The classified memorandum written by an F.B.I. agent in Phoenix last summer urging bureau headquarters to investigate Middle Eastern men enrolled in American flight schools also cited Osama bin Laden by name and suggested that his followers could use the schools to train for terror operations, government officials said for the first time today. The memorandum's existence has been known for months, but few details were available until recent weeks, when some lawmakers and Congressional staff members were allowed to read it. Before today government officials had not revealed that the memorandum included direct references to Mr. bin Laden.
Robert S. Mueller III, who did not become director until two weeks before the attacks, has acknowledged that the bureau gave the memo too little attention. Mr. Mueller has said the bureau lacked adequate analytical capabilities to evaluate it, a failing that he has tried to correct by establishing new analytical units within the F.B.I. and staffing them with new personnel. This is the process known within bureaucratic circles as "shooting the wounded." Since something happened, some sort of blame has to be assigned to somebody. All that's produced is a political or public relations advantage for whoever has an ax to grind.
I saw Michael Isikoff on FoxNews this morning going over what they had, and it wasn't much. In the intel world there are always stray bits of data popping up that may or may not have any significance. They're referred to as "intelligence information," to distinguish them from "finished intelligence." The array of little stray bits is referred to as the "grass." Every once in awhile, like a snake, one will pop its head up above the grass and it can be tied to something else. Unless the bit of information is a conversation that says "we've hijacked the plane and we should hit the World Trade Center in above five minutes" analysts wait until they can connect that bit of information with another bit to build a "who-what-when-where-why" picture.
Conspiracy nits make much of the fact that Roosevelt "knew" the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor, using the grass as though it were finished intel. The brass also "knew" they were going to hit Alaska, that there was going to be no attack, that they were going to take Indonesia first, or Indochina... You get the picture. During the Gulf War, the Iraqis "knew" that Schwartzkopf was going to swing wide and nail their flank. They also "knew" that the Marines were going to stage an amphibious landing and whack the hell out of their 5th Mechanized Division. They probably also "knew" that the 82nd Airborne was going to take Baghdad, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:20 am ||
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I think I liked it without the shadow on the logo.
#2
Fred: Every nutcase on the planet is going to try to pin this one on GW for not doing anything. Trouble is... he's only as good as the people who work for him, and it's possible someone dropped the ball. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/15/2002 22:52 Comments ||
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I doubt even that there's "blame" for the people around him. Intelligence collection is a process of pulling needles out of a pretty big haystack, and it's not 100% effective. We're talking about four cells of five people each, plus a handful of support thugs in a population of 280 million. CIA is constrained by law from domestic intelligence collection, as is NSA. I presume DIA is as well, but this would have been outside their area of responsibility anyway. That leaves FBI and INS only, and we know INS is pretty much a loss, as they demonstrate every time they approve one of the late al-Qaeda thugs for flight school. FBI's foot is usually in a Congressionally- or court-mandated bucket, with restrictions of wire taps, surveillance and that sort of thing. This is actually a good thing, as it keep FBI as a criminal investigation organization rather than as a secret police. The country needs a competent and dedicated anti-terrorism organization that could take feeds from the other intel organizations and fill them out with its own collection, but that'll take money and there are many, many political ins and outs to step around lightly. We should be much further along that road than we seem to be now, but the same people who're jumping on the intelligence community now are the ones who put the obstacles in place and who should be taking an active part in setting up a real antiterror flying squad. I love watching hypocrits at work.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2002 9:01 Comments ||
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Fred: On this we completely agree. Blame probably was a very poor choice of words. I should and do know better than that from experience. (Sorry)Without saying alot- 20 years ago at a T-seminar we discussed the concept of ATO. The problem was every damn agency wanted to be in charge (natch.) And then there's this little problem with legality and Rights to dance around. ;-) The Homeland Office is as close as we have gotten publically, but without some cash to kick ass-- they have got a problem. This is getting closer to Clancy's OpsCtr. all the time.
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/17/2002 16:49 Comments ||
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A St. Louis jewelry salesman who sold Penthouse Magazine a video of a topless sunbather misidentified as Anna Kournikova testified on Tuesday he mistook the woman for the tennis star because of the diameter of her nipples. That's a sure method of identification. Beats hell out of dental records...
