Bush Censoring the Congressional Report on 9-11
an...@mouse.com
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Monday 26 May 2003
Bush officials are refusing to permit the release of matters already
in the public domain-including the existence of intelligence documents
referred to on the CIA Web site.
June 2 issue - Why is the Bush administration blocking the release
of an 800-page congressional report about 9-11? The bipartisan
report deals with law-enforcement and intelligence failures that
preceded the attacks. For months, congressional leaders and
administration officials have battled over declassifying the document,
preventing a public release once slated for this week. NEWSWEEK has
learned new details about the dispute.
Among the portions of the report the administration refuses to
declassify, sources say, are chapters dealing with two politically
and diplomatically sensitive issues: the details of daily intelligence
briefings given to Bush in the summer of 2001 and evidence pointing
to Saudi government ties to Al Qaeda. Bush officials have taken
such a hard line, sources say, that theyre refusing to permit the
release of matters already in the public domainincluding the existence
of intelligence documents referred to on the CIA Web site.
One document is called the PDB, the Presidents Daily Brief. The
congressional report contains details of PDBs provided to Bush (and
top national- security aides) prior to 9-11. The PDBs included
warnings about possible attacks by Al Qaeda. (One PDB was given at
the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Aug. 6, and dealt
with the possibility that Al Qaeda might hijack airplanes.) But an
administration review committee overseen by CIA Director George
Tenet has refused to declassify anything that even refers to the
existence of PDBsthough they are described on the CIAs own Web site
(www.CIA.gov). A U.S. intelligence official said the review committee
must consult with the White House before releasing anything. But
the official denied charges by Florida Sen. Bob Graham, a Democratic
presidential candidate, that Tenets review committee was covering
up White House embarrassments. Were not playing politics, the
official says. Our concern is national security.
The other hot-button issue is the Saudis, sources say. The report
discusses evidence that individuals with Saudi government connections
may have provided the hijackers aid. One of them is Omar al-Bayoumi,
a Saudi student who helped two hijackers get apartments in San
Diego. The administration wont declassify references to al-Bayoumi
even though, in response to a NEWSWEEK story, an FBI spokesman
confirmed last November that he was being investigated. The report
also includes interviews with U.S. officials about Saudi cooperation
in the war on terror. Many were critical of the Saudis. The
administration is declassifying only the response by former FBI
director Louis Freeh praising Saudi assistance on the 1996 Khobar
Towers bombing case. The U.S. intelligence official said that, in
response to a letter cosigned by Graham and Rep. Porter Goss, House
Intelligence Committee GOP chair, the review committee was considering
allowing more portions of the report to become public.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.)