Pre-September 11 Presidential Daily Briefing is no Smoking Gun

The CIA’s Presidential Daily Briefing--known in Washington as the PDB--is one of the most closely-held documents in the U.S. government. I can’t think of when one has been released publicly before. Because of the ongoing 9-11 hearings, specifically the testimony of Condeleza Rice last week, the Bush Whitehouse has released the PDB of August 6, 2001, which discussed the threat of an al-Qaida attack on America.

Democrats on the commission and elsewhere, accompanied by the media, have pummeled the Bush administration over the existence of this PDB, apparently hoping to turn it into a “smoking gun” showing that Bush could somehow have stopped 9-11, or that he was not energetic enough in his response to it.

The declassified August 6 PDB is now available in many places on the Internet, and every American ought to take a look at it. One place you can find it is www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4710772 and you should read it yourself. You may never see another one. But, here’s a boiled-down version, with my comments:

Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US

[The title clearly means to grab attention, but the contents only address intent, without giving any real indications of the pending 9-11 attacks.]

Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate Bin Ladin since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US.

• In 1997 and 1998 TV interviews, Bin Ladin said he would bring the fight to America.

• Bin Ladin said he wanted to retaliate in Washington, and was planning a terrorist strike in the U.S. according to 1998 information from foreign intelligence services.

• Bin Ladin was aware of the thwarted 1999 millenium bomb plot against the LA airport, and his lieutenant Zubaydah encouraged and facilitated the operation, according to the captured plotter Ahmed Ressam.

• In 1998, Zubaydah was planning his own US attack, according to Ressam.

The Kenya and Tanzania bombings in 1998 demonstrate that Bin Ladin prepares operations years in advance and is not deterred by setbacks. Also, al-Qaida apparently maintains a support structure in the US that could aid attacks here.

A clandestine source said in 1998 that a Bin Ladin cell in New York was recruiting Muslim-American youth for attacks in US.

A foreign intelligence service reported in 1998 that Bin Ladin wanted to hijack a US aircraft to gain the release of US-held extremists. [This report is characterized as “sensational”, i.e. questionable. Certainly it turned out to be wrong.]

More recent reports by the FBI indicate 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 surveillance in New York turned out to be two Yemenis taking pictures, who the FBI determined were probably tourists.

FBI is conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related.

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. [An adminstration official says there is no information that the call to the UAE embassy was related to 9-11.]

No "smoking gun"

Upon close inspection it is clear that this briefing holds no smoking guns implicating President Bush or anyone else as having had some foreknowledge of 9-11. Nothing here is “actionable intelligence”, and some of it was proven to be inaccurate.

There are two things it does show. First, that the late 1990s--under the watch of Clinton and Richard Clarke--were replete with indications of Bin-Ladin’s lethal intentions against America. Second, it shows the great folly of waiting for extremists to develop and unleash their plans. If anything, it reinforces that preemptive action is absolutely necessary to fight terrorism. Reaction and recriminations will always be too late.

T.T.

©2004, WestRim Digital Arts