State Department admits Rice-Tenet meeting.
White House records show George Tenet “did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda, a State Department spokesman said Monday. The account by Sean McCormack came hours after Ms. Rice…said it was ‘incomprehensible’ she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before the Sept. 11 attacks.”
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How’s that for “a smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud,” Condi?
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:06 pmThe only thing incomprehensible is that anyone would believe any member of the Bush admin.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:08 pmI am confused. Didn’t Rice deny it? Does that qualify as a lie? Because I thought that this administration didn’t lie?!?!
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:10 pmbrad — just as unbelievable: that Condi is part of any kind of administration…
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:14 pmI think Condi just pooped in her shoes.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:17 pmTypical Condispeak…”I don’t remember”….”Something like”…..”I don’t recall”….”I don’t think so”…..”Are there any good shoe stores in this town?”
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:20 pmWelcome to the world of being a human shield to Bush, Condi. We’ll expect your letter of resignation Monday.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:24 pmOCTOBER 1, 2006 — NEW YORK TIMES — Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission.
Another Democratic commissioner, former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste, said that the staff of the Sept. 11 commission was polled in recent days on the disclosures in Mr. Woodward’s book and agreed that the meeting “was never mentioned to us.â€
OCTOBER 2, 2006 — NEW YORK TIMES — Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission.
Mr. McCormack also said records show that the Sept. 11 commission was informed about the meeting, a fact that former intelligence officials and members of the commission confirmed on Monday.
“Tenet never told us that he was brushed off,†said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission. “We certainly would have followed that up.â€
—-
Om Sunday, The Times reports the 9/11 Commission, including Ben-Veniste, said they did not know about the meeting.
The very next day, The Times reports the 9/11 Commission, including Ben-Veniste DID indeed know about the meeting.
Strange.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:24 pmShe has said it is incomprehensible that she ignored their warnings. What is her definition of ignore?
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:25 pmHer own State Dept. now confirms that the meeting was held — what action came out of the White House? Nothing. I think I would call that being ignored. Some might call it neglect. Some others may say it is ignorance or incompetence.
Two months later the warnings were realized and for months, she denied that anyone had any thought that this would happen.
How many more lies will be confirmed? They are all guilty of incompetence at best - or deliberate neglect.
Ben-Veniste’s got some explaining to do. I can understand why Zelikov was motivated to keep this important information out of the Commission Report, but where the hell was Ben-Veniste in demanding this relevant information be included? Or did they do an end-around on him on this.
So Condi You (1) knew and did nothing to prevent the attack….or (2) you told Bush and he did nothing. Which is it? I think (2) because, why else would you get a promotion to Sec of State after letting 3,000 people die on your watch?
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:32 pmThat’s very interesting, Exley, and I’d like to know more about what the commission knew, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rice ignored definitive warnings about impending attacks.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:34 pmThe commission may have been biased, or uninformed, or too politically influenced - but incompetence in the White House is undeniable.
Well, it seems that whatever has been causing the people on the right to appear to be suffering a collective amnesia has begun to dissipate. I wonder if the Republicans will be able to continue to present such a united front against all ‘enemies’, while adopting an ‘every rightie for him(or her)self’ defense? “He who lies with dogs, wakes up with fleas.” And so it is.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:36 pm#11- Well said, Marie! :)
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:39 pmInstead of Republicans coming clean and telling the truth when it involves national security, people like Bob Woodward have to beat it out of them.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:40 pm#11 Marie,
The article to which ThinkProgress links doesn’t really back up your posting:
Mr. Tenet told members of the Sept. 11 commission about the July 10 meeting when they interviewed him in early 2004, but committee members said the former C.I.A. director never indicated he had left the White House with the impression that he had been ignored.
“Tenet never told us that he was brushed off,†said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission. “We certainly would have followed that up.â€
Mr. McCormack said the records showed that, far from ignoring Mr. Tenet’s warnings, Ms. Rice acted on the intelligence and requested that Mr. Tenet make the same presentation to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Atttorney General John Ashcroft.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:43 pmPoor Condi is just not up to the job, never has been.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:43 pmMs. Rice is another Harriet Miers. She flatters Bush, which means she’s a manipulative liar. In essence, she’s admitted she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before 9/11. An incompetent Sec. of Defense with a really bad memory. How are they going to blame this on Clinton?
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:44 pmJust think, if Bush and Cheney would of had their way, there wouldn’t even be a 9-11 Commission report. As it was, Bush would only agree to be interviewed for the report if he could sit on Uncle Dick’s lap.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:48 pmRegarding Condi, I believe she would have done a good job, if not corrupted by the asshats currently in charge.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:50 pmJust remember that when terrorists were flying planes into the WTC, towers President Bush was reading “My Pet Goat.” And also remember it was Osama bin Laden and not Saddam Hussein who killed Americans on US soil. Bush is presiding over a failed presidency and no amount of blaming democrats can change that.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:51 pmFrom the same article: Rice publicly blamed the CIA for allowing President Bush to make the false claim in the 2003 State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein was pursuing nuclear materials in Niger.