Frank Ramaesiri, the salesman, testified at a hearing to determine whether Penthouse will be forced to recall unsold issues of June magazine which carries about a dozen photos of the sunbather, who is actually Judith Soltesz-Benetton, the daughter-in-law of Italian fashion designer Luciano Benetton. "Right turn, Clyde..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 06:56 pm ||
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"Well, let's share and make it a triple,
Each of us sucking one nipple.
But when it comes to the holes,
We'll have to change poles,
And decide whose turn 'tis to tickle."
#2
Undressing a maiden called Sue,
Her seducer exclaimed, "If it's true
That a nipple a day
Keeps the doctor away,
Think how healthy you must be with two!"
Posted by: kanji ||
05/15/2002 22:59 Comments ||
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Four Islamic militants accused of kidnapping and murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl appeared unmoved as a graphic videotape of his death was shown in court Tuesday, said defense lawyers who challenged the tape as a "fake." The three-minute video — which includes footage of Pearl with his throat cut — was replayed in court three times, but the defendants were "calm" and "emotionless," said defense attorney Rai Bashir. Prosecutors refused to comment on the reaction within the courtroom. Yeah. And if it isn't a fake, it wasn't his clients. And if it was his clients, he pulled a knife on 'em, so what could they do? One wonders how the ISI is gonna get Omar Sheikh out of this one — or if he's just going to have an "unfortunate accident"...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:35 am ||
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Fred: If the Pearl video's fake, someone needs to bust ILM for the special effects. It's real. Sadly. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/15/2002 22:48 Comments ||
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Pakistan dismissed Indian charges that it was involved in Tuesday's terrorist attack in Jammu in which 30 Indians were killed. "Whenever there are attacks in India, it claims that it is done by Pakistan. This is wrong and we totally reject this," Pakistan Information Minister Nisar Memon said. In the past too "they resorted to all kinds of methods to malign Pakistan. Let me say India has miserably failed in this game", he added. His lips are moving, words are coming out, but they don't make any sense. Who the hell controls the Pakistan-based terror networks? Samoa? Greenland? Six guys with false moustaches in Saskatoon?
Memon said Pakistan stood with the international community in the fight against terrorism. "Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism." Virtually all of it home-grown, too...
Memon's comments came a day after three militants shot dead seven passengers of a civilian bus and then stormed the residential quarters of Indian troops near Jammu city and massacred 23 people, including five soldiers, eight women and 10 children. Making his comments sound particularly cynical...
Memon said Pakistan curbed the activities of extremist groups and arrested many of their activists. "Our policy is not to allow anybody to use our soil for terrorism against any country." Pakland arrests them, then springs them, arrests them again, then springs them. Sometimes it shoots them dead, then has to do it again two or three years later.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:50 am ||
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Stray incidents of stone throwing and stabbing continued in Ahmedabad city, even as the overall situation was under control, police said. A place of worship was burnt down in Sadarpur village on Tuesday, police said. Night curfew also continued in Sarkhej and Viramgam in Ahmedabad rural district, police said. In Ahmedabad city, police recovered arms and arrested some persons during the vehicle checking drive. Arrest of those persons allegedly involved in killings during violence and named in the FIR continued, police added. If they've started arresting the Bad Guys, and the tensions start to drop off this dramatically, it seems they're starting with the Baddest first. All it took was a few Punjabi coppers and somebody to run interference for them. We knew it could be done. We're just surprised it was.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:58 am ||
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Riaz Basra was arrested in January after the Faisalabad police captured Ajmal alias Sheikh Jamshaid of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. Ajmal, a friend of Basra, helped the police arrest Liaquat Ali, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in a triple murder case. Okay. We've got that much...
After interrogating Liaquat, the police raided a number of locations in Faisalabad, Lahore, Jhang, Sargodha and some other parts of the country. Hectic efforts made by the interrogation team and information received from Ajmal and Liaquat finally led to the arrest of Riaz Basra. Keep in mind this is one of the most wanted men in the country, who was busted out of jail when on trial for the killing of an Iranian diplomat in 1990. So what happens?...
Riaz Basra was reportedly handed over to a secret agency for interrogation. Well golllly! I wonder which one? And I wonder how he happened to be out running around, footloose and fancy-free, bumping off Shiites?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 03:20 pm ||
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India vowed on Wednesday to take action in response to a bloody attack blamed on Pakistani-based militants in Kashmir, which has stoked tensions with Islamabad and threatens to derail a U.S. diplomatic push, Reuters reported. "We will have to retaliate," Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told Parliament, describing Tuesday's attack that killed more than 30 soldiers and members of their families as "A massacre of innocents". It's easier to kill women and children. They're usually not armed. It says so in the Koran, someplace...
