WABC 04-15-04
Turning my radio dial I came across one of the largest right wing radio shows, WABC AM 77 in new york. They were talking about 9-11. It was maybe 4 a.m., and I called in. The subject of my point is documented below.
Press the play button to hear the audio of how it went down.
BUSH: "And I asked for the briefing. And the reason I did is because there had been a lot of threat intelligence from overseas. And so, I -- part of it had to do with the Genoa G-8 conference that I was going to attend. And I asked at that point in time, let's make sure we are paying attention here at home, as well. And that's what triggered the report.
The report itself, I've characterized it as mainly history. And I think when you look at it, you'll see that it was talking about a '97 and '98 and '99.
It was also an indication, as you mentioned, that bin Laden might want to hijack an airplane but, as you said, not to fly into a building, but perhaps to release a person in jail."
SOURCE: NY Times at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/politics/13CND-BTEX.html?pagewanted=7&ei=5062&en=b3bd0622927fcb22&partner=GOOGLE&ex=1082606400
SOURCE: LA Times, Newsday at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092701genoa.story
TWO DAYS LATER, the following news item appears on the website of the Associated Press as reported by WBAI's Democracy Now:
CIA Warned of Plane Atttacks First in 1995
"The Associated Press is reporting a senior intelligence official has come forward to reveal that the CIA warned as early as 1995 that Islamic fundamentalists were likely to use planes to carry out attacks against American landmarks in Washington and New York. And by 1997 the CIA had identified Osama Bin Laden's intent to attack the US. The official disclosed information contained in the classified National Intelligence Estimate of 1995 and 1997. The release of information came less than a day after the 9/11 Commission criticized the CIA for failing to recognize al-Qaida as a formal terrorist organization until 1999."
SOURCE: Amy Goodman on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/16/1536220
If this information was already available in an N.I.E. in 1995 (and reiterated in 1997), how could the Dubya Administration be unaware of it in the first nine months of 2001? Even without this CIA memo, Genoa should have been enough: it's not as if Bush was down on the ranch while the Italians were having this bin Laden-aircraft-buildings problem; the plane was to fly into the hotel where Bush was staying. It reminds me of that scene in Steve Martin's film "The Jerk" where Martin is working in a gas station, pumping gas while standing in front of a tall stack of motor oil cans. A sniper starts shooting at him, blowing hundreds of gushing bullet holes in the oil cans. The idiotic gas station attendant shouts, "Somebody really hates these cans!"
See: "The White House had (at least ) 28 Advanced Intelligence Warnings Prior to 9/11," Compiled by Eric Smith http://globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI402A.html
As for the claim that Clinton knew about this CIA warning and did nothing in response, I'm reluctant to defend Clinton (whom I find absolutely cynical and thoroughly disappointing), but as Richard Clarke recently made clear, the Clinton Administration did far more to oppose and prevent terrorism than any other administration before or since. For an unusual take on the Clarke book, see my article
The way the American right does its PR is usually via Clinton. Don't have a response to the actual predicament of the country? Can't tolerate any conscious acknowledgement of the country's greivous sins against democracy and human rights? Mention Clinton. And don't mention Clinton's hundreds of actions that injured real people -- bombing the Sudanese aspirin factory; facilitating CIA drug-running out of Mena, Arkansas; refusing over and over again to apprehend bin Laden when he was offered to the US by Sudan; getting thousands of poor people "off the welfare rolls" and into the gutter, et cetera. No, the Republicans' problem with Clinton has to do with his having managed to get funded and elected, by outflanking them to their right, time after time. Still, a garden-variety reactionary is preferable to a sociopathic, sadistic crypto-fascist. And at the rate things are going, pretty soon we can drop the prefix.
9-11 widow Ellen Mariani's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations lawsuit against the Dubya Administration: http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=911_project
Paul Thompson's amazingly comprehensive 9-11 Timeline: http://www.911forthetruth.com/