CIA Officer Responsible for pre-9/11 Failures, Tora Bora Escape, Rendition to Torture Revealed

[JohnyCanuck]

From the History Commons Project:

Identity of the CIA Officer Responsible for pre-9/11 Failures, Tora Bora Escape, Rendition to Torture Revealed

The name of the CIA officer who ran Alec Station, the agency’s bin Laden unit, in the run-up to 9/11 can be revealed. Known by a variety of aliases in the media until now, such as “Rich” in Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars, “Richard” in the 9/11 Commission report and “Rich B” in George Tenet’s At the Center of the Storm, his real name is Richard Blee.

Blee was a key figure in the pre-9/11 intelligence failures, the CIA station chief in Afghanistan when Osama bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora and instrumental in setting up the Bush administration’s rendition and torture policies.

I confirmed Blee’s identity in this document, notes drafted by a 9/11 Commission staffer, apparently in preparation of the drafting of the final report. The notes were found along with thousands of other 9/11 Commission files at the National Archives by History Commons contributor Erik Larson, who uploaded them to the 9/11 Document Archive at Scribd. I previously blogged other interesting aspects of the notes here and here.

Blee is mentioned several times in the 9/11 Commission’s files, but his name is always redacted, as it has been in the media until now. However, in one case the people doing the redactions let it slip past them.

http://hcgroups.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/identity-of-cia-officer-responsible-for-pre-911-failures-tora-bora-escape-rendition-to-torture-revealed/

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. I still blame Condi Rice

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Another interesting bit

The CIA had been monitoring a summit of al-Qaeda leaders in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which began on 5 January. On 8 January three of the summit attendees, Almihdhar, his partner Nawaf Alhazmi and al-Qaeda leader Khallad bin Attash, left for Bangkok, and Alec Station received a cable from the field reporting this. The CIA claims that its officers in Bangkok could not pick up the surveillance at the airport and that the three men were lost. The next day Alec Station sent a high-priority NIACT (night action) cable urging the station in Bangkok to find them.

Although the other summit attendees had also dispersed at the same time as the three men who flew to Bangkok, on 12 January Blee claimed to his bosses that the surveillance in Kuala Lumpur was continuing. The 9/11 Commission, suggested that Blee “may not have known that in fact Almihdhar and his companions had dispersed and the tracking was falling apart.” The interview of Blee received high-level attention on the commission. It was led by the commission’s executive director Philip Zelikow and two team leaders, Kevin Scheid and Barbara Grewe.

It is unclear how Blee could possibly have been unaware of this, as his unit had previously both received and sent at least one cable stating they had left for Bangkok and he would presumably have asked his subordinates for an update in the four days between the hijackers’ departure from Kuala Lumpur and the 12 January briefing. The commission’s formulation—that Blee “may not have known”—also begs the question: Well, did he know or not? If he did, he withheld key information from his bosses during the high threat period of the millennium alert. If he did not know, it means his subordinates withheld the information from him.

The next day, Bangkok station reported that it could not find the three men. Nevertheless, Blee went back to his superiors on 14 January and told them officials were continuing to track the summit’s attendees, who had now dispersed to various countries. Here, the commission’s report is clear, finding, “there is no evidence of any tracking efforts actually being undertaken by anyone after the Arabs disappeared into Bangkok.”

http://hcgroups.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/identity-of-cia-officer-responsible-for-pre-911-failures-tora-bora-escape-rendition-to-torture-revealed/

[loudsue]

3. Sibel Edmonds could prolly tie Blee to the Turkish crowd.

9/11 was as much an inside job as any job ever pulled off. Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, and their buddy, Prince (head of Blackwater) made so much money off 9/11 they'll never have another worry, nor will their heirs.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Unless by some chance 9/11 is blown wide open

and the traitors who looked the other way and/or actively planned to ensure it was a success are exposed for all to see.

[madokie]

9. I really think thats going to happen

today we have the internet and lots of armchair keyboard investigators and writers. Many of whom btw are as thorough as the real deal. We have a few precious ones here on our site that do some good work too

[leveymg]

4. Let's not forget Cofer Black, Rich's boss. Not entirely buying that RB lied toTenet, et al,

Let's not overlook Cofer Black, Rich's boss. Not entirely buying that RB lied to Tenet, Black, et al.

I would like to see further development and proof the theory that Blee was withholding operational info from his superiors. That may be inferred from the official Commission account, but I'm not sure it's necessarily accurate or even the best explanation. I need to see something more to convince me that Blee isn't just a designated fall guy.

And, RB was hardly the only one responsible for ordering the FBI Liaison Officer at CIA/CTC to withhold the warning cables about the entry of the Flt. 77 hijacker at LAX on 01/15/00. Lots of people above him in that CIA chain of command and others at the Bureau who knew but withheld that Intel from I-49. Don't forget, Rich Blee was brought into that unit as a Tenet protege and appears to have been handed a plum assignment to run Jawbreaker with Tenet's approval.

- Mark

Go here and read the entire article by Fenton:

Identity of CIA Officer Responsible for pre-9/11 Failures, Tora ...Sep 11, 2009 ... Identity of CIA Officer Responsible for pre-9/11 Failures, Tora Bora Escape, Rendition to Torture Revealed ..... While Tora Bora is shrouded in the fog of war, the rendition of Ibn Shaikh al-Libi is not. .... Find out the latest site news at the History Commons Site Blog. That's where the discussion ...
hcgroups.wordpress.com/.../identity-of-cia-officer-responsible-for-pre-911-failures-tora-bora-escape-rendition-to-torture-revealed/ - 11 hours ago - Similar -

Make sure you read this at ScribD : Miscellaneous 9/11 Commission Staff Notes about Drafting the Final Report

[JohnyCanuck]

6. Blee a designated fall guy?

Could be, and if he was and the shit really does hit the fan I guess it would be up to him if he is going to take the rap for his bosses. But then again, assuming he was deliberately and unnecessarily blocking the flow of information on these terror suspects to the FBI and this idea of "the wall" was just a convenient excuse, it would presumably be because someone from up the chain of command had passed on the order, or he was in some type of off-the-record operation with others collaborating in the scheme. In other words, I don't think its likely something he did on his own initiative. So if it ever did come to bean spilling time, he could have some interesting beans to spill, provided he didn't have an unfortunate boating accident or an unexpected fall from a high rise balcony etc.

[leveymg]

7. Vigorous nod. Except,

it's unlikely that anything unnatural is going to happen to Blee. He's second-generation ranking operations - his father David cleaned up the mess that J.J. Angleton left behind at both the Soviet Division and the Domestic division (Op Chaos, etc.) RB has enough green stamps saved up to survive practically anything.

I'd love to hear what he has to say about what what Condi and Dubya really said when he, Cofer Black and George Tenet made their frantic last efforts in July and August to convince the White House to roll up the AQ attack cells. That's what's really being covered up here - the fact that Bush was presented with that option, and refused to issue the order. When all is said and done, it was Bush's decision.

[Ghost Dog]

8. Presumably, he was doing what was expected,

required, ordered.

[madokie]

10. All roads lead to cheney

He knows we know that too

[gratuitous]

11. Wait, according to ABC, it was all Sandy Berger's fault!

Or someone else in the Clinton administration.

I wonder if Richard Blee got a Presidential Medal of Freedom?