WP: Into the Oversight Void Step the Inspectors General

[DeepModem Mom]

Into the Oversight Void Step the Inspectors General
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 12, 2006; Page A19


....Created by an act of Congress in 1978, "IGs," as they are known, can trace their roots to the Continental Army, which had an inspector general independently assess the readiness of combat troops. Their modern mission is to foster integrity and efficiency in government through the prevention and detection of waste, fraud and abuse.

Initially Congress created 12 independent audit and investigative offices, and every affected agency opposed them. Over the past 27 years, inspectors general have become a fixture of the bureaucracy. Their ranks have grown to 57 -- more than half appointed by the president -- and their offices employ 11,400 auditors, investigators, inspectors and other professionals.

The role of inspectors general has taken on new prominence, as one-party control of Capitol Hill and the White House has dampened the appetite in Congress for close oversight of the executive branch, analysts say.

"They are becoming the de facto overseers of government," said Paul C. Light, a professor of government at New York University and the author of a book on IGs. "As congressional oversight has declined sharply over the last decade, many IGs are getting into areas that were once reserved for the investigatory committees of Congress. And many, but not all of them, have risen to the challenge. . . . Some of these reports are very hard-hitting."...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011102066.html

[jayfish]

1. "As Congressional Oversight Has Declined Sharply...

over the last decade," my ass. Try over the last five years. What's with the media obsession to always sweep both sides into their garbage bin?

Jay

[formercia]

2. Congress needs to step up to the plate

or lose their ability to balance the power of the Executive. What a sorry bunch of wimps.

[leveymg]

4. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on my post below.

There's a lot of material to cover. I'll check back later.

Thanks.

[leveymg]

3. The FBI and CIA IG reports certainly told us a lot more about 9/11 than

the Commission did.

The June, 2005 FBI IG report revealed that the FBI liason at the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center was ordered by the CIA to withhold a cable notifying the Bureau's National Security Unit about the entry into the US on 1/15/00 of the two intending Flt. 77 hijackers. http://www.williambowles.info/911/cia_perjury.html

The CIA report that followed singles out the head of CTC, Cofer Black, for condemnation (along with George Tenet and James Pavitt) for his role in the "intelligence failure" that caused 9/11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100501503.html

For those who had been trying to figure out how 9/11 happened, these reports confirmed which Agency was running the al-Qaeda cells inside the U.S. as an illegal, unwarranted domestic surveillance operation. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0310/S00257.htm

[formercia]

5. Perhaps someone high up didn't want the hijackers captured alive

They would have revealed who their connections were for all to see. When Atta boarded a flight in Portland Maine on the morning of 9/11, there was no surveillance because the authorities were busy doing other things in southern Maine that had nothing to do with the hijackings. It was if they had absolutely no idea that something was going to happen. I know that from first hand knowledge because I know who they were following and they gave no indication that something was about to go down.

Another interesting minutai is that the kennebunkport compound was in the flight path of Atta's plane as it left Portland. Conveniently, Poppy just happen to leave and go to DC for a meeting of the Carlyle Board. Another is that Atta had just come from Florida where he spent the night just a half mile from where Fearless Leader and Jeb were staying.

[Demeter]

6. If Only That Could Be Proven

We would save this country a lot of time, money, and generations of suffering.

[formercia]

7. It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.

very true. A lot of people have small bits of the puzzle. Hopefully they will all be alive someday to put them all together.

[leveymg]

8. You seem to be implying the Bush family were the primary targets

It's not been explained why Atta and al-Omari camped out in Portland the night before, taking a commuter flight that nearly missed the Logan connection.

My piece of related minutai is that Colgan Air, the Virginia-based American Airlines feeder airline they flew to Logan, had an H-3 trainee program that should never have been granted. Atta liked to claim that he was an AA pilot and had AA uniforms. It may have been coincidence, or he may have been riding in the jump seat, or he may have had confederates who stowed weapons on board the Colgan Flight. I have never before heard speculation that the Kennebunkport compound was the preferred target.

As for the lack of coverage of Atta and al-Omari, if the Boston and Portland FBI weren't clued to them, those offices wouldn't have been looking for them. My recollection is that after the 8/23 Watchlisting, the NY National Security Office did a perfunctory search of several NYC hotels, but didn't follow up. There's no record that I've seen that the FBI did much of anything -- not even checking airline flight reservations -- to search for the four watchlisted suspects.

I have seen a report about the attempted entry by Middle-Eastern men into the Florida compound where Junior was staying. There isn't enough information there to form a firm opinion.

To be honest with you, I have looked much more closely at al-Midhar and al-Hazmi. Would welcome further chat - go ahead and send me a DU e-mail with contact info, if you like.

[Demeter]

9. NOT Targets--Masterminds

The poster is implying that BushCo is implicated in the attack: MIHOP, in other words.

[formercia]

11. I don't think they're smart enough

but their connections to the Saudis and the Bin Laden family doesn't look good. The Bushes and Saudi Royals have been involved in covert intrigue for decades. All of the family associations and intertwined intrigue leads me to believe there might be some connection however remote.

[Demeter]

10. dupe/deleted