First, Front Page action in the one Meme which may have the most legs over this whole post-PDB situation. From front page Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2676-2004Apr10.html
Distilled:
"The president of the United States had us at battle stations during this period of time," she testified. Rice's talk of battle stations is part of the Bush administration's effort to counter an impression that it did not do enough about terrorism before Sept. 11.
But if top officials were at battle stations, there was no sign of it on the surface. Bush spent most of August 2001 on his ranch here. His staff said at the time that by far the biggest issue on his agenda was his decision on federal funding of stem cell research, followed by education, immigration and the Social Security "lockbox."
But some officials on the inside -- notably former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke -- say the administration was not acting with sufficient urgency to the spike in intelligence indicating a threat. And there is nothing in Bush's public actions or words from August 2001 to refute Clarke.
Fucking Fantastic reporting there.
Now, for Debunking the Primary Defense of that PDB. First, the defense by way of the Times:
"But the briefing did not point to any specific time or place of attack and did not warn that planes could be used as missiles."
Ok, read that carefully. No Specific Information, so I guess that means we don't have to do anything right? Surely, those terrorists would let us know what was going to happen so we could stop it.... Right??
Oh, but wait one second. We weren't even told they'd use planes as missles.
PEOPLE, Before a Plane is used as a Missle, it is HIJACKED! Again, Before a Plane is used as a Missle, it is HIJACKED. We Were Warned about that right? Does it fucking matter one bit what they do with that plane once it's Hijacked? It's Terrorist action, planes getting Hijacked, in the US.
SO their defense is basically, "Umm, we didn't think that it would be that bad..." Since we had info on Hijackings being likely, and NO ONE did anything to prevent those Hijackings, like check ticket manifests for suspicious foreign nationals, specifically those who recently gained entry into the county and may be up for a hijacking or two, BUSH TOOK NO ACTION TO ADDRESS WHAT WE WERE WARNED ABOUT! So, Since he failed to address Hijacking, Now saying we didn't know they would be used as missles is BULLSHIT!
Now, If only the press would realize that he was warned about Hijackings, a necessary step towards a Missle Plane, and did NOTHING, then they can blow the GOP spin out the water.
It's sickening the level of shit this administration has stooped too. Maybe next time Bin Laden will buy a billboard so Bush can stop it...
