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Friday, August 12, 2005

Investors Business Daily comes out with a pretty scorching editorial on the Commission covering up the information that military intelligence had identified Atta more than a year before 9/11 as a member of Al Qaeda and potential terrorist.
And this is the same commission that included one Jamie Gorelick, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton Justice Department. She's also architect of the policy that established a wall between intel and law enforcement, making "connecting the dots" before 9-11 a virtual impossibility.

Gorelick was the author of a 1995 memo that helped establish what former Attorney General John Ashcroft testified was the "single greatest structural cause" for 9-11, which was "the wall that segregated criminal investigators and intelligence agents."

"Government erected this wall," said Ashcroft. "Government buttressed this wall. And before Sept. 11, government was blinded by this wall." The hiding of the data on Able Danger is, all in all, just another brick in that wall.

Maybe Oliver Stone can fit all this into his new movie on 9-11. Maybe the focus will shift from how George Bush could have prevented 9-11 in his eight months in office to what Bill Clinton failed to do in eight years. All this happened on his watch.

And maybe, just maybe, the whiners who fight — on fears that swat teams will descend on public libraries — renewal of the Patriot Act to prevent the next Atta from flying a plane into a building, will just shut up, let us collect the dots and connect them.
What is so lame is the Commission's excuse that they didn't include this information in their report because it wasn't in accord with the timeline they had created about Atta's whereabouts before the attack.
Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the commission's follow-up project called the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, had said earlier this week that the panel was unaware of intelligence specifically naming Atta. But he said subsequent information provided Wednesday confirmed that the commission had been aware of the intelligence.

The information did not make it into the final report because it was not consistent with what the commission knew about Atta's whereabouts before the attacks, Felzenberg said.
So, when new data presented itself, rather than adjusting their hypotheses they just left out the new data. Makes you wonder what else they tossed out because it didn't fit with their preconceived notions.

And how long will this be a big story? It's heartening that the New York Times is on this story. Usually, if they get excited the rest of the MSM trails in behind. If they keep after this, they can redeem themselves a teensy bit for all the bias they've shown for years.

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 9:55 AM

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HOME Betsy neither necessarily uses, nor endorses, the products advertised on this site. Comments from an AP history and government teacher in Raleigh, NC. e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com Site Feed Wikio Your Market Research Here		Friday, August 12, 2005 Investors Business Daily comes out with a pretty scorching editorial on the Commission covering up the information that military intelligence had identified Atta more than a year before 9/11 as a member of Al Qaeda and potential terrorist. And this is the same commission that included one Jamie Gorelick, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton Justice Department. She's also architect of the policy that established a wall between intel and law enforcement, making "connecting the dots" before 9-11 a virtual impossibility. Gorelick was the author of a 1995 memo that helped establish what former Attorney General John Ashcroft testified was the "single greatest structural cause" for 9-11, which was "the wall that segregated criminal investigators and intelligence agents." "Government erected this wall," said Ashcroft. "Government buttressed this wall. And before Sept. 11, government was blinded by this wall." The hiding of the data on Able Danger is, all in all, just another brick in that wall. Maybe Oliver Stone can fit all this into his new movie on 9-11. Maybe the focus will shift from how George Bush could have prevented 9-11 in his eight months in office to what Bill Clinton failed to do in eight years. All this happened on his watch. And maybe, just maybe, the whiners who fight — on fears that swat teams will descend on public libraries — renewal of the Patriot Act to prevent the next Atta from flying a plane into a building, will just shut up, let us collect the dots and connect them. What is so lame is the Commission's excuse that they didn't include this information in their report because it wasn't in accord with the timeline they had created about Atta's whereabouts before the attack. Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the commission's follow-up project called the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, had said earlier this week that the panel was unaware of intelligence specifically naming Atta. But he said subsequent information provided Wednesday confirmed that the commission had been aware of the intelligence. The information did not make it into the final report because it was not consistent with what the commission knew about Atta's whereabouts before the attacks, Felzenberg said. So, when new data presented itself, rather than adjusting their hypotheses they just left out the new data. Makes you wonder what else they tossed out because it didn't fit with their preconceived notions. And how long will this be a big story? It's heartening that the New York Times is on this story. Usually, if they get excited the rest of the MSM trails in behind. If they keep after this, they can redeem themselves a teensy bit for all the bias they've shown for years. posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 9:55 AM \|

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Friday, August 12, 2005