(Orginally posted my blog -
MarchSeventh)
It seems Rumsfeld was not at the Principals Meeting approving the al Qaeda plan. This shows an interesting idea of a "high priority". When trying to discredit Clarke he laughed about the fact that he was not at the meeting. This helps solidfy suggestions that any question about the Department of Defense's concern for the Terror issue prior to 9-11. Rumsfeld's statement's yesterday at a DoD press conference:
SEC. RUMSFELD: I would say one thing. Someone handed me as I was coming down here a quote from a book that indicates that I was in a meeting I guess on a certain date and that I looked distracted, and it happens -- (chuckles) -- I wasn't in the meeting. So people can be mistaken, and I even think I have been on occasion. (Laughter.) No, couldn't have been! (Laughter.)
Later last night rumsfeld continued this line of attack on Clarke and his book on News Hour, he says:
Someone showed me a clip where he said that he was in a meeting with the National Security Council on Sept. 4, I think he said, and Rumsfeld looked distracted and was following the Wolfowitz line. I wasn't in the meeting.
So we are clear there is only one refernce in Clarke's book to Rumsfeld being distratced. The meeting refered to by Clarke is contained in the tenth mention of Rumsfeld in the book (Pages 237 & 238). It is as follows:
On September 4, 2001, the Principals Commitee meeting on al Qaeda that I had called for "urgently" on January 25 finally met ... Rumsfeld who looked distracted throuhout the session, took the Wolfowitz line that there were other terrorist concerns, like Iraq, and whatever we did on this Al Qaeda business, we had to deal with other sources of terrorism.
If we take Rumsfelds word for it then he wasn't at the September 4th, 2001 Principals meeting. (something he never offered to the 9/11 comission as they asked about that day). Therefore Rumsfeld was never present at any principals meeting dedicated to terrorism until Spetember 11th? (see 9/11 Commission - Rumsfeld and Powell testimony).
When Rumsfeld and Cheney sat on the secure conference calls that morning on September 11th, why would Cheney take advice from those "out of the loop" or whom they "met 2 or 3 times" given the events of that morning?
Why would he claim to not know when he was moved from the Counter-terrorism Security group, when the memory of any sane individual would show that it was after September 11th?
Something about that doesn't pass the smell test, imho.
So my question is simple ... what was Rumsfeld doing on September 4th instead of being at that meeting?