Wednesday, October 05, 2005

The Judicial Nominee and 9/11

The woman President Bush has tapped for the Supreme Court handed him the infamous briefing paper warning that Osama bin Laden planned to attack the US.

This photo of the President with Harriet Miers going over a briefing paper was taken on August 6, 2001 -- the day she handed him the bin Laden briefing paper. It's unclear if the paper is the actual Presidential Daily Briefing entitled Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US. However, Steve Biegun of the National Security Staff is present in the photograph. The title became famous as then National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice -- testifying before the 9/11 Commission -- tried to downplay warnings the administration receieved about al Qaeda:

RICE: But I don't remember the al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about.

BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?


RICE:
I believe the title was, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."

The Los Angeles Times reports that Ms Miers had become such an insider that she handled the famed briefing that warned about terrorist strikes just over a month before the 9/11 attacks. (Editor & Publisher, Photo: AP)

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