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Whats even more interesting to me is that the 1998 briefing came because apparantly a concrete threat of retaliation for Clinton's "night-before-Lewinsky-testifies-so-I-better wag-the-dog" missile attacks had been determined. Nothing was done. In the summer of 2001, President BUSH was the one who took threats seriously and requested regular breifings on this topic. I quote from the article:

Mr. Bush had specifically asked for an intelligence analysis of possible al Qaeda attacks within the U.S., because most of the information presented to him over the summer about al Qaeda focused on threats against U.S. targets overseas, sources told the Post.

So as I read it, Bush was attempting to identify if the attacks could come within the US, since his intelligence people had neglected to tell him about internal threats. In other words, he caught them with their pants down in the Summer and was correcting it by shifting their focus but it was too late. Oh boy, his presidency is done if he keeps making correct decisions like that one!

As you can see in my prior post, I think I see something in the article that few others have mentioned. It says that Bush requested breifings on domestic terror targets because he had only been informed about overseas targets over the entire summer. So if this is true, the fact is that Bush only saw that report because he had identified a flaw in the intelligence communities focus and had directed them to look inward.

Now they want to tar and feather him for it, why isnt the spin out of the white house something like this:

"The President was working hard to refocus his intelligence people towards a focus on domestic security from terrorism starting in late Sumemer 2001. The intitial reports were beginning to bear fruit as early as August. However due to a failure over the past several years to act on and focus on threats to internal security, the apparatus to do so was not yet in plave by September. Had the previous administration taken these steps, perhaps 9/11 could have been avoided. However, we are confident that the steps the president initiated last summer and has since strengthened with the establishement of the Homeland Security agencey, will provide a pervasive awareness throughout government and the nation of threats as they emerge."