Deep Throat, The FBI and 9/11 - (Church Cmte. crippled FBI, CIA, leading to September 11th)

The revelation that Deep Throat was actually Mark Felt, the No. 2 man at the FBI during the Nixon Presidency, has focused new attention on the Watergate era and the political consequences that followed. But with the revelation that Felt was the informant that brought down Nixon should also come some attention to the investigations into the FBI and Felt's activities after Watergate and the consequences the nation suffered on 9/11 as a direct result.

First, in regard to Felt and Watergate, the liberal media today are all lauding him as a hero because without him Nixon might not have been forced to resign. The irony of it all is that some of the same groups and individuals that Felt was helping to take down Nixon, would later be involved in taking down the FBI and Felt.

While the liberal media hated Nixon, they also hated and distrusted the FBI and its powerful director J. Edgar Hoover. They would have had the same feelings toward Felt because he was a dedicated Hoover man who was also involved in carrying out domestic intelligence gathering operations. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the FBI was engaged in numerous domestic investigations and intelligence operations targeting communist groups, hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, black militants such as the Black Panthers, anti-war groups and other groups that were involved in subversive and sometimes violent activities. The FBI kept extensive files on organizations and individuals that could be considered a threat to national security.

In gathering some of this information, the FBI abused its power and committed inexcusable encroachments on civil liberties. In fact, Felt, former FBI Acting Director L. Patrick Gray, and Deputy Associate Director Edward Miller, were all indicted for authorizing illegal break-ins related to FBI surveillance of the violent extremist organization, the Weather Underground. Felt and Miller were convicted in 1980, but both were pardoned in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan.

Because of the public disclosure of abuses involving FBI operations that targeted American citizens involved in the anti-war movement, Congress initiated an investigation into the domestic intelligence operations of the FBI and CIA in January 1975. The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, also known as the Church Committee because it was chaired by Senator Frank Church of Idaho, issued 14 reports in 1975 and 1976 on the activities of the CIA and the FBI. The committee's reports lead to the creation of oversight committees for intelligence in the United States Senate (1976) and the House (1977) that drastically changed the FBI's approach to protecting the nation from domestic terrorism.

Prior to the Church Committee, the FBI took a pro-active stance toward domestic terrorism, choosing to interdict terrorists or subversives before they actually carried out a violent attack. But after the Church Committee reports, the Justice Department under the direction of Attorney General Edward Levi, put severe restrictions on bureau's ability to conduct domestic intelligence gathering. The "Levi Guidelines," most of which remained in effect until 9/11, led the FBI into a posture of initiating an investigation only when they were certain that a group was on the brink of an attack.

The "Levi Guidelines," along with other restraints imposed in the 1980s in the aftermath of another Congressional inquiry, changed the FBI's mentality from pro-active to reactive. In other words, the FBI's role in fighting domestic terrorism was effectively reduced to cleaning up the mess after an attack and trying to apprehend the perpetrators. As a direct consequence of operating for almost 25 years under these restrictions, the FBI failed to follow up on leads in their Phoenix and Minneapolis field offices during the summer of 2001 that would have led them to the 9/11 hijackers. Had the FBI been more aggressive in following up on these leads it is very likely that the attacks on 9/11would have been prevented.

Frankly, the FBI overstepped some bounds and needed to be held accountable. But as is so often the case, the politicians, pressured by the liberal media and their own political ambitions, caved in to political correctness and imposed overreaching restrictions on America's first line of defense against domestic terrorism. And as history has now proven, in their efforts to end abuses by virtually eliminating their ability to conduct domestic intelligence operations, two-and-a-half decades later the cure proved to be worse than the malady.

In regard to Mr. Felt, I doubt he was ever the left's hero. What Felt did to expose Nixon, he did to protect the FBI and perhaps, in some degree, as retribution against Nixon passing over him for the director's job after Hoover died. Felt continued Hoover's domestic surveillance practices that were so despised by the liberals and the radicals of that era. In the end, Felt and the FBI were sucked into the radical liberal vortex of political correctness and hypersensitivity to civil liberties that took him and the FBI down together. Who knew that as a result, two decades later, the World Trade Towers would come down too?

Gary Palmer is president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets, limited government and strong families, which are indispensable to a prosperous society.

To blame those who did no more than seek justice is ridiculous.

Isn't it interesting that Hal Holbrook has a role as a vigilante in both "The Star Chamber" and "All the President's Men"?

THE VIGILANTE MINDSET
Vigilante thinking is precisely the opposite of any notion of fairness, fair play, or a chance for acquittal.

Vigilantes do not care to wait for the police to finish their investigation, and they care less about any court's determination of proof.

What they do care about is justice -- quick, final, cost-effective justice.

To a vigilante, punishment should be inflicted upon those deserving of it at the first opportunity -- no waiting, and the more severe the punishment, the better.

