RUMSFELD, ASHCROFT RECEIVED WARNING OF AL QAIDA ATTACK BEFORE 9/11

[powergirl]

I picked this up from Daily News Attytood:

http://www.attytood.com/2006/10/how_john_ashcroft_saved_his_ow.html

Why did Attorney General John Ashcroft and some Pentagon officials cancel commercial-airline trips before Sept. 11?
On July 26, 2001 - 47 days before the Sept. 11 attacks - CBS News reported that Ashcroft was flying expensive charters rather than commercial flights because of a "threat assessment" by the FBI. CBS said, "Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term." Newsweek later reported that on Sept. 10, 2001, "a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."

Did either Ashcroft or the Pentagon have advance information about a 9/11-style attack and, if so, why wasn't this shared with the American public? <cut> YES



WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and former Attorney General John Ashcroft received the same CIA briefing about an imminent al-Qaida strike on an American target that was given to the White House two months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.


The State Department's disclosure Monday that the pair was briefed within a week after then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was told about the threat on July 10, 2001, raised new questions about what the Bush administration did in response, and about why so many officials have claimed they never received or don't remember the warning.

(cut)

Ashcroft, who resigned as attorney general on Nov. 9, 2004, told the Associated Press on Monday that it was "disappointing" that he never received the briefing, either. But on Monday evening, Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement confirming that she'd received the CIA briefing "on or around July 10" and had asked that it be given to Ashcroft and Rumsfeld.


"The information presented in this meeting was not new, rather it was a good summary from the threat reporting from the previous several weeks," McCormack said. "After this meeting, Dr. Rice asked that this same information be briefed to Secretary Rumsfeld and Attorney General Ashcroft. That briefing took place by July 17."

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/15662785.htm

:spray:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Releasing it to the American public..... bad for the airlines industry

...... so there you have it.

[bananas]

5. And that explains all the mysterious "puts"

massive insider trading - too bad the SEC won't investigate.

[DemoTex]

8. My airline disseminated FAA info in July 2001 warning of actions in USA.

That info came at the same time news reports had John Ashcroft quitting airline flying for "security" reasons. As an airline captain, I put two and two together and started briefing my crews for some spectacular hijackings. I told my crews, as early as 7/2001, that the forward part of the first class cabin and the cockpit door was to be protected at all costs. As an ALPA Central Air Safety Committee member and an ALPA Airline Accident Investigator, I discussed these concerns - vis-a-vis the FAA warnings - with other committee members, who concurred with my evaluations of the potential problems.

By late August, 2001, most of my fellow airline pilots and I knew something was up .. and we were on pins and needles. On September 10, 2001 I went in for my six-months flight physical, and failed: high blood pressure. That, ironically, marked my early medical retirement from my dream job.

Bu$h lied, and fellow airline employees - and the passengers entrusted into their care - died. Criminal is not a strong enough word.

[powergirl]

12. WHY ISN'T THIS A BIGGER NEWS STORY?

I found your comments fascinating - coming from a pilot. Why do we (the collective "we" - the American public) seemingly overlook this? Notice that Ashcroft took the revelation (about Condi blowing off the warnings) as his opportunity to state that he didn't know about it. I love how Republicans eat their own. :puke:

[elehhhhna]

2. 3rd REC!

[LunaSea]

3. 4th

[indepat]

4. So not only did not Mayor Brown fly on 9-11, neither did a group of top

Pentagon officials. Most curious indeed. Velly, velly interesting. Enough to almost make a L believer an M believer.

[robertpaulsen]

6. Neither did Salman Rushdie.

Quite a lot of suspicious incidents like this in the months prior to 9/11.

[glitch]

7. And I am sure Rummie, Rice, Ashcroft all kept it to themselves and Bush's

"vacation" keeping him out of DC for the next month and a half was pure coincidence.

[DemoTex]

9. Important stuff, here.

:kick:

[mhatrw]

10. Will Bunch is the last of the US based investigative journalists. n/t

[rateyes]

11. The day Condi was briefed...

July 10, 2001...is the same date of the infamous "Phoenix Memo."