Ashcroft Exposed

Ashcroft Exposed
9/11

http://www.planetnetopia.com/forum/topics/id_3/
Ashcroft Exposed

Today, Attorney General John Ashcroft undertakes the formidable task
of defending his lackluster counterterrorism record before the 9/11
Commission. According to draft reports prepared by the commission,
Ashcroft was “largely uninterested in counterterrorism issues before
Sept. 11, despite intelligence warnings that summer that al Qaeda
was planning a large, perhaps catastrophic, terrorist attack.” In a
desperate attempt to preserve his reputation, Ashcroft repeatedly
lied about his record to a joint Congressional committee in February
2002. For example, Ashcroft said that, immediately after 9/11, the
FBI “came to me with a $670 million request, and we counseled them
to take that to $ 1.1 billion.” But an internal Justice Department
document obtained by American Progress reveals that “the FBI
requested $1.5 billion in additional funds to enhance its
counterterrorism efforts” which Ashcroft cut to $531 million.
Ashcroft spokesman Mark Corallo attempted to dismiss the documents
because they were circulated by a “think tank run by top former
Clinton aide John Podesta” – but he did not dispute their
authenticity or validity. See the internal documents obtained by
American Progress.

ASHCROFT SLASHED COUNTERTERRORISM IN HIS FIRST MONTH: Ashcroft told
Congress in February 2002 he “requested an increased funding for
counterterrorism efforts of $436 million” prior to 9/11 for the 2002
budget. But a new analysis by American Progress reveals that the
2002 counterintelligence budget proposed by Ashcroft cut
counterintelligence spending by more than $476 million – a 23% cut
from 2001 funding levels. Internal Justice Department documents
obtained by American Progress reveal that in August 2001, the FBI
specifically requested additional funds to bolster counterterrorism
resources, including 248 counterterrorism agents and support staff,
54 translators to review a backlog of foreign language intelligence,
and 200 professional intelligence researchers to analyze the
intelligence. But Ashcroft ignored the request and instead cut
counterterrorism funding in critical areas, including a $65-million
reduction for counterterrorism equipment grants, a $20-million
reduction for border control, and a $1.4-million reduction for the
National Domestic Preparedness Office.

ASHCROFT’S MISPLACED PRIORITIES: In May 2001, Ashcroft wrote
a “budget goals memo” outlining his top seven priorities.
Counterterrorism was not mentioned. Former FBI counterterrorism
chief Dale Watson said he “‘fell off my chair’ when he learned that
Mr. Ashcroft had failed to list combating terrorism as one of the
department’s priorities.” In November 2001, Ashcroft released a
revised strategic goals memo which included the same seven
priorities, with one addition inserted at the top of the list. The
new number one priority? “Protect America Against the Threat of
Terrorism.”

WHY DID ASHCROFT STOP FLYING COMMERCIAL AIRLINES PRIOR TO 9/11?:
Months before 9/11 Ashcroft began “traveling exclusively by leased
jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines.” Ashcroft started
flying on the $40 million GulfStream 5 – at a cost to taxpayers of
$1600 an hour – because of an FBI threat assessment. But the FBI
would not say “what the threat was, when it was detected or who made
it.” The jet was supposed to be “for,

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__________________
“The Truth may not always win, but it is always right.”

• “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or
that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the
American public.”
–President Theodore Roosevelt

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his
government.
— Edward Abbey

“A popular government without popular information or the means of
acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps
both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean
to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power
knowledge gives.” James Madison

Liars are usually easily discredited; it’s the truth-tellers who
need to be destroyed.

When fools lie, people die
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