Unheeded Warnings...the Buck Stops With Bush*.

[Q]

A chronology of warnings unheeded by the Bush* administration:

September 1999: A Library of Congress report concludes that "suicide bombers" could "crash-land and aircraft...into the Pentagon, the CIA or the White House."

January, 2001: Bush's national-security aides are warned of an al-Qaeda presence in the U.S.. When Berger gave national security adviser Condoleezza Rice her handover briefing, he covered the bin Laden threat in detail, and, sources say, warned her: "You will be spending more time on this issue than on any other."

January 31, 2001: The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, a bipartisan commission put together in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, releases its final report. The report took 2 1/2 years to complete and makes 50 recommendations on combating terrorism in the United States. The Bush administration ignores all of them.

Late January, 2001: The U.S. intelligence agencies are told to "back off" investigating the Bin Laden family and Saudi royals and the Bush administration discontinues the deployment of cruise missile submarines and gunships near Afghanistan's borders that had begun under President Clinton.

Jan. - Sept., 2001: The FAA issues 15 memos to the aviation industry warning of possibly imminent hijackings of airliners inside the United States. At least two of the warnings name Osama bin Laden as a suspect.

Februrary - July, 2001: In the trial of four men charged with the 1998 embassy bombings, testimony is given regarding bin Laden operatives receiving pilot training in Texas and Oklahoma. Detailed information about a pilot training scheme is revealed. No action is taken.

February 7, 2001: CIA Director George Tenet warns Congress in open testimony that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "the most immediate and serious threat" to the U.S. and its citizens. He warns that bin Laden "is capable of planning multiple attacks with little or no warning."

Februrary 9, 2001: In a briefing, Vice President Cheney is told that bin Laden's involvement in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole had been conclusively proven. Though the Bush administration had twice threatened the Taliban that they would be held responsible for any al-Qaeda attack, the U.S., now in the midst of negotiations with the Taliban for a pipeline through Afghanistan, decides not to retaliate.

March 2001: A Taliban envoy meets with reporters and middle-ranking State Department officals, carrying a gift carpet and letter from Afghan leader Mullah Omar to President Bush. He offers to hand bin Laden over to a third country but the officials insist he be turned over to the U.S.. Roughly 20 more meetings on giving up bin Laden occur before 9-11. None were successful.

March 4, 2001: Fox TV airs a pilot episode called The Lone Gunman. The plot revolves around terrorists attempting to fly a plane into the WTC. The heros save the day at the last minute and they find that; "The terrorist group responsible was actually a faction of our own government. These malefactors were seeking to stimulate arms manufacturing in the lean years following the end of the Cold War by bringing down a plane in New York City and fomenting fears of terrorism." The show receives high ratings, but is cancelled.

Spring 2001: A report providing "a listing of all bin Laden's bases, his government contacts and foreign advisors," his whereabouts and details of his al-Qaeda network is presented to the UN security council by the Russian Permanent Mission. No action is taken, despite the fact that bin Laden is America's Most Wanted man.

April 18, 2001: The FAA warns airlines of threats that al-Qaeda could attempt hijackings or bomb attacks on airliners or airport terminals.

May 2001: New York City police are told of a plot to attack the World Trade Center by an arrested Iranian.

May 8, 2001: Bush makes Vice President Cheney head of the new Office of National Preparedness, a part of FEMA. The purpose of this office is to oversee a coordination of federal programs to respond to domestic attacks. Cheney says that "one of our biggest threats" could include "a terrorist organization overseas."

June 2001: The CIA is warned by German intelligence that terrorists are planning to hijack commercial aircraft to use as weapons to attack "American and Israeli symbols that stick out."

June 1-2, 2001: NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) conducts a planning exercise involving the hypothetical scenario of a cruise missile from a barge off the East Coast. Bin Laden is pictured on the cover of the proposal for the exercise.

June 3, 2001: Bush's national security leadership meets - one of only two times they meet before 9-11 to discuss terrorism.

June 23, 2001: Reuters reports that "Followers of exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden are planning a major attack on U.S. and Israeli intrests in the next two weeks." This was based on the impression of a reporter interviewing bin Laden two days earlier. The reporter is quoted as saying; "There is a major state of mobilization among the Osama bin Laden forces. It seems that there is a race of who will strike first. Will it be the United States or Osama bin Laden?"

June 28, 2001: In a written briefing, CIA Director George Tenet warns national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that "it is highly likely that a significant al-Qaeda attack is in the near future, within several weeks."

Late June 2001: Richard Clarke, White House National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, gives a direct warning to the FAA to implement increased security measures in light of an impending attack. The FAA does not act.

Summer 2001: "The chatter level went way off the charts" regarding intelligence monitoring of terrorist groups around this time and remained high until 9-11. Some officials later describe the summer alerts as "the most urgent in decades."

