Bush was not understimated. He was overestimated.

I get so sick of hearing how Bush was underestimated. The simple fact is that no one would have thought he would be as low as he is. I actually thought he might be sort of moderate, kind of a uniter-not-a-divider type. I thought he would be intelligent enough to adopt some semblance of responsibility and fair play. I assumed that the man in charge of America's war powers and foreign policy would realize the gravity of that.

But no, the little feller keeps saying things like he "doesn't read newspapers," and he takes month-long vacations, and can't get through a news conference without urping ignorance all over himself and the country.

I admit it. I was wrong. I overestimated him.

When I look a the current Bush, I realise that Bush Sr. was really not that bad.

contraception.

they give this man a degree. a passing grade. i think we need to do a campaign against yale and ask what the hell they are doing giving someone who doesnt read and cant put a sentence together, what said person is doing with a degree from their school.

Until 9/11, I thought he was incompetant..

After 9/11, I think he's just plain evil.

I knew there was nothing he wouldn't do in service of
his ideology. So I am never surprised by the latest outrage,
the latest crime.

I don't remember what I thought before that. Maybe that
he was unqualified, that his voice made my skin crawl,
that he was a poster child for white affirmative action.

I didn't experience hatred until 12/12/00. And I hate
him to this day.

something wasn't right. I don't mean to dump on you but his record was bad.

I knew how bad he would be and knew having the power over the whole country we could multiply 15 times what he did in Texas and apply it to the whole entire U.S. I was horrified when the man was appointed *resident by the SCOTUS. I knew it would be bad but I never thought it would actually be as bad as it's turned out to be.

Jazzgirl

edited for grammatical errors. :-)

I despised him immediately, but there were conflicting accounts of his tenure as governor. It was bad, but there was an underlying message that he was a pragmatist of some kind, or at least canny at self-preservation.

I despised him, but I kept telling myself he wouldn't dare this, and he wouldn't dare that. It would be foolhardy, dangerous, destructive to America and the world if he dropped all rules and "sane inhibitions."

But he did. I'm a believer now.

I lived Texas when Ann Richards was governor. Dubya messed up good there. You had to not listen, but just look.

Since his campaign asked overseas soldiers to send in ballots AFTER the election was over (during the Florida recount), I knew Bush is a crook.

The sad thing is that Joseph Lieberman said they should count illegal ballots.

not be underestimated.

Bush, imho, is always overestimated. He only does what he is told to do, and really nothing more.

...by a mile.

I was in almost the exact same boat - Especially after the election, I thought he would be marginal at best, and a decent leader. So much for that

The overestimation of the Bush crew shows up in other little ways, too.

For instance, Bush supporters love to say how "everyone believed that Hussein had WMD". But the only reason *anyone* believed that was because they had overestimated the Bush Administration. The Bush team was the sole voice making that claim.

So many people made the mistake of assuming that the President of the United States would not intentionally lie us into an invasion. They assumed that even Dick Cheney couldn't be so corrupt as to get thousands killed simply to funnel money to his cronies. They assumed Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice, and all the rest couldn't possibly be as outright incompetent and corrupt as they've turned out to be.

Lots of overestimating.

{I can provide the links if necessary)

THE LIE: "Had I known there was going to be an attack on America I would have moved mountains to stop the attack"

~George W. Bush (4-17-2004)

www.nytimes.com/2004/04/1...423bb2dd57

THE TRUTH: August 2001... Russian President Putin warns the US that suicide pilots are training for attacks on US targets. The head of Russian intelligence also later states, "We had clearly warned them" on several occasions, but they "did not pay the necessary attention." A Russian newspaper on September 12, 2001 claims that "Russian Intelligence agents know the organizers and executors of these terrorist attacks. More than that, Moscow warned Washington about preparation to these actions a couple of weeks before they happened."

