OK, now that it's been released, what does it say?
Basically, there's this guy named Osama bin Laden, and he doesn't like us. He has a bunch of followers that don't like us. He's attacked US interests a few times over the past few years, he's very patient, and he wants to attack us again. He wants to attack the US within the continental US.
Was there lots of secret information in the briefing?
Well, it appears that the FBI and CIA were very suspicious that "hijackings or other types of attacks" were being planned. And there was a phone call to the US embassy in the United Arab Emirates in May 2001. I think the other information was pretty well known or suspected by any American who had been paying attention at all.
Did the PDB contain anything that would have specifically helped prevent the 9/11 attacks?
Not in any language I know about.
So why did Condoleezza Rice get in such a jam over this document?
That's the surprising thing to me. This appears to be a very bland, generic briefing, at least the written part. As a set of talking points, it could allude to very significant information, but only those who write these PDBs and attend the White House meetings would know if these are talking points of a memo that is complete as presented.
So why did Condi Rice bring it up anyway?
Well, she didn't. Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9/11 commission, brought it up in his questioning of Rice.
BEN-VENISTE. Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the Aug. 6 P.D.B. warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that P.D.B.
RICE. I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the P.D.B. -
BEN-VENISTE. Thank you.
RICE. No, Mr. Ben-Veniste -
BEN-VENISTE. I will get into the -
RICE. I would like to finish my point here.
BEN-VENISTE. I didn't know there was a point.
RICE. Given that - you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks.
BEN-VENISTE. I asked you what the title was.
So who is Richard Ben Veniste?
A Washington lawyer, who worked with the Watergate Special Prosecutor from 1973 to 1975, and has ties to Democratic politicians.
So, maybe he's a little biased against Rice and George Bush?
Ya think?
OK, so what should we make of this PDB thing?
That maybe GWB and Condoleezza Rice knew a little more than they've wanted us to believe, but probably not much more.
Much ado about nothing, or at least not much?
Seems about right to me.
What does PDB mean, anyway?
Presidential Daily Briefing.
The PDB had the following information:
* Bin Laden and al Quaeda wanted to attack the US inside the US.
* Al Quada had cells inside the U.S. that had been there for years.
* Al Quada was increasingly planning something, which seemed to be hijackings or attacks against buildings in New York.
Now, considering that al Qaeda had been the only foreign terrorist group to successfully carry out an attack in the U.S. in the previous decade, and considering that it had attacked numerous U.S. targets overseas, shouldn't the president at least have had terrorism on his list of concerns? Shouldn't he have gone after these terrorist cells, especially when several of the eventual perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were freely moving in and out of the country?
Bush didn't want to "swat flies". It just turned out that Bin Laden was a very, very *big* fly.
Posted by: Dave at April 12, 2004 12:40 PM