9/11 Congressional report
The Congressional report, submitted December 20, 2002, by a joint panel of the House and Senate intelligence committees investigating the 9/11 attack has finally been released after months of wrangling over how much of the report will remain classified. The NY Times reports that the report provides "...a scathing critique of the performance of the F.B.I. and C.I.A. before the September 2001 terrorist attacks."
The report exceeds 800 pages and represents the most complete picture of what was known by the FBI and intelligence agencies prior to the attack. The NY Times article quotes from the report:
'The report concluded, "The intelligence community failed to capitalize on both the individual and collective significance of available information that appears relevant to the events of Sept. 11."
"As a result," the report said, "the community missed opportunities to disrupt the Sept. 11 plot by denying entry to or detaining would-be hijackers, to at least try to unravel the plot through surveillance and other investigative work within the United States and finally to generate a heightened state of alert and thus harden the homeland against attack." '
Most of the material that remains classified apparently deals with the possible role of Saudi government officials and with the level of President Bush's knowledge of the threats prior to the attack. The Washington Post offers insight into these "politically volatile" questions. The Post article says "on the issue of Saudi Arabia, the report cited a CIA memorandum that said connections between some hijackers and some Saudis living in the United States amounted to "incontrovertible evidence that there is support for these terrorists" from Saudi officials."
Now ain't that a kick in the teeth. We have at least some evidence that implicates Saudi officals and do nothing. In the case of Iraq we have no real evidence of an Al Qaeda connection and yet assert that there is one and attack the country.
When it comes to the President's knowledge, the committee was apparently unable to obtain sufficient information to make a judgment. The White House did refuse a request on at least one occassion by citing executive privilege.
The Post also provides a link to the full report.
9:41:08 AM 
|