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2...65,00.html

IF CLINTON CAN BE IMPEACHED FOR A SEX LIE, THEN BUSH CAN BE IMPEACHED AND JAILED FOR THIS LIE ALONE.

BUT THERE IS MUCH, MUCH MORE BELOW (And this is just the "short" version...)

''A HAZARD TO THE OIL'' JANUARY 26, 1998:

The Project for the New American Century (PNAC), an influential neoconservative think tank, publishes a letter to President Clinton, urging war against Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein because he is a “hazard” to “a significant portion of the world's supply of oil.” In a foretaste of what eventually actually happens, the letter calls for the US to go to war alone, attacks the United Nations, and says the US should not be “crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.”

The letter is signed by many who will later lead the 2003 Iraq war. 10 of the 18 signatories later join the Bush Administration, including (future) Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Assistant Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Undersecretaries of State John Bolton and Paula Dobriansky, presidential adviser for the Middle East Elliott Abrams, and Bush's special Iraq envoy Zalmay Khalilzad (see also June 3, 1997, and September 2000). Clinton does heavily bomb Iraq in late 1998, but the bombing doesn't last long and its long-term effect is the break off of United Nations weapons inspections.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...xamericana

''LIAR, LIAR: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON'' January 2000:

Former President George Bush Sr. meets with the bin Laden family on behalf of the Carlyle Group. He had also met with them in 1998 (see November 1998 (B)), but it's not known if he met with them after this. Bush denied this meeting took place until a thank you note was found confirming it. FTW

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''A NEW PEARL HARBOR'' SEPTEMBER 2000:

The neoconservative think-tank Project for the New American Century writes a “blueprint” for the “creation of a ‘global Pax Americana’” (see also June 3, 1997). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century, was written for the Bush team even before the 2000 Presidential election. It was commissioned by future Vice President Cheney, future Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, future Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Florida Governor and President Bush's brother Jeb Bush, and future Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis Libby.

The report calls itself a “blueprint for maintaining global US preeminence, precluding the rise of a great power rival, and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests.” The plan shows Bush intended to take military control of Persian Gulf oil whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power and should retain control of the region even if there is no threat. It says: “The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.”

The report calls for the control of space through a new “US Space Forces,” the political control of the internet, the subversion of any growth in political power of even close allies, and advocates “regime change” in China, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Iran and other countries. It also mentions that “advanced forms of biological warfare that can ‘target’ specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.” A British Member of Parliament says of the report, “This is a blueprint for US world domination—a new world order of their making. These are the thought processes of fantasist Americans who want to control the world” (see also Spring 2001 and April 2001 (D)). However, the report complains that these changes are likely to take a long time, “absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event—like a new Pearl Harbor.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''CLINTON TRIED TO KILL BIN LADEN'' Late 1998-January 2001:

President Clinton signs a directive authorizing the CIA to plan an assassination of bin Laden. The CIA draw up detailed profiles of bin Laden's daily routines, where he sleeps, and his travel arrangements. The assassination never happens, supposedly because of inadequate intelligence. The US permanently stations two submarines in the Indian Ocean, ready to hit al-Qaeda with cruise missiles on short notice. Six to ten hours advance warning is now needed to review the decision, program the cruise missiles and have them reach their target.

On at least three occasions, spies in Afghanistan report bin Laden's location with information suggesting he would remain there for some time. Each time, Clinton approves the strike. Each time, CIA Director George Tenet says the information is not reliable enough and the attack cannot go forward.

The submarines are removed shortly after President Bush takes office.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''JUST DAYS AFTER THE ELECTION, BUSH BACKS OFF BIN LADEN'' Late January 2001:

Even as US intelligence is given conclusive evidence that al-Qaeda is behind the USS Cole bombing (see January 25, 2001), the new Bush administration discontinues the covert deployment of cruise missile submarines and gunships on six-hour alert near Afghanistan's borders that had begun under President Clinton (see Late 1998-January 2001). The standby force gave Clinton the option of an immediate strike against targets in al-Qaeda's top leadership. The discontinuation makes a possible assassination of bin Laden much more difficult.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''BUSH PROTECTS BIN LADEN AGAIN'' Late January 2001:

The BBC later reports, "After the elections, agencies are told to 'back off' investigating the Bin Ladens and Saudi royals, and that angers agents."

