June 21, 2002
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Dear BuzzFlash,
Yahoo news excerpt: CNN and The Washington Post reported that contents of one of the communications was, "The match is about to begin," while the other stated, "Tomorrow is zero hour."
A U.S. intelligence official, while declining to comment on the NSA (national security agency) intercepts, said a piece of raw intelligence that contains only a date provides little useful information.
Here we go again! Another "day late and dollar short" excuse for lack of connecting dots. There is admission that NSA lacked language interpreters, so we get suspicious messages interpreted a day or two late… or should that read too late? And now they are saying that raw intelligence that (contains only a date) provides little useful information. Do they really expect a terrorist to provide a name, date, time, and location before being taken seriously? Look at the two communications. They sound very threatening to me. NSA's functions are to intercept communications from [around the world.] That tells you that a majority of intercepted communications are in foreign languages. If we are to believe that NSA did not employ adequate interpreters, why wasn't this problem addressed long before now? Basically, NSA is telling us that they intercept communications from around the world, but language barriers prevent comprehension of what the communicators are saying. (Insert a large Duh here).
NSA put their excuse forth for digestion. I've chewed on it, but I'm not about to swallow it!
~ Cathy
Dear BuzzFlash,
This story reminds me of the operations of Col. Oliver North and Gen. Secord. They also used false invoices and foreign or covertly owned ships in arms transfers. The involvement of an Israeli owned company is also not something new. Israeli companies, seemingly independent of the government or the Mossad, have fronted for US black operations. It has always been the practice of the CIA and other special operations groups to work with paramilitary organizations. That these organizations might be involved with drugs or assassinations has not stopped us in the past. Despite our claims to the contrary, there is every reason, based on past actions, to believe that we are involved with AUC since it works closely with the Colombian army.
It all smells very much like an off the shelf, off the books operation conducted by front organizations but for the benefit of US black ops.
Mystery deepens over diverted AK-47s
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/world/americas/3465716.htm
Robert Reynolds
RE: Senate OKs Pay for Disabled Vets; Bush Says He'll Veto Aid to Vets. 6/20
Dear Thief-in-Chief:
As a mere illegal appointee to an office you don't deserve, you have a lot of, er, something!
How dare you threaten to Veto aid to Veterans! From lowlife like you, that just walked away from that useless squadron for the children of rich -- and useless scumbags like your father -- because you were bored, I suppose, one can expect no less.
Let me be perfectly clear. I mean you no personal harm.
The fact is however, I loathe you and your whole family. I loathe what you stand for. I loathe your cowardice. I loathe your complete dismantling of the Constitution and Bill of rights to suit your own narrow fascist needs. I loathe your use of the deaths of almost three thousand people in NY for your pitiful political machinations. I loathe your blatant attempts to divert the attention of the American people from the "What You Knew and When You Knew It" scandal and the impending collapse of the house of cards you elite's like to call the Stock Market. I loathed your father's criminal acts in Central and South America. I loathed your father's criminal acts in Iraq.
I loath your scaring the heck out of everyday people with your "alerts"! I loath the out of control government that you were appointed by.
But most of all I loathe that I have had to fight scum like you for more than four years to get the benefits I have earned.
Get lost ya bum,
Capt. Jeffry C. Gilbert USMM (Ret.)
To all BuzzFlash readers who are veterans:
Apparently the White House is threatening to veto a Senate bill that would secure full retirement pay to disabled veterans. (story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=703&e=8&u=/ap/20020619/AP _on_go_co/congress_defense_5).
Okay. How about this: veteran groups should threaten the White House that they will do whatever it takes to bring Bush's AWOL from the National Guard during Vietnam to the media's full attention. That would include his cover-up of his records with the help of General James, the new commander of the Air National Guard, who was selected by Bush and given an extra star as payback. For the full story: www.awolbush.com.
I suspect the veto threat will disappear.
