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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2002)
Pre-9/11 terrorist threats cause White House chaos By James Kuhnnenn and Jackie Koszczuk Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON (KRT) — Law makers from both parties on Thursday demanded an independ ent investigation into whether U.S. intelligence agencies properly as sessed terrorist threats before the Sept. 11 attacks, and whether the White House responded properly to those threats. National Security Adviser Con doleezza Rice said the White House received a series of intelli gence warnings last summer that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist organization may be plot ting attacks on U.S. interests. One analysis that Bush received Aug. 3, while vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, listed airplane hi jackings as one tactic that bin Laden might employ. “It was not a warning,” Rice said. “There was no specific time or place mentioned.” Behind closed doors with Sen ate Republicans at a private Capi tol luncheon, Bush rejected any suggestion that he failed to act on information that would have pre vented the Sept. 11 suicide attacks. “Rest assured,” Bush added, according to Sen. Pat Roberts, R Kan., who took notes of the presi dent’s remarks, “we would have never sat back, and we would have attacked any adversary with all the force and fury of the American military.” Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Bush’s opponent in the Republican presidential primary in 2000, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the De mocratic vice presidential candi date in the general election, an nounced they would push for legislation to'create a 14-member commission to investigate, whose members would be appointed by the president and Congress. Eight other senators are co sponsors, including Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana, a leading moder ate in his party. The panel would be similar to those formed after pivotal events in the past, such as Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the assass ination of President John Kennedy and the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. Thomas Patterson Emerald President Bush, shown here speaking to an audience at Portland’s Parkrose High School in January, strongly denied any prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. Congress had clamored for such an inquiry directly after Sept. 11, and the Senate’s Governmental Af fairs Committee approved a bill in March. But it never went further, because Vice President Dick Ch eney asked lawmakers to help the country stay focused on the battle against terrorism. Congressional leaders then as signed the task of investigating the question to the Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. That panel is expect ed to report to Congress sometime this summer. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chair man of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said another investiga tion was unnecessary. Intelligence Committee mem bers “are not members of or cap tives of the intelligence commu nity. We know something about the intelligence community, and that was one of the reasons we were asked to undertake this job,” he said. Bush said he detected “the sniff of politics” as congressional De mocrats demanded Thursday that he release details of the CIA’s Aug. 3 briefing to the congres sional intelligence committees. Democrats also called on the ad ministration to make public a July FBI memorandum that warned of Middle Eastern men attending flight schools. House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri said lawmakers should have been told about the intelligence reports long before now. “What we have to do now is to find out what the president knew, what the White House knew about the events leading up to 9-11, when they knew it and, most important ly, what was done about it at that time,” Gephardt said. With the nation’s news media joining Congress in furious atten tion to such questions all day, White House officials mobilized to brief senators privately and re porters publicly about the threat assessments that intelligence agen cies compiled before Sept. 11. Rice said the administration was in a heightened state of alert LOOKING FOR A GREAT HANGOUT THIS SUMMER? THEN HEAD TO MT. HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR... £3 .'-I Take care of your Humanities or language requirements at an affordable rate. 2002 It all transfers toward your degree! Classes begin June 24. Call 503-491-6422 for more information. Mt Hood COMMUNITY COLLEGE 26000 SE STARK STREET GRESHAM, OR 97030 throughout last summer, but that intelligence warned of an attack by bin Laden on U.S. interests abroad, not on American soil. Democrats in Congress pointed out that the Aug. 3 notice of possi ble hijackings did not exist in a vacuum. They noted that a memo randum from a Phoenix-based FBI agent last July reportedly warned of a link between Middle Eastern aviation students and bin Laden. They also noted that in August r FBI agents in Minnesota were busy investigating Zacarias Moussaoui, a French national who had been arrested after arousing suspicions at a flight school near St. Paul, Minn. Moussaoui is now under in dictment on charges that he was a conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks. (Knight Ridder Newspapers cor respondent Frank Davies con tributed to this article.) © 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. 006828 “38 years of Quality Service” Mercedes • BMW • Volkswagen • Audi German Auto Service 342-2912 • 2025 Franklin Blvd. Eugene, Oregon, 97402 FOOTWKF THE BIRKENSTOCK STORE 181 E Broadway Downtown Eugene 342-6107 Mon-Sat 10-6 and Sun 11-5 yiuiauiiirot A TWO-PART SERIES Monday, May 20th the compelling classic “Children of a Lesser God” Thursday, May 30th the famous German film “Beyond Silence” time: 8 pm place. IRC (above the post office in the EMU) Event is FREE and open to all students. Popcorn and drinks will be provided! 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