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/event...645527.stm

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''GEORGE W. BUSH: SOFT ON TERRORISM'' January 31, 2001:

The final report of the US Commission on National Security/21st Century, co-chaired by former Senators Gary Hart (D), and Warren Rudman (R) is issued (see also September 15, 1999). The bipartisan report was put together in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The report has 50 recommendations on how to combat terrorism in the US, but ALL of them are ignored by the Bush Administration.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''DICK CHENEY: SOFT ON TERRORISM'' February 9, 2001:

Vice President Cheney is briefed that it has been conclusively proven bin Laden was behind the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole (see October 12, 2000). Bush has been in office a matter of days, when secret pipeline negotiations with the Taliban have begun. The new administration has already twice threatened the Taliban that the US would hold the Taliban responsible for any al-Qaeda attack. But, fearful of ending those negotiations, the US does not retaliate against either the Taliban or known bin Laden bases in Afghanistan in the manner Clinton did in 1998.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''IRAQ NEEDS TO BE OVERTHROWN'' April 2001:

A report commissioned by former US Secretary of State James Baker and the Council on Foreign Relations entitled "Strategic Energy Policy Challenges For The 21st Century" is submitted to Vice President Cheney this month. It argues that "the United States remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma," and that one of the "consequences" of this is a "need for military intervention" to secure its oil supply. It argues that Iraq needs to be overthrown so the US can control its oil. In what may be a reference to a pipeline through Afghanistan, the report suggests the US should "Investigate whether any changes to US policy would quickly facilitate higher exports of oil from the Caspian Basin region..."

www.sundayherald.com/28224

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''THE PURSUIT OF OIL & GAS'' SPRING 2001:

The Sydney Morning Herald later reports, “The months preceding September 11 a shifting of the US military's focus … Over several months beginning in April <2001> a series of military and governmental policy documents released that to legitimize the use of US military force” “in the pursuit of oil and gas.” Michael Klare, an international security expert and author of Resource Wars, says the military has increasingly come to “define resource security as their primary mission.” An article in the Army War College's journal by Jeffrey Record, a former staff member of the Senate armed services committee, argues for the legitimacy of “shooting in the Persian Gulf on behalf of lower gas prices.”

He also “advocate the acceptability of presidential subterfuge in the promotion of a conflict” and “explicitly urge painting over the US's actual reasons for warfare with a nobly high-minded veneer, seeing such as a necessity for mobilizing public support for a conflict.” In April, Tommy Franks, the commander of US forces in the Persian Gulf/South Asia area, testifies to Congress in April that his command's key mission is “access to energy resources.” The next month US Central Command begins planning for war with Afghanistan, plans that are later used in the real war (see May 2001 (F)). Other little noticed but influential documents reflect similar thinking (see September 2000 and April 2001 (D)).

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''MOHAMMED ATTA: FREE LIKE O.J. ALL DAY..." April 26, 2001:

Mohammed Atta is stopped at a random inspection near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and given a citation for having no driver's license. He fails to show up for his May 28 court hearing a warrant is issued for his arrest on June 4. After this, he flies all over the US using his real name, and even flies to Spain and back in July (see July 8-19, 2001) and is never stopped or questioned. The police never try to find him.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

''BUSH INVITES THE HIJACKERS RIGHT IN!'' May 2001:

The US introduces the "Visa Express" program in Saudi Arabia, which allows any Saudi Arabian to obtain visas through his or her travel agent instead of appearing at a consulate in person. An official later states, "The issuing officer has no idea whether the person applying for the visa is actually the person in the documents and application." At the time, warnings of an attack against the US led by the Saudi Osama bin Laden are higher than they had ever been before - "off the charts" as one senator later puts it.

