NYT: 9/11 Hijacker Info was Given to CIA in 1999
From the New York Times:American investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers two and a half years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to pursue the lead aggressively, American and German officials say.
The information — the earliest known signal that the United States received about any of the hijackers — has now become an important element of an independent commission's investigation into the events of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said Monday. It is considered particularly significant because it may have represented a missed opportunity for American officials to penetrate the Qaeda terror cell in Germany that was at the heart of the plot. And it came roughly 16 months before the hijacker showed up at flight schools in the United States.
In March 1999, German intelligence officials gave the Central Intelligence Agency the first name and telephone number of Marwan al-Shehhi, and asked the Americans to track him.
Matt's Chat
What did the President know and when did he know it! I demand an investigation! HALLIBURTON! What? The President in 1999 was William Jefferson Clinton? Uhh...well, it was still Bush's fault!!!Y'all are killing me.
Mark's Remarks
What? Clinton's administration fumbled another ball in the fight against Osama and terror? You are kidding right? This is, according to whine to be left types like Allan Colmes and others, the greatest President in history.....you can't be serious! Clinton bungling foreign policy and national security? No way...I am truly shocked and appalled.
Let's see....Four or Five offers from the Sudan of Osama's head on a plate....not allowing our FBI and CIA to talk to each other....slashing the defense budget while sending our soldiers around the world on fruitless police actions (Kosovo, Haiti, etc.) and slashing intel resources and budgets....All the while selling nuke secrets and tech to China, and ina de facto status, the North Koreans....Wow, this guy was a great President...FOR THE ENEMIES OF AMERICA!!!!
But, of course, it is all Bush's fault...
That smear of Bush was brought to you by the "don't let the facts get in the way of a good smear" group.
