C.I.A. Was Given Data on Hijacker Long Before 9/11: NY TIMES

[Bhaisahab]

American investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers two and a half years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to pursue the lead aggressively, American and German officials say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/politics/24TERR.html?hp

[Kagemusha]

1. In other words, an excuse to blame Clinton.

The 'adults' in charge will never grow up.

[Snazzy]

2. Breaking (xx Snazzy World Exclusive xx): NYT Risen writes same story again

NATIONAL DESK | September 19, 2002, Thursday
THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE INVESTIGATION; U.S. FAILED TO ACT ON WARNINGS IN '98 OF A PLANE ATTACK

By JAMES RISEN (NYT) 1370 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6
ABSTRACT - Congressional investigation into Sept 11 attacks finds that US intelligence community was told in 1998 that Arab terrorists were planning to fly bomb-laden plane into World Trade Center, but FBI and FAA did not take threat seriously; existence of 1998 intelligence report from CIA, one of several warnings US received but did not seriously analyze, is disclosed in presentation by committee's staff director Eleanor Hill; report concludes that there was evidence of growing interest by Al Qaeda and related groups in high-profile attacks inside US years before attacks on trade center and Pentagon; Hill says joint committee has still not found 'smoking gun' that could have helped prevent Sept 11 attack, but says there was much information that was never pulled together; in fact, from 1998 to 2001, CIA and FBI and other agencies received so many reports of Al Qaeda's interest in attacking Washington and New York, either with airplanes or other means, that CIA Dir George J Tenet issued 'declaration of war' on Al Qaeda in Dec 1998; Hill says intelligence agencies failed to adequately follow up on Tenet's declaration; notes that on Sept 10, 2001, FBI had only one analyst assigned full time to Al Qaeda; photo (L)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D16FE3B540C7A8DDDA00894DA404482

Reached for comment, Judith Miller said "yeah? So what!"

[GregW]

3. But ... but ... but ...

Condi said we didn't have any specific information :shrug:

[BadGimp]

4. Blame it on CLENIS

CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS! CLENIS!

[Nlighten1]

5. You guys are missing the point.

Clinton clearly took this seriously and handed this information over to the incoming Bush administration...what did they do with it? Nothing.

[noonwitch]

6. Exactly-that's why Clinton and Interpol were able to prevent attacks...

on the eve of the millenium. Clinton took al Queda seriously-he didn't give money to the Taliban, he didn't take a month long vacation after getting intelligence from reliable sources like the Israelis and the Egyptians telling him an attack was imminent.

[9215]

14. Agreed.

[emad]

7. Also reported on UK's BBC News:

CIA 'had 9/11 hijacker details'


US officials were given the first name and telephone number of an 11 September hijacker more than two years before the attacks, the New York Times has said. Quoting German officials, the newspaper says the CIA was given the name and number of Marwan al-Shehhi by German intelligence, who wanted him tracked. They reportedly did not hear from the Americans until after the 2001 attacks. A US commission into the attacks will investigate whether there was a failure to pursue the lead aggressively.

Marwan al-Shehhi is believed to have taken the controls of American Airlines Flight 175, which flew into the south tower of New York's World Trade Center. According to the New York Times, German officials gave the CIA his first name and a telephone number in the United Arab Emirates in March 1999. They had obtained the details by monitoring the telephone of Mohamed Heidar Zammar, a suspected Islamic militant in Hamburg, the paper said. A senior German intelligence source said that after they passed on the information, they did not hear from the Americans until after 11 September. "There was no response" at the time, said the official.

The paper quoted an American official as saying: "The Germans did give us the name 'Marwan' and a phone number, but we were unable to come up with anything. It was an unlisted phone number in the UAE, which he was known to use." The suspect piloted the plane that flew into the south tower. The Associated Press news agency was told by another unnamed US official that the intelligence community regularly receives thousands of full names of suspected terrorists, making them hard always to track."A first name - and a common one at that - is a scrap of information and doesn't take you anywhere without the benefit of hindsight," the official said. Marwan al-Shehhi was a member of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, which is believed to have been at the heart of the 11 September plot.

A native of the UAE, he moved to Germany in 1996 and became a roommate of Mohammad Atta, who took over American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower. Philip Zelikow, executive director of the independent US commission investigating the attacks on New York and Washington, said in the New York Times they were actively investigating the issue. "The Hamburg cell is very important," he said, adding that the intelligence on Shehhi, "is an issue that's obviously of importance to us, and we're investigating it." But he stressed that no conclusions had yet been reached.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3516233.stm

[underpants]

8. I can feel the "Clinton was all knowing of every aspect of the US govt...

and becasue this was passed to SOMEONE while he was residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue HE IS RESPONSIBLE!!!!!" lines coming from the RW pundits and corporate media.

Of course the fact that he doesn't know of every single occurence "on his watch" does not apply to him only to W whose administration was warned repeatedly BEFORE day one that they needed to pay attention to this.

As soon as I heard this this morning I could feel that coming. Here we go.

[RedSock]

9. all the more reason for clinton and bush to testify

have them explain this info in live and public testimony in front of the Commission.

[underpants]

12. I agree they should testify and given this I guess it would be okay

to ask W what exactly was in the August 6th security brief and was it more exact than this information.

Why would the Attorney General stop flying on commercial flights about the same time?

[Robb]

10. So you're the CIA

...you get the name "Marwan" and an unlisted UAE phone number. I mean, in retrospect it looks impressive, but come on.... If someone gives me the word "Powerball" and a bunch of numbers, I've got no reason to go out and buy a ticket without a lot more info. I'l feel like a jackass later if the numbers come up, but geez. :shrug:

(On edit): I also wanted to add that the administration's ability to deflect the blame and shift the conversation away from the issues at hand is truly Clinton's Penis. :D

[underpants]

11. This "infiltrating the cell" doesn't wash either

Could they have monitored him IF they could find him yes but from what I have read these cells were mostly made up of cousins or people they had known for most of their lives, anyone trying to "join" at that phase would have been met with much skepticism to say the least.

[el_gato]

13. the CIA saw this and said

the plan is in place now
operation American Reichstag is well under way

[9215]

15. Maybe the CIA withheld the info from Clinton

That is what I suspect. Or they watered it down to make it look insignificant.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

16. Has the name 'John O'Neill' come up in this or the WP story? NO. n/t

[snippy]

17. Congress is responsible for oversight of the CIA and the DOJ.

What was Congress investigating around this time?