Early July 2001: Briefing to senior U.S. government officals: "Based on a review of all-source reporting over the last five months, we believe that will launch a significant terrorist attack against US and/or Israeli interests in the coming weeks. The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against US facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning."

July 1, 2001: Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says to CNN, "Intelligence staff tell me that there is a major probability of a terrorist incident within the next three months." She argues that both the White House and Congress need to put more money and resouces into intelligence and counterterrorism measures.

July 5, 2001: In a White House meeting, counterterrorism officials warn the FBI, FAA, INS and others that a major attack on the United States is coming soon. The CIA tells Bush that attacks during the summer are possible.

July 6, 2001: A National Security Council group meets to discuss intelligence and potential attacks overseas. Nonessential travel by counterterror staff is suspended.

July, 2001: After receiving an unspecified "threat assessment" from the FBI, John Ashcroft stopped taking commercial flights.

July 10, 2001: The FBI's Phoenix office warns that an unusual number of Middle Eastern men are enrolling in U.S. flight schools and speculates they may be part of an Osama bin Laden plot. The report is sent to FBI headquarters, but officials put off taking action.

Mid-July, 2001: Bush is warned about a possible al-Qaeda attack at the G-8 summit. One threat relayed by the Egyptian government to U.S. Intelligence is of Muslim terrorists crashing a plane into a building.

Mid-July, 2001: FBI counterterrorism expert, John O'Neill privately complains that the White House is obstructing his bin Laden investigation, saying that the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were US oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia. He says; "All the answers, everything needed to dismantle Osama bin Laden's organization, can be found in Saudi Arabia." He believes that one reason for the obstruction is that the White House was still hoping for a pipeline deal with the Taliban.

July 16, 2001: A reporter for Village Voice is told by a New York taxi driver; "You know, I am leaving the country and going home to Egypt sometime in late August or September. I have gotten e-mails from people I know saying that Osama bin Laden has planned big terrorist attacks for New York and Washington for that time. It will not be safe here then." He does return home during this time period and when later questioned by the FBI, he claims that what he knew was known by many.

July 21, 2001: A meeting takes place in a Berlin hotel between American, Pakistani, and Russian officials. It is the third such meeting called "brainstorming in Afghanistan". Taliban representatives had sat in on previous meetings but were boycotting this one, nevertheless, Pakistani intelligence would relay information from the meeting to them. At the meeting, former U.S. State Department official Lee Coldren passes on a message from Bush officials, later saying that "I think there was some discussion of the fact that the United States was so disqusted with the Taliban that they might be considering some military action." Accounts differ, but Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik later says he is told by American officials at the meeting that military action to overthrow the Taliban is scheduled to "take place before the snows started falling in Afghanistan, by the Middle of October at the latest." One specific threat is made at this meeting was that the Taliban can choose between "carpets of bombs (a war) or carpets of gold (a pipeline)". Americans attending deny there was any talk about a pipeline during this meeting.

Late July 2001: Wakil Ahmed Muttawkil, the Taliban Foreign Minister, learns of an imminent attack by bin Laden on targets inside the U.S. that will be "huge" and kill thousands. He sends an emissary to the U.S. consul general and another U.S. official to warn them. The message is not taken seriously. He also takes the message to the political wing of the UN, who also do not take it very seriously.

Early August 2001: The CIA warns the White House, Pentagon, and Department of State that bin Laden is intent on launching a terrorist attack soon, possibly inside the U.S..

Early August 2001: A plot to attack the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, either by bomb from a plane or by crashing a plane into it is discovered by U.S. intelligence. The people discussing this plot were reportedly acting on instructions from bin Laden.

August 4, 2001: Bush leaves for a month's vacation on his ranch in Crawford, Texas (at which point, he had spent 42% of his first eight months in office either on the ranch, at the family compound in Maine, or at Camp David)

August 6, 2001: At his Crawford ranch, the president is told about possible attacks, including that bin Laden may hijack airplanes. The CIA gives Bush an analytic report on al-Qaeda during his daily briefing, focusing on terrorist attacks inside the U.S.. The report was titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.". After receiving the report, Bush left work early and spent the rest of the day fishing.

August 17, 2001: Zacarias Moussaoui is arrested in Minnesota after suspicious flight-school trainers tip off the FBI. An agent warns Moussaoui may be planning to "fly something into the World Trade Center."

August 22, 2001: Counterterrorism expert John O'Neill quits the FBI because of recent power plays against him and repeated obstruction of his investigations into al-Qaeda.

August 23, 2001: John O'Neill begins his new job as head of security at the WTC. A friend says to him; "Well, that will be an easy job. They're not going to bomb that place again." O'Neill replies; "Well actually they've always wanted to finish that job. I think they're going to try again." On September 10th he moves into his new office on the 34th floor of the North Tower. That night, he tells colleague Jerry Hauer; "We're due for something big. I don't like the way things are lining up in Afghanistan." O'Neill is killed in the attack the next day.

