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04/10/2004 Archived Entry: "Not paying attention? Good."
Not paying attention? Good
The White House was hoping you wouldn't be. August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing released.
A document sent to President Bush before the Sept. 11 attacks cited recent intelligence of a possible al-Qaida plot to strike inside the United States. The White House released the document Saturday."Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate Bin Laden since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US," the memo to Bush stated. Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and "bring the fighting to America."
The document, declassified Saturday, said that after President Clinton launched missile strikes on his base in Afghanistan in 1998, "bin Laden told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington." The memo cited intelligence from another country, but the White House blacked out the name of the country.
More from Reuters:
The report said it had not been able to corroborate some of the "more sensational threat reporting," such as a report in 1998 that bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of those responsible for the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center.But the document said the FBI had detected "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."
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice insisted in her public testimony to the 9/11 commission last week that the memo contained mostly historical information and did not warn of any coming attacks inside the United States.
Can we charge Condi Rice with perjury now?