A terrorism conference had recently concluded that Saudi Arabia was one of four top nationalities in al-Qaeda. Five hijackers - Khalid Almihdhar, Abdulaziz Alomari, Salem Alhazmi, Saeed Alghamdi, and Fayez Ahmed Banihammad - use Visa Express over the next month to enter the US. The widely criticized program is finally canceled in July 2002 (see July 19, 2002).

NOTE: 15 OF THE 19 9/11 HIJACKERS CAME FROM SAUDI ARABIA. ZERO CAME FROM IRAQ. ZERO CAME FROM AFGHANISTAN.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

(1 WARNING) June 2001:

German intelligence warns the CIA, Britain's MI6, and Israel's Mossad that Middle Eastern terrorists are planning to hijack commercial aircraft to use as weapons to attack "American and Israeli symbols, which stand out."

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2...65,00.html

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

"OSAMA BIN LADEN: FREE LIKE KEN LAY ALL DAY...'' July 4-14, 2001:

Bin Laden, America's most wanted criminal with a $5 million bounty on his head, supposedly receives lifesaving treatment for renal failure from American surgeon specialist Dr. Callaway at the American hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is possibly accompanied by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri (who is said to be bin Laden's personal physician, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and leader of Egypt's Islamic Jihad), plus several bodyguards. Callaway supposedly treated bin Laden in 1996 and 1998, also in Dubai. Callaway later refuses to answer any questions on this matter. During his stay, bin Laden is visited by “several members of his family and Saudi personalities,” including Prince Turki al Faisal, then head of Saudi intelligence, as well as two CIA officers (see also July 12, 2001). FTW The explosive story is widely reported in Europe, but barely at all in the US (possibly only by UPI ).

www.intellnet.org/news/20...7975-1.htm

JULY 12: Bin Laden supposedly meets with CIA agent Larry Mitchell in the Dubai hospital on this day, and possibly others. Mitchell reportedly lives in Dubai as an Arab specialist under the cover of being a consular agent. The CIA, the Dubai hospital and even bin Laden deny the story. Le Figaro and Radio France International stand by it. The Guardian claims that the two news organizations that broke the story, Le Figaro and Radio France International, got their information from French intelligence, “which is keen to reveal the ambiguous role of the CIA, and to restrain Washington from extending the war to Iraq and elsewhere.” The Guardian adds that during his stay bin Laden is also visited by a second CIA officer. On July 15, Larry Mitchell supposedly returns to CIA headquarters to report on his meeting with bin Laden.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...em=a071201

''ASHCROFT STOPS FLYING COMMERCIAL AIRLINES'' JULY 26, 2001

CBS News reports that Attorney General Ashcroft has stopped flying commercial airlines due to a threat assessment, but “neither the FBI nor the Justice Department … would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.” FTW “Ashcroft demonstrated an amazing lack of curiosity when asked if he knew anything about the threat. ‘Frankly, I don't,’ he told reporters.” It is later reported that he stopped flying in July based on threat assessments made on May 8 and June 19.

In May 2002 its claimed the threat assessment had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, but Ashcroft walked out of his office rather than answer questions about it. The San Francisco Chronicle concludes, “The FBI obviously knew something was in the wind … The FBI did advise Ashcroft to stay off commercial aircraft. The rest of us just had to take our chances.” CBS's Dan Rather later says of this warning: “Why wasn't it shared with the public at large?”

