White House releases pre-9/11 memo
 

This got linked on Fark, but it's probably worth a thread here. That excerpt from a daily briefing that's being continually referenced to argue that "Bush knew!!!!11" got released two days ago.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0409041pdb1.html

Personally, I don't see it as a very damning document. The threats listed there are all quite vague -- I'd just love to see what the reaction would have been if Bush had proposed to shut down all flights in the country based on intelligence like this, and we all know that people complain even now about increased security at airports, so I'm not really sure what could have been done. The excerpt also mentions a few other attacks which never happened; clearly all of this intelligence was not in a developed stage and couldn't really be applied without more specific and reliable information.

Where will this lead?

yup its already lead there: Bush may have known about 9/11

Some alternate histories:
http://tnr.com/easterbrook.mhtml?pid=1545
http://stromata.tripod.com/id463.htm

I'm against Bush and all that, but I think he and his goverment would have done something about it if they would have knew...

I don't really think that there is quite enough evidence to decide either way. However the way the administration has been trying to dodge all these questions brings up some disturbing thoughts. For example Bush is not willing to go to the 9/11 hearings with out his Vice President. Or how Dr. Rice didn't give any real answers to the questions that were backed up at all. It was also stupid for Bush not to act at all on these warnings, especially after America was attacked in the early 90's, but I get what you mean by the vague information. So who knows?

My favorite take so far on the issue:

http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/001900.html

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update -

What could Bush have done? hmmm...

Dedicated intelligence resources to finding out more?

Instructed Ashcroft to pull FBI agents off of other investigations and put them on antiterror?

Put out orders to pull together any other threads of information on terrorist activity for further review (remember that terrorist's laptop they had sitting around that they couldn't open because they couldn't get a warrant?)?

Put the Air Force on alert in case planes needed to be shot down?

Put out an alert for airport security in major population centers?

Not cut out for a month-long vacation in Texas?

I don't think many people here realize just how correct Luna's analysis is. I'll save myself the trouble and not restate it. Scroll up and read it, and think about the general feeling and security in this country pre-9/11. I can tell you right now, I sure as hell wouldn't have put up with the present restrictions on travel and the waits and the lines and the bullshit. Don't even tell me any of you would.

Sorry, I'm feeling angry and rantish today.

Ranger --

As my above (updated -- at about the same time as you left your message, so of course you wouldn't have caught that before your comments, that'll happen) post should demonstrate, there's plenty Bush could have done that wouldn't involve a total shutdown of air transportation or a massive invasion or (in the case of the Easterbrook 'alternate timeline in which no political actor anywhere in the world behaves in anything remotely resembling the way they do in this reality' noted above) a massive invasion of Afghanistan.

Being restricted from taking the most extreme action imaginable is not an excuse for taking no action whatsoever.

I am absolutely not saying Bush knew. What I am saying is that Bush didn't much want to know, and he certainly didn't care. The administration was not taking terrorism seriously before 9-11 (If I can find it, I'll post the link to the pre-9/11 stories in which admin. officials were saying we were putting plenty of effort into terror when we ought to be worrying about important things, like missile defense), and that's why 9-11 was allowed to happen.

Oh please. I don't think any president would have ever expected anything like this to happen. What about Pearl Harbor? They had intelligence on that, I've heard. They should have had the Air Force on alert then too. And we were at war then, so we should've been expecting something. Plus, the 9/11 attacks were three years in the making. If anything was to be done to stop this from happening, Clinton could have stopped it in the early stages before the point-of-no-return. If Bush is going to be blamed for this, than we have to say both Clinton and Bush royally fucked up.

And even if all of my beliefs are proven false and Bush really did have solid evidence that a terrorist attack was going to occur, what the hell is the point of proving it? Showing he's a bad president? I really don't get these hearings. It's like a group of spoiled kids arguing with each other. "He knew about it!" "No I didn't!"

There were no less than seven inquiries into what went wrong at Pearl Harbor, the first created by Roosevelt's own Executive Order eleven days after the attack.

And I'm pretty sure none of them were arguing "Blame Hoover! It's all his fault!"

Look, I don't blame the Bush administration, but its a mistake to put any blame on Clinton. I think, there's three or so plots that were stopped under Clinton's watch, and that's pretty good. However, an underlying message about Clinton, is that when first in office, he didn't take the threat of terrorisim serriously either.

It was only over the course of various events, did Clinton change that opinion. Bush didn't do anything specifically wrong, but from the sound of things, his administration was lax on the subject. The thing is, had his administration been sharper on the uptake, and terrorism might have ended up in their sites prior to 9/11. Not that they could necessarily have stopped it, but maybe at least only 1-2 planes would have successfully hit the target (IMO, the Pentagon, after the two towers, should never been allowed to be hit like that).

As it stands, 9/11 was one hell of a wake up call.

Sky Warrior Bob