"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...

CLAIM: "In June and July when the threat spikes were so high.we were at
battle stations." - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: "Documents indicate that before Sept. 11, Ashcroft did not give
terrorism top billing in his strategic plans for the Justice Department,
which includes the FBI. A draft of Ashcroft's 'Strategic Plan' from Aug.
9,
2001, does not put fighting terrorism as one of the department's seven
goals, ranking it as a sub-goal beneath gun violence and drugs. By
contrast,
in April 2000, Ashcroft's predecessor, Janet Reno, called terrorism 'the
most challenging threat in the criminal justice area.'"

There's a big reason for the difference! The Justice Dept., without the
powers granted it by the Patriot Act, should not have been the ones
combatting terrorism. That was why bin Laden was so successful despite 8
years of the FBI's feeble attempt at fighting terror.


Meanwhile, the Bush
Administration decided to terminate "a highly classified program to
monitor
Al Qaeda suspects in the United States." [Source: Washington Post,
3/22/04;
Newsweek, 3/21/04]

What "highly classified" program?


CLAIM: "The fact of the matter is [that] the administration focused on
this
before 9/11." - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: President Bush and Vice President Cheney's counterterrorism task
force, which was created in May, never convened one single meeting. The
President himself admitted that "I didn't feel the sense of urgency" about
terrorism before 9/11. [Source: Washington Post, 1/20/02; Bob Woodward's
"Bush at War"]

Did anybody? Would Congress have approved an air and land assault on
Afghanistan if 9/11 didn't happen?


CLAIM: "Our [pre-9/11 NSPD] plan called for military options to attack al
Qaeda and Taliban leadership, ground forces and other targets -- taking th
e
fight to the enemy where he lived." - National Security Adviser
Condoleezza
Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: 9/11 Commissioner Gorelick: "There is nothing in the NSPD that came
out that we could find that had an invasion plan, a military plan." Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage: "Right." Gorelick: "Is it true, as
Dr.
Rice said, 'Our plan called for military options to attack Al Qaida and
Taliban leadership'?" Armitage: "No, I think that was amended after the
horror of 9/11." [Source: 9/11 Commission testimony, 3/24/04]


This goes back to the the last topic. NSPD-9 had three parts. The first
part was about warning the Taliban. The 2nd stage was about pressuring the
Taliban. The third stage confirms Rice's words:

(remember that the actual NSPD-9 is classified, so we'll have to use
Gorelick's synosis of stage three)
"the third stage was that we would look for ways to oust the Taliban based
upon individuals on the ground other than ourselves, AT THE SAME TIME MAKING
MILITARY CONTIGENCY PLANS."

I'd say it's safe to say that those "military contigency plans" included
U.S. forces.

All 9/11 did was bring the final portion of stage 3 to the forefront that
much earlier than was planned. However, the plan was already there.