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2...3601.shtml

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ar...rensen.DTL

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

(2 WARNINGS) Late summer 2001:

Jordanian intelligence (the GID) makes a communications intercept deemed so important that King Abdullah's men relay it to Washington, probably through the CIA station in Amman. To make doubly sure the message gets through it is passed through an Arab intermediary to a German intelligence agent. The message states that a major attack, code named The Big Wedding, is planned inside the US and that aircraft will be used.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

(3 WARNINGS) August 2001:

Russian President Putin warns the US that suicide pilots are training for attacks on US targets. The head of Russian intelligence also later states, "We had clearly warned them" on several occasions, but they "did not pay the necessary attention." A Russian newspaper on September 12, 2001 claims that "Russian Intelligence agents know the organizers and executors of these terrorist attacks. More than that, Moscow warned Washington about preparation to these actions a couple of weeks before they happened."

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2...65,00.html

(4 WARNINGS) August 2001:

Britain gives the US another warning about an al-Qaeda attack. The previous British warning (see July 16, 2001) was vague as to method, but this warning specifies multiple airplane hijackings. This warning is included in Bush's briefing on August 6.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...tartpos=50

(5 WARNINGS) ''BUSH TAKES 26 DAY VACATION'' August 6, 2001:

President Bush spends most of August 2001 at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, nearly setting a record for the longest presidential vacation. While it is billed a "working vacation," ABC reports Bush is doing "nothing much" aside from his regular daily intelligence briefings. One such unusually long briefing at the start of his trip is a warning that bin Laden is planning to attack in the US. Incredibly, the New York Times later reports that Bush "broke off from work early and spent most of the day FISHING" (see also August 4-30, 2001).

The existence of this memo is kept secret, until it is leaked in May 2002, causing a storm of controversy (see May 15, 2002). National Security Advisor Rice gives an inaccurate description of the memo, claiming it is only one and a half pages long (other accounts state it is 11 and a half pages instead of the usual two or three). By the end of his trip, Bush has spent 42 percent of his presidency at vacation spots or en route. At the time, a poll shows that 55 percent of Americans say Bush is taking too much time off.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...shvacation

(6 WARNINGS) August 30-September 4, 2001:

According to Egyptian President Hasni Mubarak, Egyptian intelligence warns American officials that bin Laden's network is in the advanced stages of executing a significant operation against an American target, probably within the US. He says he learned this information from an agent working inside al-Qaeda. US officials deny receiving any such warning from Egypt.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...artpos=100

''DESPITE WARNINGS, THE MILITARY STOOD DOWN, OVER 3000 PEOPLE ARE KILLED AND RUMSFELD IMMEDIATELY GOES AFTER IRAQ... ALL WHILE BUSH READS A 3RD GRADE STORY ABOUT GOATS'' September 11, 2001:

The 9/11 attack: four planes are hijacked, two crash into the WTC, one into the Pentagon, and one crashes into the Pennsylvania countryside. At least 3,000 people are killed and in actual fact, when Chief of Staff Andrew Card told Bush about the second plane crash into the WTC, Bush continued to sit in a Florida elementary school classroom and hear a story about goats for about an additional 10 minutes, as video footage shows (see the Day of 9/11 for more). According to officials, the entire US is defended by only 14 fighters (two planes each in seven military bases). And "they no longer included any bases close to two obvious terrorist targets - Washington, DC, and New York City."

It is later revealed that only hours after the 9/11 attacks, a US “shadow government” is formed. Initially deployed “on the fly”, executive directives on government continuity in the face of a crisis dating back to the Reagan administration are put into effect. Approximately 100 midlevel officials are moved to underground bunkers and stay there 24 hours a day. Officials rotate in and out on a 90-day cycle. When its existence is revealed, some controversy arises because of the exclusion of any Democrats from it. In fact, top Congressional Democrats had never even heard of it until journalists broke the story months later.

www.washingtonpost.com/ac...-2002Feb28

Hours after the 9/11 attacks, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is given information that three of the names on the airplane passenger manifests are suspected al-Qaeda operatives. The notes he composes at the time are leaked nearly a year later. Rumsfeld writes he wants the “best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. at same time. Not only UBL. Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not.” He presents the idea to Bush the next day (see September 12, 2001 (F)).

