Former FBI Translator: U.S. Had Details Before 9/11

Newsmax ^ | 4/1/04

[Stars&StripesNE]

A former FBI translator told Salon.com the U.S. should have had an "orange or red-type of alert in June or July of 2001. There was that much information available."

[PureSolace]

A former FBI translator told Salon.com the U.S. should have had an "orange or red-type of alert in June or July of 2001. There was that much information available."

Their first mistake was breaking the news to "penny stock" Salon.com... Their second was they're wrong. :)

[Mo1]

Amazing how many armchair quarterbacks are popping up these days, isn't it?

Her attack comment against Condi is a clue

[nathanbedford]

I believe this practice is engaged in for commercial reasons. In effect these publications are using this forum as a kind of Amazon system to funnel hits home.

[mcgiver38]

The intel was flying like crazy in the summer of 2001, we reloaded an entire Marine Expeditionary unit in 24 hours and got out of jordan in threatcon delta, it took three days to offload them, this was at threatcon delta, everything pointed to an attack on a US Navy ship in the gulf region the threat included aircraft, so much crap was flying around I highly doubt if anyone was discussing the actual 9/11 attack on any medium, they had already gone way deep by then. We were all on high alert throughout the summer. Its all over the press. They dont sortie the fifth fleet for no reason

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0106/23/cst.09.html
The Fifth Fleet been put out to sea. Many of those ships were already out to sea, but those that were not, they were ported in Bahrain, now out to sea. Those Marine exercises in Jordan canceled. Those hundreds of Marines been taken out of Jordan, put on the USS Boxer out to sea as well.

http://ww2.pstripes.osd.mil/01/jun01/ed062401i.html

[Fee]

Four of the hijackers boarded in Maine for a flight to Boston. The airline clerk noted that the four had Arab names, paid for a one way ticket with cash. She remembered the profiles of what a possible Middle East terrorist would have, but her supervisor on the advice of the airline headquarter legal team told her they cannot stop the four men because profiling (issue raised by the Democrats) is illegal and the airline could be sued, unless they had more evidence (such as a bomb, gun, etc). The four got on the plane and later connected the the plane in Boston which ended up in one of the WTC towers. You are right, how is an alert and security upgrade going to stop them under the legal guidance of pre 9/11???

[highlandbreeze]

Isn't this the same woman who started working for the FBI AFTER 911?

[Bernard Marx]

The Media and Leftists are in an all out assault on Bush...

Don't forget to add the bureaucracy, OPEC, the terrorists in Iraq, Al Quaeda, etc.

[CyberAnt]

But .. Kerry's negative numbers are going up from 24 to 36 in less than a month. Bush's approval numbers are going back up past where they were. THEY AREN'T WINNING!

[torchthemummy]

What I'd like to know is how far back these documents were that were being translated?. Pre-2001 aka. W. And what effect did Clinton's gag order on the CIA of not consorting with sources with "unsavory backgrounds" have? many links that we have found after the fact are being treated in a similar manner to what a DEA cop does when they've caught a drug dealer and have their cell phone - wait for more calls to locate more perps. Then wait, nab some, put surveilance on others. then also what must be considered is if Al Queda is/was smart enough to put out false plans.

As so many have said before, it's convenient to look back in 20/20 vision. And if that is the game to be played as is now abundantly clear, you should see a heck of a counter-offensive in the form of Condi Rice come next Thursday. My guess is it will be a tour-de-force and will put the Sinkmaster's team back in the hot seat. I really believe that this refusal to have Condi testify and then to relent was well worth the price in regards to looking like W gave in. I think the fact will be proved that not only will she ably shoot down Clark, Clinton, Reno, Berger, etc. but will thrust herself into a possible VP spot and certainly, at least, in the position of leading contender come 2008.

[Ken in Eastman]

"President Bush said they had no specific information about Sept. 11, and that's accurate," Edmonds told the Web site. "But there was specific information about use of airplanes, that an attack was on the way two or three months beforehand and that several people were already in the country by May of 2001. They should've alerted the people to the threat we're facing."

Even if this is true and if the only rumors bandied about were of using airplanes, it would not have been enough information.

When was it to happen?

Which airplanes(s) were the target?

How was it going to be accomplished?

What was the target?

Who would the hijackers be?

Yeah, we had all the information except who, what, when and how. All we knew was why and the liberals don't even understand that now. There was simply not enough information.

In addition, the is so much intel flowing into our system, this was a drop in the bucket. She needs to be asked, how many other plots did she read about?

She may be sincere, she may be accurate but, allowing that, was there a way in June of 2001 to actually STOP the attack? The honest answwer is clearly, "no."

Think about how much people whine about removing their shoes at the airport? The public would have never gone along with stringent security measures based on limited information. And, who would have been leading the attack against these measures? Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, of course.

Hindsight is not 20/20 unless one thinks.

[torchthemummy]

Your tagline rocks!!

[GigaDittos]

OF COURSE, another FORMER-FBI employee. Amazing how they're coming out of the woodwork now.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU!!

[Ken in Eastman]

Thanks,

I haven't posted on FR much over the last 5 years, but used to on a regular basis. I just couldn't resist the tagline.

Anyway, thanks again, and maybe I'll be running into you.

Take care,

[torchthemummy]

Hey, intelligent souls like yourself are in good company around here so I hope you'll jump into the pool a little more often again.

Take care!

[Bernard Marx]

According to NewsMax:

She was assigned to the bureau's 9/11 investigation, as well as other counterterrorism cases. There, she translated documents captured by agents who had been rounding up terrorist suspects for a year.

Of course some of the documents could have been more than a year old.

Again, the problem seems to be focused on the FBI, an agency that's become entirely unreliable in my opinion. My subconscious alarm bells have been set jangling by the fact that Bush and Ashcroft were adamant about keeping both Tenet, a Clinton guy, as DCI; and appointing Mueller at FBI. Here's what CNN had to say about Mueller:

Mueller, 56, has Republican ties, but enjoys bipartisan support. He was appointed U.S. attorney for Northern California by Bill Clinton in 1998, on the recommendation of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California. Earlier this year he served a brief stint as acting deputy attorney general under John Ashcroft until Larry Thompson was confirmed to the post.

From Boxer to Ashcroft to FBI?

For some time it's seemed to me there's something very strange going on at both CIA and FBI. Bush and Ashcroft seem to know something they're not sharing with the rest of us. My theory is high-level blackmail of some sort. Bomb-throwers like Edmonds and Joe Wilson (and his CIA agent wife Valerie Plame) make the intrigue even more mysterious.