TPMmuckraker asks:
What did the 9/11 Commission know, and when did they know it? And why didn't they tell the rest of us?Among the interesting facts that TPM digs up:
1. The July 10, 2001 meeting between Rice, Tenet and Cofer Black was first reported by Time magazine in August 2002.
The magazine said the DCI's message was that he " couldn't rule out a domestic attack but thought it more likely that al-Qaeda would strike overseas."2. Cofer Black, Tenet's former deputy, is now an executive with private security contractor Blackwater.
3. Former 9/11 Commission executive director Phil Zelikow, who was briefed on the issues along with Democrat panelist Richard Ben-Veniste, is now a top aide to Condi Rice. Zelikow has yet to comment on Tenet's January 2004 briefing with the 9/11 commission.
In summary:
It's clear that the commission knew. Even if they didn't read Time magazine, even if they didn't search for news clips before digging in, they received a detailed briefing -- staffers as well as Ben-Veniste. To date, no one has explained why the meeting wasn't mentioned in the final report. Why not?To my mind, this is just the fallout from a rather messy cover-up. The Commission was always designed to uncover the truth, but not the whole truth, and nothing but selected parts of the truth. Leaving out a meeting that had already been documented in TIME was just sloppy.
So did Condi Rice also conveniently forget about Tenet's briefing during her testimony? What a coincidence? And the man on the 9/11 Commission who was told is now working for her? What a coincidence!
9/11 - the world's greatest conglomeration of amazing coincidences.