Time will report in May 2002 that Defense Secretary “Rumsfeld has been so determined to find a rationale for an attack that on 10 separate occasions he asked the CIA to find evidence linking Iraq to the terror attacks of Sept. 11. The intelligence agency repeatedly came back empty-handed.” But while the CIA hasn't been helpful to Rumsfeld, one former senior official later says, “If it became known that wanted to link the government of Tonga to 9/11, within a few months they would come up with sources who'd do it.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

www.usatoday.com/news/nat...ill-_x.htm

''TWO PLANES CRASH IN THE WTC AND NOT ONE BLACK BOX!?'' September 14, 2001:

Some gruesome remains are discovered in the WTC ruins. Investigators find a pair of severed hands bound together with plastic handcuffs on a nearby building. They are believed to have belonged to a stewardess. There are reports of whole rows of seats with passengers in them being found, as well as much of the cockpit of one of the planes, complete with the body of one of the hijackers, and the body of another stewardess, whose hands were tied with wire. Yet, contradicting the claim that a hijacker's body was found, only in February 2003 are the remains of two hijackers identified (see Late February 2003).

While all these bodies and plane parts are supposedly found, not one of the four black boxes for these two airplanes are ever found. A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman says: “It's extremely rare that we don't get the recorders back. I can't recall another domestic case in which we did not recover the recorders.” The black boxes are considered “nearly indestructible,” are placed in the safest parts of the aircraft, and are designed to survive impacts much greater than the WTC impact. They can withstand heat of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour, and can withstand an impact of an incredible 3,400 G's.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''BAIT & SWITCH: OSAMA BIN HUSSEIN'' September 15, 2001-April 6, 2002:

On September 15, 2001, President Bush says of bin Laden: “If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken.” Two days later, he says, “I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.’” On December 28, 2001, a few weeks after the Afghanistan war ends, Bush says, “Our objective is more than bin Laden.” Bush's January 2002 State of the Union speech describes Iraq as part of an “axis of evil” and fails to mention bin Laden (see January 29, 2002). On March 8, 2002, Bush still vows: “We're going to find him.” But only a few days later on March 13, Bush says, “He's a person who's now been marginalized…. I just don't spend that much time on him…. I truly am not that concerned about him.” Instead, Bush is “deeply concerned about Iraq.”

The rhetoric shift is complete when Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Myers states on April 6: “The goal has never been to get bin Laden.” In October 2002, the Washington Post notes that since March 2002, Bush has avoided mentioning bin Laden's name, even when asked about him directly. Bush sometimes uses questions about bin Laden to talk about Saddam Hussein instead. In late 2001, nearly two-thirds of Americans say the war on terrorism could not be called a success without bin Laden's death or capture. That number falls to 44 percent in a March 2002 poll, and the question has since been dropped. Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies, later points out: “There appears to be a real disconnect” between the US military's conquest of Afghanistan and “the earlier rhetoric of President Bush, which had focused on getting bin Laden.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''IMPEACHABLE LIES: BUSH IS AN INTELLIGENCE FAILURE'' September 16, 2001:

President Bush says, "Never in anybody’s thought processes ... about how to protect America did we ever think that the evil doers would fly not one but four commercial aircraft into precious US targets... never." A month later, Paul Pillar, the former deputy director of the CIA's counter-terrorist center, says, "The idea of commandeering an aircraft and crashing it into the ground and causing high casualties, sure we've thought of it."