A BuzzFlash reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
With the latest information re the Bush administration saying the courts cannot decide the status of an individual the govt deems an "enemy combatant," one has to wonder how soon other countries will issue travel warnings, informing its citizens that it cannot guarantee they will not be detained without any rights for an "undetermined period of time," simply because Bush has had a bad day, and we know he has a very short fuse as well as little understanding of complex issues.
Also, I wonder why few, if any, are actually stating the truth, that the market is doing poorly, foreign investment is dropping because of lack of confidence and trust in this current administration. It is becoming glaringly obvious that all previous laws and rights are subject to the whims and political will of this administration. What is there to stop them now from labeling someone protesting this administration's trashing of the Constitution as "aiding and abetting" the terrorists and therefore an "enemy combatant"?
Very scary times right now!
Bev
Dear BuzzFlash,
An open letter to the leaders of the Democratic Party and to my elected Democratic Representatives,
I never imagined I would find myself losing faith in the Democratic Party, but I am. I've watched in horror - not just amazement or surprise, or dismay - but in true horror as our Constitution has been torn to shreds. My increasing horror began when the Supreme Court threw out the first right of the American people - the right to elect our President - and [S]elected George W. Bush to usurp the role of President of the United States.
If the Democratic Party continues to remain silent over the violations of our civil rights as put forth by such fascism as the PATRIOT ACT and allows the growing criminality of the Bush Administration to continue unchecked or unquestioned I will not ever vote for a Democrat again. But this is not because I want to be a spoiled sport.
I have been a loyal Democrat all my life. I am 54 years old and I have voted in every election since reaching adulthood because I believe in our grandest and most altruistic ideals, even if only in theory. I have voted for those who I believed would fight for the rights of every single citizen, even to the poorest and most disenfranchised among us. That's why I voted for you.
But now I find I don't hear any elected Democrats reflecting these ideals, and the longer I wait for one of my representatives to raise an outcry for me and for this country, the more I realize there is no one out there who I can vote for anymore.
Judith Foster, Berkeley
Dear BuzzFlash,
Re: If You Don't Like Paying Taxes . . .
The thing about tax-and-spend Republicans is that they screw the middle class not once, but twice! First, they rewrite tax codes so that working Americans shoulder more of the load. Then they distribute tax revenue upwards to well-healed constituencies like corporate agribusiness and military contractors. And I'm afraid to even ask what they're doing with our Social Security contributions.
Finally, remind all wingnuts that "Blue States" subsidize "Red States."
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
I would find it very interesting, with all the high esteem that the Republicans hold for Mr. Reagan, to hear their comments about a speech he gave at the Conservative Political Action Conference Dinner on March 20, 1981.
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/speeches/1981/32081b.htm
Refer to the 7th paragraph from the bottom.
"We've been told increasingly that we must choose between left or right.'' But we're still using those terms -- left or right. And I'll repeat what I said then in '64. "There is no left or right. There's only an up or down:'' up to the ultimate in individual freedom, man's age old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with an orderly society -- or down to the totalitarianism of the ant heap. And those today who, however good their intentions, tell us that we should trade freedom for security are on that downward path."
Have a super day!
Thomas R. Jeffrey
Dear BuzzFlash,
The pResident's proposed spending to prevent mothers from transmitting AIDS to their babies is entirely consistent with his priorities. Protect the unborn and and born again. The rest can go to hell.
Thanks,
Amy
Dear BuzzFlash,
Re: Bush Proposes Spending $500M on AIDS (see the Mailbag to learn WHY he's for this drug) 6/20
Because his father owns lots of stock in Pzier?
WHY? I can't find anything in your mailbag, and I can't wait to find out.
Alma
[BuzzFlash Note: Sorry about that. We were referring to Rumfeld's connections to "Gilead Sciences -an anti-aids biotech," but we think Amy (above) has a good point, too.]
Dear BuzzFlash,
Subj: SC ruling on death penalty today (6/20/02)
"Seldom has an opinion of this Court rested so obviously upon nothing but the personal views of its members," Antonin Scalia said in his dissent, adding, "The arrogance of this assumption of power takes ones breath away."
