Records Show Tenet Briefed Rice on Al Qaeda Threat
By PHILIP SHENON and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: October 2, 2006
The account by the spokesman, Sean McCormack, came hours after Ms. Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall such a meeting and said it was "incomprehensible" she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. McCormack also said the Bush administration had determined that the Sept. 11 commission had been briefed about the meeting, even though no mention of it appears in the commission's report.
also
Time 2002In mid-July, Tenet sat down for a special meeting with Rice and aides. "George briefed Condi that there was going to be a major attack," says an official; another, who was present at the meeting, says Tenet broke out a huge wall chart ("They always have wall charts") with dozens of threats. Tenet couldn't rule out a domestic attack but thought it more likely that al-Qaeda would strike overseas. One date already worrying the Secret Service was July 20, when Bush would arrive in Genoa for the G-8 summit; Tenet had intelligence that al-Qaeda was planning to attack Bush there. The Italians, who had heard the same report (the way European intelligence sources tell it, everyone but the President's dog "knew" an attack was coming) put frogmen in the harbor, closed airspace around the town and ringed it with antiaircraft guns.
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About Iran: I don't trust this bunch of crack-heads. They may think Iran can get them out of their current mess. Also, there are certain Gulf region pressures weighing heavily for them to do something about Iran. The biggest problem is that they are who they are: weak, hated, and incapable to negotiate with Iran.
Fallows is scheduled to be on Dobbs tomorrow night. The last time I saw him, he said that there are no longer any "good" plans. None. He's one of the few people who have called this war since the beginning.
I heard Woodward about the Dems meeting. I guess they want the Dems to provide cover for them now...talk about a two-edge sword. And what Dems? Biden? OMG, please no. As you know, there are Dems. who are quite willing to go along to get along with a "little" bombing of Iran.