Did Bu**sh** lie about calling for the Aug. 6 PDB?

[Snellius]

Several times during his recent press conference, Bush emphasized that he was the one to request the infamous presidential briefing on Aug. 6. Rice also kept insisting on the president's active role in her testimony. But it seems likely that this explanation is purely an alibi made up to cover their negligence after the fact. Fred Kaplan has a great article in Slate:

The official story about the PDB is that the CIA prepared it at the president's request. Bush had heard all Tenet's briefings about a possible al-Qaida attack overseas, the tale goes, and he wanted to know if Bin Laden might strike here. This story is almost certainly untrue. On March 19 of this year, Tenet told the 9/11 commission that the PDB had been prepared, as usual, at a CIA analyst's initiative. He later retracted that testimony, saying the president had asked for the briefing. Tenet embellished his new narrative, saying that the CIA officer who gave the briefing to Bush and Condi Rice started by reminding the president that he had requested it. But as Rice has since testified, she was not present during the briefing; she wasn't in Texas. Someone should ask: Was that the only part of the tale that Tenet made up? Or did he invent the whole thing—and, if so, on whose orders?

The distinction is important. If Bush asked for the briefing, it suggests that he at least cared about the subject; then the puzzle becomes why he didn't follow up on its conclusions. If he didn't ask for the briefing, then he comes off as simply aloof. (It's a toss-up which conclusion is more disturbing.)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2098861/

There also is evidence that the end of the briefing, which concluded with the mitigating reassurance that some 70 separate FBI investigations were pursuing the case, was not only exaggerated at best but may have been added after Aug. 6. Later versions given to the 9/11 committee, verbatim copies to other agencies, do not include any mention of ongoing FBI investigations.

[walkon]

1. Yes.

[Failure]

2. Very Interesting.

I still don't think that they released the WHOLE THING. Aren't most PDB's 2-3+ pages long?

[Skittles]

13. they are usually much longer than that

they've been dumbed down for our illiterate, attention-impaired idiot "president"

[Snellius]

14. Actually a one-and-a-half-page PDB is considered very long

Larry Johnson, the outspoken former CIA analyst and counterterrorism
official at the State Department, was on MSNBC commenting to PDBs, of which he had written more than a hundred. He said they are drastically simplified and are almost never longer than a page. He said the Aug. 6 brief would have stood out as unusually extensive.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. I guess Larry Johnson didn't work for Clinton?

Besides when the title was leaked last October, the length of the document was also leaked. This report claimed that this particular PDB was eleven and a half pages long. Since the leak had the title exactly right, then I would assume the rest of their information was accurate, also.

[SalParadise]

17. I wonder about the 11-page statement

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_04/003701.php

Article from Kevin Drum about the memo, pretty interesting.

[Skittles]

18. that is NOT what I read

not at all

[leftofthedial]

3. did his lips move?

if so, then he was lying.

[GR]

4. Ben-Veniste Read Tenet's Letter Explaining Who Requested...

Hint, It wasn't Bush...

I don't have the transcript of that yet but it was Ben-Veniste reading the letter that Tenet wrote...

[unblock]

5. wellll, he's not lying about SEX, so there's nothing to be concerned about

[baronessniki]

24. He doesn't have sex, so what is your point?

Maybe if half the Republicans would get laid we wouldn't be at war now.

[RoadRunner]

6. Maybe he confused it with the Cary Condit briefing?

"Bush did mention Rice at the session -- but only to say that she and White House counselor Karen Hughes had "briefed" him on the Chandra Levy matter after the two aides watched then-Rep. Gary A. Condit's television interview about the missing intern."
<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2676-2004Apr10

[Jane Austin]

11. Get OUT!!!!

This can't be true!!!!!

[RoadRunner]

23. It's sad. But true.

Now we know where his attention was in August, 2001!!

[TacticalPeek]

7. "he comes off as simply aloof" ??????????????

Aloof? How 'bout simply a blatant, self-serving liar?

Defrauding the country of honest service, he deserves removal.

:grr:

[sadiesworld]

8. Of course.

[Zero Gravitas]

9. Probably

he lies about everything else, so why not this?

[DeepModem Mom]

10. This is another part of the story that needs to come out --

thanks for posting.

[Skittles]

12. of course it is a big fat f***ing lie

everyone knows it; it just has to be PROVEN

[hughee99]

16. Confused?

I don't know whether he asked for it or not, but if the CIA had information on Bin Laden attacking the US, shouldn't he have brought it to the president's attention anyway? Isn't that his job, or does the president need to make a specific request for information? Not to stick up for * or Tenet, but can we please put some competent people in office!

[Skittles]

19. our "president" doesn't give a shit

he was too busy vacationing.

[against all enemies]

20. help with info

Yesterday at the hearing Tenet stated that he did not brief w during the month of August. He said he was in DC and w was in Crawford. Today on hate radio I heard Tenet corrected himself and said he did brief w during August 2001. Is that true?

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. I t was a slick way of not having to answer questions

from the 9-11 Commission about what those briefing were about. First you say you didn't have any, and then you change you're story as soon as you walk out the door? Sorry, this is total bullshit. Tenet needs to be recalled by the commission, cause he's got some explaining to do.

[linazelle]

22. Seems like parsing of words to me: What does "ask" mean?

I believe that Bush's claim is classic Clinton-speak. See, I think Condi or somebody presented the PDB to Bush and at that time he said: "Lemme see it." Therefore, technically, he ASKED for it.

Now, if you are talking about ordering the PDB, that's a WHOLE other story. I don't believe Bush ordered the PDB. He was not on top of this at all.