August 27, 2001: French authorites notify the U.S. that French-born Moussaoui is a suspected Islamic extremist.

Late August 2001: In an interview with a London-based newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi, Osama bin Laden says that he is planning a "very, very big" and "unprecedented" strike against the U.S..

Early September 2001: A sharp increase in short selling of the stocks of American and United airlines in the New York Stock Exchange. These put options were not reflected in trades of stocks in other airlines and they increased as the days approaching 9-11 drew nearer. One analyst said; "I saw put-call numbers higher than I've ever seen in 10 years following the markets, particularly the options markets."

September 4, 2001: Bush's Cabinet advisors hold their second ever meeting to discuss terrorism.

September 9, 2001: Donald Rumsfeld threatens the Senate that he will urge a veto if they proceed with a plan to divert $600 million from defense to counterterrorism.

September 10, 2001: All on this date: Attorney General John Ashcroft rejects a proposed $58 million increase in financing for counterterrorism programs, he sends a request for budget increase to the White House which doesn't include any new money requests for counterterrorism, and he sends a memo to his department heads listing his seven priorities - none of which relate to counterterrorism. This is unusual since he stopped taking commercial flights in July because of terrorist threats and he had told a Senate committee in May that counterterrorism was his "highest priority".

September 10, 2001: Feinstein asks for a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney about terrorism; his chief of staff tells her they need six months to prepare for it. She says she worries they don't have six months.

September 10, 2001: "Alarm bells were sounding over unusual trading in the U.S. stock market" all during the afternoon, as reported by CBS News. For intelligence gathering, the CIA and other intelligence agencies monitor stock trading in real time using programs such as Promis. Evidently, the heavy trading of American and United stocks did not set off enough alarm bells for the CIA to act.

September 10, 2001: Pentagon brass suddenly cancel a trip for the next day because of security concerns.

September 10, 2001: The CIA were planning a simulation drill to test emergency response. The drill was to start the next morning at 9:00 am. In an advertisement for the "homeland security" event was this sentence; "On the morning of September 11th 2001, Mr. Fulton and his team at the CIA were running a pre-planned simulation to explore the emergency response issues that would be created if a plane were to strike a building."

September 10, 2001: NORAD was supposedly at its highest state of readiness, as it was conducting its semi-annual excercises known as "Vigilant Guardian".

September 10, 2001: A CIA plan to attack al-Qaeda in Afghanistan - with heavy support for the Northern Alliance - is put on Bush's desk, awaiting his signature when he returned from Florida.

September 10, 2001: NSA intercepts two messages in Arabic. One says; "The match is about to begin", the other says; "Tomorrow is the zero hour". The NSA claims that the messages were not translated in time.

September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack

September 17, 2001: FBI Director Robert Mueller tells reporters that "there were no warning signs that I'm aware of that would indicate this type of operation in the country."

May, 2002: National security adviser Condoleezza Rice declares, "I don’t think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center ... All of this reporting about hijacking was about traditional hijacking."

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All citations were from mainstream sources, all other sources, no matter how valid, were excluded. I would be more than happy to provide references to any of this material. You may contact me for any of this information at [email protected] .

While I have acquired much of this information over time, I wish to thank the people at the Center for Cooperative Research for allowing me to paraphrase some material from their extensive database in this timeline. I have covered only a fraction of the available information, leaving out many important and intriguing facts. More can be found by emailing me or by visiting www.cooperativeresearch.org .

http://www.newwartimes.com/warnings.html

[Q]

1. A pattern of willful ignorance?

- If you read these references to news stories in order...a pattern develops that's difficult to ignore.

- A couple quotes that stand out:

March 4, 2001: Fox TV airs a pilot episode called The Lone Gunman. The plot revolves around terrorists attempting to fly a plane into the WTC. The heros save the day at the last minute and they find that; "The terrorist group responsible was actually a faction of our own government. These malefactors were seeking to stimulate arms manufacturing in the lean years following the end of the Cold War by bringing down a plane in New York City and fomenting fears of terrorism." The show receives high ratings, but is cancelled.


June 28, 2001: In a written briefing, CIA Director George Tenet warns national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that "it is highly likely that a significant al-Qaeda attack is in the near future, within several weeks."

Late June 2001: Richard Clarke, White House National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, gives a direct warning to the FAA to implement increased security measures in light of an impending attack. The FAA does not act.

[Solomon]

3. Bump. Thanks for putting this together

for us.

[Bandit]

2. And Bush* goes on vacation

In fact he was off work as much as he was on the job during that whole first nine months. He took more time off than any other President in history.

[Q]

4. Kickeroo

...for the record.