Funny, I can think of one SC decision 18 months ago that had plenty to do with the personal views of the Justices and the assumption of power...
-- Andrew Milner Bryn Mawr, PA
Dear BuzzFlash,
What a happy and exciting day, the Supreme Court has made a landmark decision not to execute the mentally handicapped. The most exciting part of this is, the Supreme Court has made a giant leap into the 18th Century, can progress be far behind.
Sally McDonald
Dear BuzzFlash,
This "leak" has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it. I've read accounts from Reuters, AP, WP, and NYT and heard about it ad nauseum on CNN & MSNBC. None of the reports indicate that the leak ORIGINATED with a congressional source, only that congressional sources commented on it. I am convinced that someone from the administration "leaked" what is really innocuous information (we already know there were intelligence failures) with the purpose of heightening anxiety and creating public dissatisfaction with the hearings.
Francis Mayas
Dear BuzzFlash,
Seems Dick & George want the DOJ to investigate the 'leaks' from the joint intelligence committee. They seem to be in quite a little snit about it, too.
The problem is this was 'leaked' to USAToday and reported on June 4th, it was widely covered too, and I don't recall anyone in the misadministration making a peep about it at the time.
======================================
U.S. had agents inside al-Qaeda
By John Diamond, USA TODAYWASHINGTON — U.S. Intelligence overheard al-Qaeda operatives discussing a major pending terrorist attack in the weeks prior to Sept. 11 and had agents inside the terror group, but the intercepts and field reports didn't specify where or when a strike might occur, according to U.S. officials.
The disclosures add to a growing body of evidence to be examined in congressional hearings that open today into how the CIA, FBI and other agencies failed to seize on intelligence pointing to the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history.
Some of the clues lie buried in 350,000 pages of documents turned over by the CIA for the hearings:
• Reports discussing the possibility of suicide bombings, plots to fly planes into buildings and strikes against the Pentagon, World Trade Center and other high-profile targets.
• Electronic intercepts as late as Sept. 10 of al-Qaeda members speaking cryptically of a major attack. Two U.S. Intelligence officials who paraphrased highly classified intercepts say they include such remarks as, "Good things are coming," "watch the news" and "tomorrow will be a great day for us."
• Dispatches from agents who infiltrated al-Qaeda and its Taliban ally. The operatives could not crack the tightly-held secret of the Sept. 11 plot, but added to growing evidence underscoring the lengths al-Qaeda was willing to go to inflict pain on the United States.
more at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2002/06/03/cia-attacks.htm
Margaret
Dear BuzzFlash,
Subj: Ruth Wedgewood
In an article in the Washington Post that you referenced:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14203-2002Jun19.html
Yale Law Professor Ruth Wedgwood made the rather extraordinary quote: "In ordinary wars, the courts would not even look at a case like this, but in this rather peculiar war, the issues are less clear," said Ruth Wedgwood, a law professor and terrorism expert at Yale University. "But this case is very much a battlefield capture, so that should make it easier. . . . I think the chances are very good that the court will defer to presidential authority on this."
Curious, I looked up Ruth Wedgwood on a Google search, and was rather intrigued to find that she also regularly wrote columns for the Washington Post and the Washington Times, most of them fawning over George Bush; for instance, there's this one about an honorary degree at Yale that Bush received, and the contention that it caused among the faculty:
http://www.cfr.org/public/resource.cgi?pub!4098
I have to wonder the extent to which "noted Law Professor and Terrorist Expert Ruth Wedgwood" has been trotted out to frame the argument "See, there are plenty of people with upstanding intellectual credentials who feel that Bush taking over the government is a good thing."
Anyway, thanks for the good work. When I have a little more money in the account I will make sure that BuzzFlash gets a piece of it.
-- Kurt Cagle
Dear BuzzFlash,
Why Do All of the Terrorists Have Some Connection To Florida?