ALSO: "Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to strike America, to attack us, I would have used every resource, every asset, every power of the government, to protect the American people" ~George W. Bush (3-26-2004)

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''SOMEONE LIED: SOME OF THE 9/11 HIJACKERS ARE STILL ALIVE'' September 16-23, 2001:

Reports appear in many newspapers suggesting that some of the people the US says were 9/11 hijackers are actually still alive. Ahmed Alnami is still alive and working as an administrative supervisor with Saudi Arabian Airlines, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He had never lost his passport and found it “very worrying” that his identity appeared to have been stolen.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...559151.stm

www.guardian.co.uk/septem...50,00.html

www.newsday.com/ny-usprob...ep21.story

www.cooperativeresearch.o...em=a091601

''RAYTHEON: PLANES FLYING WITHOUT PILOTS (OR HIJACKERS) & BEING CONTROLLED FROM THE GROUND WHILE KILLING POSSIBLE WHISTLEBLOWERS'' September 25, 2001:

As details of the passengers on the four hijacked flights emerge, some are shown to have curious connections to the defense company Raytheon, and possibly its Global Hawk pilotless aircraft program (see 1998 (D) and August 2001). Stanley Hall (Flight 77) was director of program management for Raytheon Electronics Warfare. One Raytheon colleague calls him “our dean of electronic warfare.” Peter Gay (Flight 11) was Raytheon's Vice President of Operations for Electronic Systems and had been on special assignment to a company office in El Segundo, Calif. Raytheon's El Segundo's Electronic Systems division is one of two divisions making the Global Hawk. Kenneth Waldie (Flight 11) was a senior quality control engineer for Raytheon's electronic systems. David Kovalcin (Flight 11) was a senior mechanical engineer for Raytheon's electronic systems. Herbert Homer (Flight 175) was a corporate executive working with the Department of Defense. A surprising number of passengers, especially on Flight 77, have military connections. For instance, William E. Caswell was a Navy scientist whose work was so classified that his family knew very little about what he did each day. Says his mother, “You just learn not to ask questions.”

NOTE: In August 2001, the US company Raytheon landed a 727 six times in a military base in New Mexico without any pilots on board. This is done to test equipment making future hijackings more difficult, by allowing ground control to take over the flying of a hijacked plane.

www.cooperativeresearch.o...801spiegel

''DICK DEMANDS NO 9/11 INVESTIGATION'' JANUARY 24, 2002:

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) later claims that on this day, Vice President Cheney calls him and urges that no 9/11 inquiry be made. Bush repeats the request on January 28, and Daschle is repeatedly pressured thereafter. Newsweek summarizes one of these conversations: “Bush administration officials might say they're too busy running the war on terrorism to show up. Press the issue… and you risk being accused of interfering with the mission.” Cheney later disagrees: “Tom's wrong. He has, in this case, let's say a misinterpretation.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...2noinquiry

''BUSH OPPOSES 9/11 INVESTIGATION'' MAY 23, 2002:

President Bush says he is opposed to establishing a special, independent commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before 9/11. He later changes his stance in the face of overwhelming support for the idea (see September 20, 2002), and then sabotages an agreement that Congress had reached to establish the commission (see October 10, 2002).

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2...9096.shtml

''FAKE @$$ TERROR ALERTS'' MAY 20-24, 2002:

The Bush administration issues a remarkable series of terror warnings that many believe are politically motivated. Vice President Cheney warns it is “not a matter of if, but when” al-Qaeda will next attack the US. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says the same thing. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says terrorists will “inevitably” obtain weapons of mass destruction. FBI Director Mueller says more suicide bombings are “inevitable.” Authorities also issue separate warnings that al-Qaeda terrorists might target apartment buildings nationwide, banks, rail and transit systems, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge. USA Today titles an article, “Some Question Motives Behind Series of Alerts.”

www.usatoday.com/usatonli...39663s.htm

David Martin, CBS's national security correspondent, says, “Right now they're putting out all these warnings to change the subject from what was known prior to September 11 to what is known now.” Remarkably, even Press Secretary Ari Fleischer says the alerts were issued “as a result of all the controversy that took place last week” (see May 15, 2002 and May 21, 2002). Time notes, “Though uncorroborated and vague, the terror alerts were a political godsend for an Administration trying to fend off a bruising bipartisan inquiry into its handling of the terrorist chatter last summer. After the wave of warnings, the Democratic clamor for an investigation into the government's mistakes subsided.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''THE AMERICAN MEDIA IS PATHETIC'' JANUARY 13, 2003:

The Guardian reports on the state of journalism in the US: “The worldwide turmoil caused by President Bush's policies goes not exactly unreported, but entirely de-emphasized. Guardian writers are inundated by e-mails from Americans asking plaintively why their own papers never print what is in these columns… If there is a Watergate scandal lurking in administration, it is unlikely to be Woodward or his colleagues who will tell us about it. If it emerges, it will probably come out on the web.

