ...
http://www.opednews.com/kall040904_coaching_condi.htm

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known
as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by ...
HTTP://www.9-11commission.gov/

Medium Rare By Jim Rarey
RENSE.COM. 911 Commission - Forgedda Boudit. Medium Rare. By Jim Rarey
12-29-2 A cruel sham is being perpetrated on the American public ...
http://www.rense.com/general33/911med.htm

911 Commission Cover-up And Whitewash. Free Press International. 911
Commission Cover-up And Whitewash. 911 Chairman Thomas Kean: December ...
http://www.freepressinternational.com/911whitewash.html

The Commission will hold its tenth public hearing on Law Enforcement and the Intelligence Community April 13-14, 2004, in Washington, DC.

Beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Capitol Hill (Hart 216), the Commission will hear from current and former top-level officials from our nation’s law enforcement and intelligence communities. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III will testify before the Commission, as well as former Attorney General Janet Reno, former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, and former Acting FBI Director Thomas J. Pickard. In addition to witness testimony, four staff statements will be delivered during the course of the proceedings. The hearing will resume at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 14. A complete hearing agenda follows this advisory.
MORE DETAILS:
http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing10.htm

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