Vajpayee did not say what form the action could take or who it would be directed against, and the Hindi word he used has a wide range of dictionary meanings, including revenge and counter-action. Muslims should certainly understand the concept of revenge, since they're continuously either threatening it or taking it against somebody or other...
Pakistan has condemned the attack and called for an investigation. Yep. That was a breathtaking display of cynicism...
The nuclear rivals have massed a million men along their border since December in a confrontation over the Himalayan region at the heart of two of their three wars. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, in New Delhi on her third round of shuttle diplomacy since March, said the raid by the militants was aimed at sabotaging efforts to ease tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. That's why the attacks took place in the first place...
"We certainly think that the level of tension needs to be eased somehow and acts like this are clearly aimed at achieving the opposite objective," she said before flying to Islamabad. "Acts like this are intended to undermine peace in the region and stability in the region as a whole." Nailed that one, didn't she?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 07:06 pm ||
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The European Parliament in a resolution adopted following a debate on EU-U.S. ties during its plenary in Strasbourg Wednesday regretted the American tendency towards unilateralism and the disengagement from a number of challenges in the world. Ummm... Seems like the U.S. has been stepping up to the challenges and the EU has been â how can we say this? â sharpshooting from the sidelines when not actively cuddling with the Bad Guys.
The resolution condemned U.S. plans for extensive subsidies to the farm sector and called for trade disputes to be resolved according to WTO rules and possibly through bilateral negotiations. Furthermore, the U.S. decision not to ratify the treaty relating to the international criminal court was also condemned. The U.S. has also refused to whack itself in its collective forehead with a claw hammer, and that too was condemned...
The house strongly called for a reinforcement of the transatlantic partnership based on equality. That means they want us to take them seriously, no matter what silly or condescending utterances may emanate from Brussels...
The EP confirmed the fundamental role of NATO as a guarantor of stability and security but also called on the EU to be ready to take actions in favor of a more integrated common European security and defense policy. When we pull out of NATO, that'll leave an integrated European force. Want to see?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 06:48 pm ||
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Didn't Europe have a few major ag' problems last year with their beef supply? Also if memory serves me right, they had lower harvest levels, right? Don't these a$$holes like to eat? Or do we just hang on to it and trade with South America for oil? Might be a good idea if they stop hugging their terrorists-in-hiding and taking shots at US-- otherwise they can go hungry. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/16/2002 3:06 Comments ||
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Some 10,000 Somali civilians, mostly women and children, have fled fighting in their country to Kenya over the last month, the UN refugee agency said on Monday. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Jonathon Clayton told AFP that the refugees were now in the border town of Mandera. Somalis first began pouring into Mandera on April 11 and their numbers have since been growing on a daily basis. "We thought that the skirmishes in April were localised and would end after a ceasefire but the hostilities continued unabated and the refugees might stay here for a while," said Clayton.
The fighting in Somalia's Gedo region, bordering Ethiopia and Somalia, involves rival factions of the Somali National Front. Some groups within the SNF support a transitional government set up in Mogadishu in August 2000, while other SNF elements back an alliance of warlords opposed to the regime, which has yet to make its mark far beyond the capital. Under normal circumstances, Somali refugees in Kenya are accommodated in well-established camps already housing about 144,000 Somalis, but heavy rains have made it impractical to transport the most recent arrivals to the centres. Too bad they can't shift some of those heavy rains to cover the drought in Zim. We're sure those guys'll let us know when they're done. Kind of obviates us having to go tromping around there looking for al-Qaeda if they're all going to kill each other anyway.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 07:14 pm ||
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Yasser Arafat, who is under growing pressure at home and abroad to carry out reforms, on Wednesday promised to restructure his government and hold elections, but did not present a detailed plan and instead appealed for patience. In his speech to parliament, Arafat also reiterated his opposition to attacks on Israeli civilians, saying such violence harms the Palestinian drive for statehood. Arafat also said he remained committed to a negotiated peace deal with Israel. "We're gonna have elections. Just wait. Trust me on this..."
