Absolutely disgusting. The White House and the new former-Republican-congressman-CIA-director are sitting on a damning CIA report that apparently names names of senior administration officials who screwed up in the days and months leading up to 9/11. Reportedly the report says that the White House did not care that much about terrorism before 9/11, and that they therefore Cheney'd-up, big time.
It is unfathomable to me that the media, let alone the Dems in Congress, let alone the private public interest groups can't cause a firestorm over this issue before the election. This could easily be THE number one issue of debate pre-election. The White House screwed up leading up to 9/11, is now in a conspiracy to hide that face, and has no interest in holding anyone accountable. The 9/11 family groups ought to rip these guys a new one. If anyone knows anyone associated with those groups, tell them to contact me - I'm happy to give some free PR advice that would likely make them national news in the coming days.
By Robert Scheer, LA Times:
It is shocking: The Bush administration is suppressing a CIA report on 9/11 until after the election, and this one names names....
"It is infuriating that a report which shows that high-level people were not doing their jobs in a satisfactory manner before 9/11 is being suppressed," an intelligence official who has read the report told me, adding that "the report is potentially very embarrassing for the administration, because it makes it look like they weren't interested in terrorism before 9/11, or in holding people in the government responsible afterward."....
According to the intelligence official, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, release of the report, which represents an exhaustive 17-month investigation by an 11-member team within the agency, has been "stalled." First by acting CIA Director John McLaughlin and now by Porter J. Goss, the former Republican House member (and chairman of the Intelligence Committee) who recently was appointed CIA chief by President Bush....
"What all the other reports on 9/11 did not do is point the finger at individuals, and give the how and what of their responsibility. This report does that," said the intelligence official. "The report found very senior-level officials responsible."....
"The agency directorate is basically sitting on the report until after the election," the official continued. "No previous director of CIA has ever tried to stop the inspector general from releasing a report to the Congress, in this case a report requested by Congress."