“If the C.I.A., the Director of National Intelligence, had said ‘take this out of the speech,’ it would have been gone, without question,†Ms. Rice told reporters in July 2003.
In fact, the C.I.A. had told the White House months before that the Niger intelligence was bogus….
She’s a pathalogical liar.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:55 pmI’ve now read about this about a hundred times from a hundred online sources, but what no says is what the hell was discussed. Can we PLEASE get some detail about what she was told?
Does anyone have any clue about the content of this meeting? I have the generalizations, I mean a specific or two and what was discussed. I’m not expecting “flying planes into building” or even “New York City”, but I would like a bread crumb or two.
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:55 pm#15 Exley,
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:55 pmIF Rice did take action on the warnings, why did she deny ever having had the meeting?
There are too many contradictions in everyone’s story.
Condi was always overrated.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:00 pm“Regarding Condi, I believe she would have done a good job, if not corrupted by the asshats currently in charge.”
Condi reminds me of the classic overachiever type. However intelligent she may have been to handle the job (and I submit she was), she, first and foremost, was a political virgin. The old perverts, Cheney and Rumsfield, had their way with her…and her odd attachment to Bush further screwed up her political thinking. By the time she figured it out, she was in too deep to leave.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:01 pm#23, Marie…
To be fair, she didn’t deny that the meeting took place. Here is what she said, according to The Associated Press:
“I don’t know that this meeting took place, but what I really don’t know, what I’m quite certain of, is that it was not a meeting in which I was told there was an impending attack and I refused to respond,” Rice said. “What I am quite certain of is that I would remember if I was told, as this account apparently says, that there was about to be an attack in the United States, and the idea that I would somehow have ignored that I find incomprehensible.”
Ben-Veniste, a Democrat, seems to back her up when he said today:
“Tenet never told us that he was brushed off,†said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission. “We certainly would have followed that up.â€
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:03 pmShe can never remember silly things like national security meetings but she never forgets where her favorite shoe stores are.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:04 pm#22 That’s something we all want to know.
His a thread at DU that puts forth a hypothesis as to why this meeting was called:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/ discuss/ duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2859757&mesg_id=2859757
Woodward’s book “State of Denial” says the meeting with Rice/Tenet/Black…the one where Tenet and Black drove to the White House to impress upon Condi the seriousness of the threat facing the U.S. from OBL, took place on July 10, 2001.
The famous “Phoenix Memo” which talks about the pilot training of those who crashed the planes into the WTC and Pentagon…..is dated JULY 10, 2001.
Coincidence?
Didn’t Rice say something to the effect of “No one anticipated the hijacking of planes and flying them into buildings?”
Could it be that The Phoenix Memo was the memo that confirmed this stuff for Tenet/Black?
Again, probably others have already picked up on this, so if a duplicate thread, my apologies.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:05 pm“I don’t know that this meeting took place, but what I really don’t know, what I’m quite certain of, is that it was not a meeting in which I was told there was an impending attack and I refused to respond.”
Translation: “My head was up my ass at the time and I’m struggling with the English language right now to try to come up with an excuse for my inaction, no matter how lame.”
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:09 pmWhen will THINKPROGRESS think about the violence against women in the US and what all these brilliant minds can do about that.
But no, just go on thinking about weapons of mass destruction, strategic nuclear weapons, biological weapons,
Meanwhile women and female girls are raped and murdered at unprecedented rates in YOUR OWN GOD DAMNED COUNTRY and you sit back and continue to pretend that you live in a civilized country. F’reak all of you.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:09 pmIt seems to me that we should give girls and boy pages guns and gun training to protect themselves against predatory males in this wonderfulcountry - the world of the free and the home of the brave don’t ya know
What a freakin joke this country is
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:13 pmBystander @28
Holy shit !!! I think ouve just put together.
This explains BUSH’s
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:22 pmreaction in that classroom. Not surprise that we’ve been attacked
but hey Tenet was right.
Sorry for missing letters Ive got a sticky keyboard.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:27 pmthe only time these pricks don’t remember is when their backs are against the wall. how f. convenient. these peckerwoods are caught, just like a deer in headlights. you can run but you can’t hide.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:32 pmIt shows that the 911 commission was a fraud.They neglected to exam or follow up on the meeting.It was mentioned in the report,Ben-Veniste is trying to cover his ass.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:33 pmWe need to get a real 911 invetigation with the main players under oath.
why did this thread just stop??? Will someone come knocking on my door??
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:33 pmCondi’s designer shoes are in deep doo doo.
I wonder if Feregamo makes hip-waders…?
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:34 pm#33: “Sorry for missing letters Ive got a sticky keyboard.” - - I think that’s Rep. Foley’s line.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:35 pm#37 & #38….ROTFL!!
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:37 pmMalfeasance, depraved indifference, arrogance. She should be arrested.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:26 pmThis NYT article linked by TP debunks the latest liberal lie propagated by Woodward: “Ms. Rice ignored Tenent’s warnings.”
