Free Republic

he independent commission charged with investigating 9/11 is now turning its attention to the FBI and apparent intelligence failures in the months before the attacks. The commission is hearing testimony today from current and former intelligence officials, including former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Attorney General Janet Reno and current Attorney General John Ashcroft. The release of the president's daily intelligence briefing from Aug. 6, 2001, has raised new questions about the FBI's handling of the terrorist threat leading up to 9/11. The main question — what was the FBI doing in the summer of 2001? The Bush administration has...

ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - In the weeks and months before Sept. 11, 2001, the FBI had some clues, but didn't see them. It had a lead from one of its own agents, but didn't follow it. A sobering inside look at pre-Sept. 11 intelligence operations by the Justice Department's inspector general chronicles - in some instances in hour-to-hour detail - how the FBI missed at least five opportunities to uncover vital information that might have led agents to the hijackers. "The way the FBI handled these matters was a significant failure that hindered the FBI's chances of being able...