|
|
|
|
|
|
Bush Was Planning on Attacking Afghanistan Before September 11: Report
 |
|
Bush defending himself
|
WASHINGTON, May 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As Congress continued to fight over the White House’s responsibility regarding the attacks on September 11, breaking news reports late Thursday stated that there is evidence to show that U.S. President George W. Bush was about to sign a presidential directive aimed at launching an all-out assault on al-Qaeda two days before the September 11 attacks occurred.
The formal National Security Presidential Directive dealing with all aspects of war against al-Qaeda arrived on Bush's desk on September 9, just before the attacks on the United States left more than 3,000 dead, NBC News said, citing U.S. and foreign sources.
Bush probably did not have time to closely review the document in the two days before the attacks officials believe, however it had been submitted to his National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and he was expected to sign it, according to the report.
The United States was able to respond so quickly to the attacks because its basic plan was already in place - essentially the same one used by the White House, Pentagon and the CIA for the U.S. “war on terrorism”, said NBC's Jim Miklaszewski.
And the fact that it was presented as a security directive is "significant" because it implies the United States intended a full-scale offensive on al-Qaeda even if the September 11 attacks had not happened.
Among the measures envisioned in the presidential directive was a move to seek other countries' collaboration in the campaign via intelligence sharing, and a freeze on the militant network's bank accounts worldwide.
The order came to light as the Bush administration defended itself Thursday against charges it had failed to respond adequately to intelligence data highlighting the threat of hijackings prior to September 11.
The White House admitted Wednesday that Bush had received general warnings in the months before the attacks that turned hijacked airliners into missiles, that terrorists, including those led by Osama bin Laden, could be planning to hijack U.S. passenger planes.
The disclosure drew strong criticism in Congress, where Democratic and Republican lawmakers called on the White House to provide all the facts.
The new development also sheds new light on congressional allegations that key members in the U.S. government are profiting from the war.
Meanwhile, U.S. Democrats in the Congress continued to more aggressively demand an investigation into the White House’s foreknowledge of the attacks on September 11 as Congressional Republicans slammed their Democrat colleagues for “playing politics.”
"We need an inquiry, we need to know what information was given to the White House and what they did with it," House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt said.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle urged President George W. Bush to turn over by Friday all intelligence information to a congressional investigation that might have warned of the September 11 attacks that killed around 3,000.
"A pattern was developing" of documents warning of terrorist actions filed by various branches of the U.S. intelligence community, some of which are only recently coming to light, Senator Richard Durbin said.
As the White House sought to calm the gathering storm, Republican leaders accused Democrats of playing politics.
"There is nothing more despicable - and despicable is a tame word - in American politics than for anyone to insinuate that the president of the United States knew that an attack on our country was imminent and did nothing to stop it," Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott said.
"It's sad that crass political cynicism is fueling today's cruel and divisive attacks intended to undermine America's resolve to stamp out the evil of terrorism."
A Senate Republican aide said on condition of anonymity that the Senate Intelligence Committee's leaders, Republican Richard Shelby and Democrat Graham, actually had received intelligence information, without specifying what.
"No one outside of the White House has seen the early August document that allegedly describes hijacking and other threats," Graham said.
However, he cautioned against assigning blame to those who were not trained to discern levels of threat.
"No one should expect the president or members of Congress to go put on their James Bond uniforms and become [intelligence] case officers," he said.
An intelligence report August 6 stating that al-Qaeda might use hijackings was considered to mean hijacking "in the traditional sense," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said.
"There was nothing that said this is going to happen or this might happen. It said this is a method that these people might be considering," she said.
Officials declined to pass the information on to the general public because it was so general, she said.
It was assumed, she implied, that the reference was to "traditional" hijacking techniques in which terrorists take over a plane, threaten passengers and demand the release of their operatives.
"I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon," she said.
"Hijacking before 9-11 and after 9-11 do mean two very, very different things."
Senator Robert Torricelli dismissed the White House's defense.
"I don't doubt the information was not specific. It is the confluence of information that is now raising questions," he said. "We would hope somebody was putting it all together."
|
|
|
|
|
|