According to two former intelligence officials, Mr. Tenet told those assembled at the White House about the growing body of intelligence the Central Intelligence Agency had collected pointing to an impending Al Qaeda attack. But both current and former officials took issue with Mr. Woodward’s account that Mr. Tenet and his aides left the meeting in frustration, feeling as if Ms. Rice had ignored them.
Mr. Tenet told members of the Sept. 11 commission about the July 10 meeting when they interviewed him in early 2004, but committee members said the former C.I.A. director never indicated he had left the White House with the impression that he had been ignored.
“Tenet never told us that he was brushed off,†said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission. “We certainly would have followed that up.â€
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:50 pmLiar, liar, liar. They are all fu@king liars, and they won’t stop lying until they are struck down from their self-built pedestals and chased back to shit-holes they came from.
http://www.getsomejosh.com - check me out
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:51 pmOH, here’s the Rice thread. Too bad for such talent.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:52 pmSorry for missing letters Ive got a sticky keyboard.
Comment by Down+But+Not+Out — October 2, 2006 @ 10:27 pm
I took a couple of computer classes at the community college. One instructor said you could wash your keyboard in the dishwasher. I have not tried it. You could if you wanted to, but I assume no responsibility.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:56 pmWhat a freakin joke this country is
Comment by SonsofTureen
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. If you dont like it please leave and do not come back.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:56 pm#41…..From the same article: Rice publicly blamed the CIA for allowing President Bush to make the false claim in the 2003 State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein was pursuing nuclear materials in Niger.
“If the C.I.A., the Director of National Intelligence, had said ‘take this out of the speech,’ it would have been gone, without question,†Ms. Rice told reporters in July 2003.
In fact, the C.I.A. had told the White House months before that the Niger intelligence was bogus….
Sorry, but Condi is still a pathalogical liar.
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am#46 prevaricating and shifting the argument since you libs got busted on this one…therefore Niger was taken out, Bush didn’t refer to Niger in his Cincinatti speech.
In fact, the C.I.A. had told the White House months before that the Niger intelligence was bogus and had managed to keep the claim out of an October 2002 speech that President Bush gave in Cincinnati.
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:16 amHow could the State Department NOT admit the meeting took place?
F*cking Tenent earned his medal alright…yeah, he warned the b*tch, but then he just happens to “forget” to mention it.
I wonder if that medal is beginning to feel like an anchor?
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:44 amYet he MADE THE CLAIM IN 2003!!!
You are the liar. The British made the claim, and Bush cited the source. The CIA wrote a memo to the WH questioning the intelligence, because the 500 ton amount was unfeasible to ship and Saddam already had 500+ tons so why would he need more. The British has many sources, the forged docs not being one of them.
The CIA got it wrong, as they did many times before, and Tenent said he was responsible.
Sorry, you are a lying propagandist by omission.
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:32 amHurray! Something besides Foley!!
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:09 amSo how so she figure she did more than Clinton on stopping bin Laden when she can’t even remember discussing Al Qeada?
All she seems to have done is be Bush’s balls licker.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:11 amRe: Comment by sugar magnolia — October 2, 2006 @ 11:50 pm
Let’s play Blame the Messenger!
It doesn’t matter whether Tenet felt brushed off or not.
Condi still did nothing.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:30 amRice is a warcriminal. She’s not just a liar.
Along with the rest of the WHIG, she is on her way to whatever Nuremberg we can arrange, sooner or later.
There is not point in discussing her status as if this was a legal government.
She’s a co-conspirator in genocide, at the very least.
Good catch on that Phoenix memo. Tenet: ‘Hey, you better tell the war room that a snoopy FBI agent in Phoenix has busted our terrorist cell. What does the war room want us to do with Crowley and the guy who wrote the report?’
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:08 amLIARS, LIARS, LIARS!!!
WTF, the GOP is out of control, from the top down. Surely there must be a Democrat who can outgun Karl “The Dumpling” Rove. He doesn’t have a monopoly on dirty tricks and strategies. The GOP claims the MORAL high ground and look at what they give us. The arrogance is sickening. “Stay the Course”, describes an idiot that doesn’t know how to turn. Will sombody swiftboat these bastards already!
TexasJuice
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:51 amFried Rice, anyone?
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:49 amOh…is this a smoking gun or what?
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:55 amThis gives me more confidence in Tenet.
AND, it really puts to rest BushCo’s claim that the events of 9/11 were the result of an intelligence failure!!! The only brains that failed were sitting in the WhiteHouse on July 10th, 2001.
Impeachment anyone? Or how about War Crimes Trials for all of BushCo?
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:55 pmuh, o’, cherrios. got caught again. those pesky papers, videos, memos, meetings, all of it. damn them.
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:31 pm[…] State Department admits Rice-Tenet meeting. Think Progress, DC - Oct 2, 2006 George Tenet did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda, a State Department spokesman said […]
October 6th, 2006 at 2:29 pm