Posted on 10/03/2001 1:49:22 AM PDT by CommiesOut
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:21 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Hmmmmmm. RATS SCREWED US ALL>
Committee urges overhaul, inquiry into Sept. 11 attacks
10/03/2001 .... http://www.dallasnews.com/attack_on_america/investigation/stories/486622_intel_03nat.AR.html ...... NYTimes via DallasNews.com
New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON – The House committee that oversees the nation's intelligence agencies has called for far-reaching changes in intelligence operations. It also wants an independent investigation into why the government did not foresee or prevent the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in a report accompanying a classified intelligence bill expected to be taken up by the House this week, says it is urgent to address the "many critical problems" facing the intelligence agencies.
The bill, approved by the committee late last week, would create an independent 10-member commission to study the preparedness and performance of many federal agencies during and after the Sept. 11 strikes. It would also increase the roughly $30 billion intelligence budget, although the exact amounts are classified.
The committee calls for a "cultural revolution" inside such agencies as the CIA and FBI and a thorough review of the nation's national security structures.
The committee's bill would rescind CIA Director George Tenet's 1995 restrictions on the CIA's use of unsavory covert agents and instructs him to write new guidelines. It speaks of a "culture of risk aversion" and says the 1995 guidelines "have had a negative impact on the recruitment of sources against terrorist organizations."
Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., who is chairman of the intelligence committee and is a former CIA case officer, said he is a strong supporter of Mr. Tenet and that he leaned against establishing an independent commission at this time.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said: "The point is not to point blame or point fingers. The point is to see where the weaknesses are in our system."
The criticism of the CIA has been muted since Sept. 11, with only Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, calling for Mr. Tenet's resignation. The Bush administration has rallied behind Mr. Tenet, and many lawmakers say it isn't the time to remove him or to run an investigation that could distract agencies that should be focused on preventing further attacks.
The commission would be appointed by the president and congressional leaders and would examine the performance of many federal agencies responsible for public safety, law enforcement, national security and intelligence gathering. It would have subpoena powers and would report back six months after its formation.
President Bush has already ordered internal reviews of intelligence gathering. But the committee said that "if history serves, however, no substantive changes will occur after these reviews are complete."
The Senate passed its own intelligence measure before Sept. 11, and it was not clear where it would stand on creating a commission. Senior lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee have also called for a new look at the nation's intelligence apparatus.
Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.. said he was considering whether to offer an amendment to lift the 25-year ban on using covert agents to assassinate foreign leaders. The ban was enacted by executive order.
The committee recommended that intelligence agencies offer bonuses for language proficiency and that they consider creating their own language school. The committee also said that the nation needed to increase its front-line field officers, clandestine case officers and defense attaches.
It said a "fresh look" should be taken at restructuring the CIA and other intelligence agencies to create a separate clandestine service, splitting the directorate of covert operations out of the CIA.
Why weren't the Saudis willing to take him?
10/03/2001 .... http://www.dallasnews.com/attack_on_america/response/stories/486649_troops_03nat.A.html .... More, see WashingtonPost.com
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – The Army's 10th Mountain Division sent more than 1,000 troops Tuesday night on an unprecedented combat deployment to the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, bringing the total U.S. force amassed overseas for the war on terrorism to more than 30,000 uniformed personnel, defense officials said.
Victoria Clarke, the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, said the U.S. military also had 350 combat aircraft, two carrier battle groups and a Marine amphibious ready group in the theater of operations.
To pay for the deployments and cover other war-related expenditures, Ms. Clarke said, the Pentagon has received $4.25 billion of the first $8 billion allocated by the Office of Management and Budget in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The deployment of more than 1,000 troops from the 10th Mountain Division marked the first time a regular Army infantry unit has been sent on a mission to a former Soviet state, an Army official said. It also is the first major deployment of a regular Army unit – as opposed to the small, elite Special Forces units – in the campaign against terrorism.
"...Lake and Secretary of State Warren Christopher were briefed, colleagues said, on efforts launched to persuade the Saudi government to take bin Laden.
The Saudi idea had some logic, since bin Laden had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, denouncing the ruling House of Saud as corrupt. Riyadh had expelled bin Laden in 1991 and stripped him of his citizenship in 1994, but it wanted no part in jailing or executing him.
Clinton administration officials recalled that the Saudis feared a backlash from the fundamentalist opponents of the regime. Though regarded as a black sheep, bin Laden was nonetheless an heir to one of Saudi Arabia's most influential families. One diplomat familiar with the talks said there was another reason: The Riyadh government was offended that the Sudanese would go to the Americans with the offer."
What a lieing piece of manure. Resentful west spurned Sudan's key terror files (Gobs of info offered on Terrorists)
I didn't totally trust that Sudan was telling the truth about this, but Samuel R. Berger just confirmed it.
That kind of stuff has been done hundreds of times. When our laws are two squemish to do something we drop the bad guy off with some nation that is not and has reason to kill him too. There was no need to tell the Saudi's unless Clinton had a good Reason to keep bin Laden alive.
This story in the Washington Pest is needed to cover Clinton's ass. Why?
But that's not the point. In 1996 there was already so much support for Osama in Saudi Arabia that the government was afraid of him. Now there's far more.
Saudi Arabia is our strongest ally among the Arabs and the country most central to our economic well-being.
Could you provide some back up, some source material, on that support: who was / is supporting ObL there, what is the Saudi government afraid ObL will do in Saudi Arabia, etc?
For Hillary's run in 2004 or 2008.
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