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Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

John Aravosis notes E&P's essential post on the explosive revelation in Woodward's new book:

Tenet called Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser. " For months," Woodward writes, "Tenet had been pressing Rice to set a clear counterterrorism policy... that would give the CIA stronger authority to conduct covert action against bin Laden.... Tenet and Black hoped to convey the depth of their anxiety and get Rice to kick-start the government into immediate action.

"Tenet had been having difficulty getting traction on an immediate bin Laden action plan, in part because Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had questioned all the intelligence, asking: Could it all be a grand deception? "

. . . The result? "Tenet and Black felt they were not getting though to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off . President Bush had said he didn't want to swat at flies." "Tenet left the meeting feeling frustrated. Though Rice had given them a fair hearing, no immediate action meant great risk. Black felt the decision to just keep planning was a sustained policy failure. Rice and the Bush team had been in hibernation too long....

"Afterward, Tenet looked back on the meeting with Rice as a lost opportunity to prevent or disrupt the attacks. Rice could have gotten through to Bush on the threat, Tenet thought, but she just didn't get it in time. He felt that he had done his job and been very direct about the threat, but that Rice had not moved quickly. He felt she was not organized and did not push people, as he tried to do at the CIA. "Black later said, 'The only thing we didn't do was pull the trigger to the gun we were holding to her head.'"

. . . Then we learn the following:

"The July 10 meeting of Rice, Tenet and Black went unmentioned in various investigations into the Sept. 11 attacks, and Woodward wrote that Black 'felt there were things the commissions wanted to know about and things they didn't want to know about.' "Jamie S. Gorelick, a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said she checked with commission staff members who told her investigators were never told about a July 10 meeting. 'We didn't know about the meeting itself,' she said. 'I can assure you it would have been in our report if we had known to ask about it.'

"White House and State Department officials yesterday confirmed that the July 10 meeting took place, although they took issue with Woodward's portrayal of its results."

This meeting was covered up. Intentionally. Investigations are in order. Did Condaleeza Rice, who we already know was incompetent as National Security Advisor, lie under oath? Did Tenet? These are serious questions. One wonders if David Broder thinks so. Probably not. But I bet the Foley story gets him hepped up. The sex you know.

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    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#1)
    by theologicus on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 11:21:15 AM EST
    This meeting was covered up. Well, maybe. I think we know enough about Woodward to take everything he says with a grain of salt. I'm no friend of Rice, but I don't think Woodward should be entirely trusted. As always we need to ask, cui bono? Certainly at least Woodward and his book sales.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#2)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 12:16:37 PM EST
    The White House confirmed the meeting took place, and the meeting was not revealed to the the 9/11 Commission. That is a coverup. You should read the E&P piece more carefully. You have missed some basic facts.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#3)
    by theologicus on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 12:42:07 PM EST
    Hmmm. Let me see if I have this straight. A meeting took place on July 10 that went unreported. That much seems to be a fact. How do we know that not reporting it was a "cover-up.?" Because Woodward says so, or implies it? Is that really good enough? This time around Woodward is obviously a mouthpiece for George Tenet and Cofer Black. Was their testimony given under oath? Are they disinterested parties? Was everything as clear at the time as it seems to be in retrospect? Look, with regard to Sept. 11, I think the evidence raises very disturbing questions about collusion in high places. But the July 10 meeting may or may not fit into a pattern of collusion or even just a pattern of garden-variety incompetence. We just don't know. I'm not willing to take Woodward's word for it. All we can fairly say is that he raises an important question that needs to be investigated further. That's the only conclusion that I think follows from a careful reading of the E&P piece.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 01:06:57 PM EST
    It all falls into place nicely if you just accept the premise that Bush wanted the pretext.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#5)
    by theologicus on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 01:10:51 PM EST
    I'm usually with you, Che. But this Woodward thing is just too suppositious. The only evidence we're looking at is hearsay and one-sided.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#6)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 02:01:11 PM EST
    Yes I agree. I would not rely on Woodward as a fully reliable source. But to me he only confirms what I already knew.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 03:35:21 PM EST
    et al - Tenet couldn't get a meeting?? Well, how about this meeting?
    (Rice) At the special meeting on July 5 were the FBI, Secret Service, FAA, Customs, Coast Guard, and Immigration. We told them that we thought a spectacular al Qaeda terrorist attack was coming in the near future." That had been had been George Tenet's language. "We asked that they take special measures to increase security and surveillance. Thus, the White House did ensure that domestic law enforcement including the FAA knew that the CSG believed that a major al Qaeda attack was coming, and it could be in the U.S., and did ask that special measures be taken."
    Link So, his complaint is that he wasn't being heard, yet we have this evidence that he was being heard and that his input was being acted upon.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 09:14:03 PM EST
    If Tenet had "intercepted messages among al-Qaeda operatives" on or before July 10, 2001, why is there no mention of an "imminent threat" on August 6, 2001 ? Clearly either Tenet was holding back or Woodward did grasp something, perhaps reality.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Oct 01, 2006 at 07:26:09 AM EST
    Neo - If you will read Rice's comments re the 7/5 meeting it is clear that Tenet wasn't holding back and that the administration was getting the information to the agencies involved. The memo itself reads like a CYA follow up from the 7/5 meeting. i.e. 70 investigations, surveillance of federal buildings and terrorists with explosives. And note that the only mention of aircraft is from 1998. What Woodward grasped was another opportunity to make claims that are "full of sound and fury...signifying nothing..."

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#11)
    by Aaron on Sun Oct 01, 2006 at 06:31:10 PM EST
    Let's see, would George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice lie, lie to the American people, lie to Congress, lie to the Armed Forces, lie to the intelligence agencies and even lie to their own intelligence people? Now we're not talking about little white lies here, we're talking about big-old bald-faced lies, the kind of lies that send nations to war unnecessarily, the kind of lies that lead to the deaths of tens of thousands worldwide, and weakens the United States for no more then the whims of a few men whose political ideology is so degenerate that it's corrupting and undermine the very thing they claim to be protecting. You think they'd do that? Or is it just that old Bob Woodward at it again, making up stuff? We all know how he smeared our great president Nixon, destroy the poor man's career, for what? You know he just wants to sell some books, he's not interested in America. Just another left-wing nut making up stuff about our fine president and his administration who have protected us so well and faithfully. Those are your choices, Let me think about this for a while.... *tapping foot* *more foot tapping* Oh I'm sorry are you're still there? I thought you were smart enough to realize this is a no-brainer. My bad.

    Re: Rice/Tenet Meeting: 9/11 Cover-Up (none / 0) (#12)
    by theologicus on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 09:34:10 AM EST
    Anyone who thinks that Woodward is "left-wing" need to think again.