Monday

Impeach George W. Bush

The Taliban Wing of the GOP was quick to blame Clinton, as they are better at pointing fingers than being held accountable. The conservatives are, of course, completely wrong. The question Could 9/11 Have Been Prevented was asked by Time Magazine last year, and their conclusion is that Bush and Condoleezza Rice ignored dire warnings from the Clinton administration in January 2001. Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Advisor, held a meeting where he wanted "to underscore how important I think this subject is." The terrorism briefing was giving by Richard Clarke, a career diplomat who had served in the first Bush administration. This included a possible war with the Taliban. After the bombing of the US Cole, concluded Clarke, more aggressive tactics needed to be taken, and he was working on them. The Bush administration didn't hold another hearing on this subject for four months.

The US news media is too conservative to want to investigate, but the British press has been doing a good job. Greg Palast's investigation turned up (last paragraph) "I received a phone call from a high-placed member of a US intelligence agency. He tells me that while there's always been constraints on investigating Saudis, under George Bush it's gotten much worse. After the elections, the agencies were told to "back off" investigating the Bin Ladens and Saudi royals, and that angered agents." The Bush family and the bin Laden family have been very close friends and business associates for many many years. This is slimy but not illegal... unless the Bush family is protecting known enemies for their own financial gain. And, in fact, the FBI was on the trail of other bin Laden family members for ties to terrorists. "This document is marked "Secret". Case ID - 199-Eye WF 213 589. 199 is FBI code for case type. 9 would be murder. 65 would be espionage. 199 means national security. WF indicates Washington field office special agents were investigating ABL - because of it's relationship with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, WAMY - a suspected terrorist organisation. ABL is Abdullah Bin Laden, president and treasurer of WAMY." And yet, immediately after 9/11, the bin Ladens in the US were gathered together and flown out of the country. Protecting innocent bin Ladens from reprisals was the proper thing to do; letting potentially useful informants and possible suspects out of the country is irresponsible and more than criminal negligence. We've kept hundreds of prisoners locked up at Guantanomo Bay with no evidence that they had anything to do with 9/11, and yet we let material witnesses slip through our hands with a few quick questions the day they were departing. Heads should roll, up to and including Ashcroft and Bush.

It looks like a conspiracy to Joe Conason, as no one wants to connect the dots or conduct an investigation. A great article by David Remnick and Hendrik Hertzberg draws parallels between Anteitam, the bloodiest day in American history, and 9/11, while noting Bush's lack of moral clarity after the attack.

The man who would have been the most damning witness against Bush was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. "In August 2001, FBI Deputy Director John O'Neill resigned from his post over George W. Bush's policy on terrorism and Osama bin Laden. Specifically, O'Neill's department was told to "back off" their bin Laden and Al Queda investigations while the Bush administration negotiated with the Taliban. O'Neill became the security chief of the World Trade Center - where he died during the events of 9/11." The O'Neill site -- subtitled "How George W. Bush betrayed America" -- is a must read for anyone who wants to battle terrorism. The site details, among other charges, how Ashcroft cut the FBI's anti-terrorism budget $58 million before 9/11. A book by Richard Butler, a former UN weapons inspector, claims the US was obstructing the prosecution of terrorism in pursuing a deal with the Taliban. The Guardian also finds that Ashcroft had little interest in counter-terrorism, and diverted resources from measures to prevent terrorism towards those aimed at more traditional targets, such as drugs and child pornography. On the other hand, Ashcroft was so scared that he reversed the policy of his predicessor, Janet Reno, and took chartered private jets (at taxpayer expense) rather than commercial flights. What did he know?

Many in the FBI are coming forward. In addition to Colleen Rowley's complaints about bureau higher-ups thwarted her attempts to investigate Moussaoui, Richard Wright has accused the Agency of shutting down his 1998 criminal probe of terrorist training camps in the US. Instead of investigating, the FBI has gone to court to keep officials from testifying in Congressional hearings. This is scandalous. When even the Socialists are mad that Ashcroft is moving to stifle discovery in the 9/11 cases, America is in serious trouble.

Instead of responding seriously to these threats, George W. Bush... went on vacation. At his new home in Texas (his Crawford ranch was purchased in 1999), Bush received several Presidential Daily Briefings. Mostly, he did nothing but hide. In the meantime, everyone -- everyone -- warned Bush that there was a terrorist attack coming soon. Listing all the warnings is too long a list for this essay, so here are some: The White House was warned by U.S. intelligence agencies in early August that Osama bin Laden was seeking to hijack aircraft. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarack warned Bush 12 days before the attack. The Taliban warned Bush about the attacks weeks before. A BBC report a week after 9/11 quickly finds out that "he National Security Agency, which specialises in electronic eavesdropping, had intercepted no less than 33 messages between May and July 2001, warning of a "possible imminent terrorist attack". US intelligence also received word from a source just back from Afghanistan in summer 2001, that "everyone is talking about an impending attack." Russians, French (the same France being dissed now), Israel, etc etc. In addition to the Ashcroft chartered flights mentioned above, On Sept. 10, NEWSWEEK has learned, a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns. (near bottom). (The FAA chief quit on Oct. 11, 2001, over special treatment given to Bush Cabinet members.) Heck even his brother knew! Jeb Bush signs Executive Order allowing him to declare martial law... September 7. And then placed Florida under indefinite state of emergency as of Sept. 11. W. was visiting Florida at the time. Didn't Jeb say something to his brother? So much for family values.

Whether 9/11 was a catastrophic bungle or politically motivated to keep Bush in power as his approval ratings plummeted that summer, the events beforehand and the cover-up afterwards (which I'll detail more in a later column) deserve congressional scrutiny. I predicted, in the summer of 2001, that the minute Bush's approval rating fell below 50% we'd be at war. Within a week of polls indicating just that, the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked with the loss of life of nearly 3,000. Now, as his numbers are tumbling again, he may make me right twice in a row. Which is worse, deliberately changing policy to let your friends the bin Ladens make more money, or being so stupid as to fail to see the threats everyone warned you about? In either case, Bush should be on trial. And, for the first time, a president will be convicted.

This is only scratching the surface. There are lists of Bush Knew links at Buzzflash and my collection from a long time ago and an ever-growing list from Fallout Shelter News and probably others. Do a google search and be incensed at the lack an investigation. Write your congressperson. Where is the outrage?

And we haven't even started talking about the warnings about potential anthrax threats. Remember the anthrax threats? Didn't think so. The cover-up is working.

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