That is a devastating indictment of the state of American newspapers.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

www.guardian.co.uk/bush/s...97,00.html

''OPERATION IRAQI LIBERATION (O.I.L.)'' MARCH 20, 2003

The US, Britain, Australia, and Poland send in troops to conquer Iraq. Bush sends a letter to Congress giving two reasons for the war. The first is that he has determined that further diplomacy will not protect the US. The second is that the US is “continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.” This mimics language from a bill passed by Congress in October 2002 giving Bush the power to declare war against Iraq if a link with the 9/11 attacks is shown.

Yet on January 31, 2003, when a reporter asked both Bush and British Prime Minister Blair, “Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?” Bush replied, “I can't make that claim.” Blair then replied, “That answers your question.” A New York Times/CBS poll from earlier in the month indicates that 45 percent of Americans believe Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was “personally involved” in the 9/11 attacks. The Christian Science Monitor notes, “Sources knowledgeable about US intelligence say there is no evidence that Hussein played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks, nor that he has been or is currently aiding al-Qaeda. Yet the White House appears to be encouraging this false impression….” For instance, Bush claims Hussein has supported “al-Qaeda-type organizations,” and “al-Qaeda types.”

www.cooperativeresearch.o...me=coverup

''PRICELESS: SPACE SHUTTLE CRASH COMMISSION? 50 MILLION DOLLARS... 9/11 COMMISSION? 3 MILLION DOLLARS.'' MARCH 26, 2003:

Time reports that the 9/11 Independent Commission has requested an additional $11 million to add to the $3 million for the commission, and the Bush Administration has turned down the request. The request will not be added to a supplemental spending bill. A Republican member of the commission says the decision will make it “look like they have something to hide.” Another commissioner notes that the recent commission on the Columbia shuttle crash will have a $50 million budget. Stephen Push, a leader of the 9/11 victims' families, says the decision “suggests to me that they see this as a convenient way for allowing the commission to fail. They've never wanted the commission and I feel the White House has always been looking for a way to kill it without having their finger on the murder weapon.”

www.time.com/time/nation/...67,00.html

''BUSH & BLAIRS SPOKESMEN BOTH QUIT... ON THE SAME DAY'' MAY 19, 2003:

THE PRESSURES OF SPIN (BBC): Tony Blair and George Bush may be close - but for them to lose their spokesmen on the same day is verging on the paranormal. Just a couple of hours after White House press secretary Ari Fleischer announced he was standing down, the prime minister's official spokesman Godric Smith revealed he too was quitting. On this, however, there is absolutely no sign that the announcements were co-ordinated - so it must be planetary alignments!

And Mr Smith was clearly astonished at his own timing when he made the announcement to the regular afternoon briefing with political correspondents in the Commons on Monday. He had always believed the demanding and high-pressure job was not one that could be done forever - he did not add "without either going mad or committing murder", though he may have.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_ne...041179.stm

''BUSH'S OWN WAR HAWK ADMITS THE IRAQ WAR IS ILLEGAL'' November 20, 2003:



THE GUARDIAN: "War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal" International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."

www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/S...58,00.html

''FORMER REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR & HEAD OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION, THOMAS KEAN (APPOINTED BY BUSH HIMSELF) SAYS 9/11 WAS PREVENTABLE'' DECEMBER 17, 2003:

"This was not something that had to happen. There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed... They simply failed."

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2...9137.shtml