How old are you and why do you assume that you actually know the facts about Nixon's presidency ? Public school graduate and an escapee from DU, are you?

The ONLY "crime" Nixon committed was the cover-up. He should have burned the damned tapes and be done with it.

THERE WERE NO "GRAVE" CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, you toll.

Felt is NOT a "hero" and neither are Woodward and Bernstein; who were NEVER "out to seek justice". And then there's Hillary Rodham, who did EVERYTHGING in here power, to suborn the Constitution and ALL of our laws, to bring down President Nixon...to the shock and to this very day, consternation and anger of her superiors.

"in 1960 when Kennedy stole the Presidential election"

Thank you for listing this. It has disturbed me for years that so little was every said about it. People would not have believed it then, now they have experience enough to understand even how this can have happened.

Nixon just "lumped it" and stayed quiet.

Even Chrissy has hinted that the Kennedy Nixon election was more than tainted. On his program several years ago he talked about the votes not only in Chicago but also in Texas.

He said that when Nixon was asked to contest the election he said that he wouldn't put the country through that. I believe Chris said Nixon said the country may never get over such an explosive event.

Did any one else see the program?

Pat Buchanan was on C-SPAN's morning call-in program discussing Felt's actions and their implications--"taking down a President." He offered as an analogy of what happened to Nixon the scenario of J. Edgar Hoover deciding he didn't want JFK to win in 1960 and leaking information to the Chicago Tribune about Kennedy's affair with the woman who was a German spy in order to torpedo his candidacy.

Buchanan also recalled someone in the White House who was interviewed by the FBI in the course of their investigation. Within two days what he had told them appeared in the Washington Post.

..... and the revved up activity to impeach Bush?.

Yesterday trying to tune out my liberal spouse's T/V, I could hardly credit my ears. I heard a quote of former Senator George McGovern. He appeared to be saying that a "Deep Throat" was needed to expose the administration and the Iraq war.

I accessed Yahoo! news. I quote this: Washington (AFP) Thu June 2nd 5:05 ET. That last paragraph caught my attention.

McGovern said Nixon was undoubtedly "tricky",but said of Bush: This man claims to be a Christian,following the will of God,then he misleads the whole nation on a totally fraudulent enterprise in Iraq that we never should have been attached to".

He is a former Presidential candidate. He served with honour, in WW2 and was decorated. He appeared to wish a "Deep Throat" today at least three times. What happened to his thinking, boggles the mind. A decent human being withall.

I don't know how old you are, but suggest you should read up on your info. Howard Dean planned the break-in and went to jail for it. Maybe you are thinking about a current democrat named Dean.

John W. Dean was counsel to the President and involved in the cover-up. As far as I know, no one has suggested he was aware of the planning for the break-in before it actually happened.

Howard Dean is the current head of the DNC, former governor of Vermont and failed Presidential candidate. I don't think he had any involvement in Watergate.

According to many sources I have read, Dean instigated it. Unfortunately, I do not have those at hand to quote or link. I believe one source was G. Gordon Liddy, one an investigative journalist for a conservative magazine. Dean was definitely involved--this one was not Liddy's baby, although Liddy did plan and hel execute some of Nixon's investigative forays.

One interesting article about Watergate gave the reason for Dean's planning it was to see if his intended (now his wife) was listed in the call girl ring the Dems were setting up. They were planning marriage and Dean was afraid if her name came up, it could harm his career.

If anyone remembrs sources for this, please post. One of my failings is reading constantly and simply filing all info mentally under a topic without sourcing it.

vaudine

I was thinking of the official version of Watergate as it came out in the hearings before the Ervin committee in 1973. I had forgotten about the theory that the break-in was because of Dean's wife (or perhaps then-fiancee)...I saw the book arguing that case in a bookstore but never read it.

The official inquiry reports, unfortunately, are often politicized, cropped, or otherwise compromised.

In Watergate, much was surmised, little was proven; and a handful of credulous Republicans helped to bring down a President.

It could be called impeachment by innuendo--and the de ja vieu
all over again version will be appearing next week in your friendly neighborhood Senate, presented by JFKerry.

vaudine

The initial hearings before Sam Ervin's committee involved lower-level people describing their activities...a lot of that, I think, is undisputed, but doesn't bear directly on Richard Nixon's guilt or innocence because it could have been done without his awareness. It was only John W. Dean who was willing and able to accuse Nixon of direct involvement, and until the tapes became known, it was just his word against the President's. The tapes did prove that Nixon was involved in trying to manipulate the FBI in the interests of the cover-up.

Of course the Clintons got a pass for doing much worse in 1993.

The kernal of pertinent truth here is that Nixon was guilty of trying to manipulate the FBI to cover up to save his staff, and the President was sold out by Dean to save his own skin. Liddy went to jail rather than give estimony. His contempt of Dean is limitless. He seems to believe Dean lied under oath to save his own rear.

vaudine

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