Legislators listened in silence, his words only acknowledged from time to time with a smattering of applause. Many of Arafat's critics remained skeptical, noting that he has made similar promises in the past. Arafat acknowledged that he has made mistakes, but heaped most of the blame for the current crisis on Israel, dedicating large parts of his rambling speech to listing the damage caused during Israel's six-week military offensive that ended last week. Couldn't be his fault, or the fault of his cronies and thugs. Damn them Jews!...
"Our internal situation after the recent Israeli attacks needs a comprehensive review of all aspects of our life," Arafat told the legislature. "I propose ... the immediate preparation for elections ... that would lead to fulfill the principle of separation of powers." Could he be hoping for a nursing home, rather than to end up standing against a wall counting muzzle blasts, or a car that goes "boom" when you start it? He'll go for the Iron Fisted Dictator Emeritus position, of course, unless he can avoid being kicked upstairs entirely...
The Palestinian leader did not give details on elections, but Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia said he expected some voting, including in unions and political factions, to be held by the end of the year. Qureia said he did not know when a new parliament would be chosen; parliamentary elections were last held in 1996. Sure. "It'll happen someday. Got more important things to worry about now, of course, but we'll get around to it..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:20 am ||
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Palestinian Authority officials strongly condemned attacks against officials by masked men yesterday, calling them acts of "lawlessness and anarchy" and demanding the PA investigate who is behind the assaults. Some PA officials said the attacks are part of a power struggle within the Palestinian community. Really? Who'd ever have expected such a thing?
Last week, activists from PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement tried to harm Arafat's financial adviser Muhammad Rashid at his Ramallah home, Israel Radio reported yesterday. Rashid was not at home at the time of the attempted attack, and PA sources said Arafat ordered him to stay abroad until the situation calms. And check your car twice before you get in it...
Fatah has accused Rashid of corruption and has demanded that Arafat fire him and put him on trial. Lately there has been a lot of anger addressed at Rashid for his role in ending the Bethlehem standoff. Fatah said the PA had legitimized deportations. One PA source admitted that Rashid negotiated the deal on behalf of Arafat. Since no one dares to criticize the PA leader, they target Rashid instead, he explained. Kind of hard on Rashid, but what the hell? As long as Yasser's okay...
[Hanan] Asfour, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, [who was beaten with a crowbar yesterday] said from his hospital bed yesterday that Israel may have been behind the assault. He insisted that the attack was not connected to internal PA politics. If he blames it on the Jews instead of the Palestinians they might not come back and pour gasoline into his IV bottle.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:20 am ||
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Israel has come under attack from the Human Rights Organization Amnesty International, which accuses it of torture and inhuman treatment of Palestinians during the recent Israeli operation in the West Bank, AFP said. Has AI finished investigating the summary executions without trial by the Palestinians? Boy, that was fast. Can't wait to see that report...
"During the latest Israeli incursions into Palestinian refugee camps and other residential areas, thousands of Palestinians have been arrested, held in prolonged incommunicado detention and subjected to cruel and degrading treatment," Amnesty said in a briefing submitted Tuesday to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT). Some of those detained got so mad at their treatment they just exploded...
The CAT will on Wednesday discuss the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories for the second time in six months. In November, the UN Committee had called on Israel to investigate allegations of torture by its security forces against Palestinians, and said it was unconvinced that all such acts had stopped after a 1999 Israeli supreme court ruling. Amnesty said the CAT held that "Administrative detention without charge or trial, which has recently increased enormously, might constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." And swarms of wild-eyed fanatics exploding at every opportunity doesn't? I must say, I admire the restraint of the IDF in taking these swine into custody instead of ventilating them on the spot.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 06:55 pm ||
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Spanish law enforcement authorities said Wednesday they thwarted a major terrorist attack that the Basque separatist group ETA planned for a summit of Latin American and European leaders. Two suspected ETA members who were arrested Tuesday had stashed nearly 440 pounds of explosives, along with detonators, automatic weapons and false license plates in an apartment in the center of the capital, Madrid regional governor Francisco Javier Ansuategui said. "It was a real arsenal," Ansuategui told a news conference with the heads of the National Police and Civil Guard. "These two persons didn't want to scare," he said. "They wanted to kill and to kill with all its consequences" during the summit of more than 40 leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, which begins Friday. Just a little reminder that we're at war with more than just a bunch of nutbags with turbans. We're at war with a mindset.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2002 10:35 am ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
