[tw]

Originally Posted by dar512

In addition, you contradict yourself. You state that you only want to deal with facts. When, actually, this statement is an opinion.
Quote:
"Nothing involving the WTC and Pentagon attacks can be discussed without mentioning the 6 Aug 2001 briefing that George Jr apparently did not even read." is an opinion.

The part that makes it nasty is that you attempt to state your opinion in such a way as to a priori disallow another point of view. The part that makes it nasty is that you attempt to state your opinion in such a way as to a priori disallow another point of view.

This post will be long because it cites some of the so many details that say George Jr does very little reading for a president. Numerous sources say this president does very little reading and has very little knowledge of the world. My quote stands as accurate in part because dar512 cannot even challenge it. He assumes the claim is made by someone who reads like George Jr. Some reasons why George Jr apparently does not read:


The statement that Bush apparently (or probably) did not read that August 6th PDB comes from numerous characteristics of how the George Jr administration works AND from his own comment. Had George Jr been reading those 36 Presidential Daily Briefings that warned of what we now call 9/11, then he would have made efforts to thwart such an event. Instead, George Jr described that memo to the 9/11 Commission thus:

The President told us the August 6 report was historical in nature. President Bush said the article told him that al Qaeda was dangerous, which he said he had known since he had become President. The President said Bin Ladin had long been talking about his desire to attack America.

But the two CIA analysts wrote that PDB warnings of a dangerous, and impending attack.

NY Times of 25 Jul 2004 entitled "Correcting the Record on Sept. 11, in Great Detail"
Two CIA analysts involved in preparing this briefing article believed it represented an opportunity to communicate their view that the threat of a Bin Ladin attack in the United States remained both current and serious. The result was an article in the August 6 Presidential Daily Brief titled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.”

The actual text of that briefing says an attack was pending

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.
The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Ladin supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives.

Sounds quite actionable to me - if it was read.
When Clinton received actionable threats, the government was empowered to stop those threats. The 9/11 Commission report notes previous attacks on US Embassies in Uganda, Tirana. In response to attacks on US Embassies in Qatar and Ethiopia, even Gen Shleton of the Joint Chiefs put into place preemptive attacks. Even that attack on LAX was thwarted because the Clinton administration *acted* on these 'historical' warnings.

But instead George Jr read this 6 August briefing and called it only historical in nature? Either he is that mentally incompetent OR he did not really read the briefing.

So now we learn how this president operates. Clinton received and read in detail his PDBs - often with handwritten questions or actions in the margins. Instead George Jr gets Tenent to drive over from the CIA every day at 8 AM to personally tell him the daily briefing. George does not read it. He hears it. Even worse is what George Jr hears. Clinton demonstrated the problem in testimony to the 9/11 Commission on page 199:

In December, Bush met with Clinton for a two-hour, one-on-one discussion of national security and foreign policy challenges. Clinton recalled saying to Bush,“I think you will find that by far your biggest threat is Bin Ladin and the al Qaeda.” Clinton told us that he also said,“One of the great regrets of my presidency is that I didn’t get him [Bin Ladin] for you, because I tried to.” Bush told the Commission that he felt sure President Clinton had mentioned terrorism, but did not remember much being said about al Qaeda. Bush recalled that Clinton had emphasized other issues such as North Korea and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Clinton also had Sandy Berger emphasis those same warnings to Condi Rice because he considered the Al Qaeda threat that serious. Apparently George Jr not only does not read much, but he also hears selectively.

And so we go to Sec of the Treasury Paul O'Neill who notes how George Jr's senior staff briefs this president. The conference on energy, cited in Ron Suskind's book "The Priced of Loyalty" page 147 demonstrates:

So, on March 19, at an hour long meeting in the cabinet room, the President was hearing dark predictions about the economic effects of a looming energy crisis. ... For this President, cabinet meetings and the many midsized to large meetings he attended were carefully scripted. Before most meetings, a cabinet secretary's chief of staff would receive a note from someone on the senior staff of the White House. The note instructed the cabinet secretary when he was supposed to speak , about what, and how long. ... The idea of a cabinet meeting or any significant meeting between the President and his seniormost officials being scripted semmed to kill off the whole purpose of bringing people together. ...
O'Neill was watching Bush closely. He threw out a few general phrases, a few nods, but there was virtually no engagement. These cabinet secretaries had worked for over a month on detailed reports. O'Neill had been made to understand by various colleagues in the White House that the President should not be expected to read reports. In his personal experience, their President didn't even appear to have read the short memos he sent over.

So when I say George Jr apparently did not read the 6 August PDB, I also go farther to suggest that decisions are often made for this President. Apparently, much of what former presidents once read (ie memos from the cabinet secretaries) are instead vetted by George Jr's staff - probably his political staff headed by Karl Rove. They in turn censor what he reads and setup cabinet meetings to tell the president what he is to decide. Sounds much like Potamkin villages for those who read history. For example, EPA Director Christie Whitman was excluded from saying anything about Energy in that meeting. She is the EPA Director - completely involved in Energy decisions. But decisions had already been made as to who could tell Geroge Jr what. Christie's opinion was contrary to what George Jr was to be told.

[continued in next post]