On September 7, four days before 9/11, Jeb declared Florida a State of Emergency because of a terrorist threat. We have learned since then that nearly all of the pilots of the planes lived (at some point) in Jeb's state, including Jose Padilla. Also, there was a soldier from Fort Stewart who tried to detonate explosives near a power plant (by the way, he was released with a slap on the wrist - hmmm a CIA operation?)
Now we learn that another Florida man, Safraz Jehaludi, had plans to blow up a Florida power plant and the White House.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-internet061902.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dbroward
*****
Jack
Dear BuzzFlash,
Subj: Debka.com
If you go down the right column to the article on Nuclear threats you find a scary analysis. Not reported here is that Iraq filed a complaint with the UN that we are plotting a nuclear attack. That is a reasonable possibility because of our changes in nuke policy and the Bush advisors from Bush 1. The author of a book on winning a nuclear war was recently appointed to asst. deputy sec of def position. If you don't want to take casualties or fight a prolonged war, nukes are the way to go.
Robert Reynolds
Dear BuzzFlash,
The original stories I saw concerning the wayward Cessna and the White House indicated that F-16s from Andrews did the intercept. As you remember there were questions about why aircraft from Andrews were not involved in the 9-11 events and why planes from Langley were used.(see emperors clothes in particular).
In todays Fla Times Union page 5, "Pilot won't be charged for airspace violation"
"...........Two F-16s from Langley Air Force Base, Va., near Norfolk, scrambled to intercept the pilot,.......... The fighter jets did not catch up to the him until 11 minutes after he left the restricted space on his own."....
Either the initial reports were incorrect or this is a deliberate change of story because of past questions about Andrews and the failure to intercept the hijacked aircraft and Flt 77 in particular, the one that hit the Pentagon.
If we assume the new report is correct, then it raises questions once again about the competence of the FAA, NORAD, and the Air Force and about why aircraft from Andrews are not on alert. Even a Cessna in 11 minutes could have reached the White House or another government facility.
As it has been pointed out by many, none of this is being investigated, or if it is, the American people are being kept in the dark.
I'll cc a bunch of our reps but with little hope that it will do any good or that they will act on behalf of the American people and the victims and survivors of 9-11.
RE Reynolds, Orange Park Fl
Dear BuzzFlash,
Just looked at http://www.nexusitalia.com/settimana071606.htm. I don't know the Italian language, but I could pick out this warning caption under the photographs:
Dopo l'avviso...
"Be advised of the Dope."
Well, the Italian press sure gets it!
-Susan
Dear BuzzFlash,
Subj: Booker Elementary Video
Bush's reaction to the crash of the second plane is striking in that it reveals both how slowly his mind must work and how limited his thinking abilities are. As the tragedy unfolded, the most reasonable explanation for the first crash was an accident. At that point, no one knew what type of plane had hit, or any other details. However, the instant the second plane hit, the plausibility of an accident began look unlikely. For him to just sit there staring off into space as if he were trying to think of what might be happening--then to return to the little lesson-- are clear indications of a person with limited ability.
Having said this, I must also say that none of this surprises me one bit. I am a recently-retired teacher, and do not believe anyone who uses poor grammar, doesn't appear to know the meaning of many words, and is generally a poor speaker, should be President--no matter which party he's from. I'll also bet, judging by his performance in the campaign and as President, he is a poor reader. While I'll concede that he certainly does meet the Constitutional qualifications for President (over 35 and a citizen), he does not possess the talent and ability that should be required for the office of President.
George Chambers
Dear BuzzFlash,
I checked out your link to the Italian web page which linked to your page with the Bush@Booker video (aah, the web), and then I had Google translate the page. Just before discussing the Bush video, they relate an interesting story about how metals of "unknown origin" were found in bodies of passengers on TWA Flight 800 and how the NTSB is covering it up. The theory is that these metals are pellets from a missile. Here's the link the Italian site provides:
http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2002/06/10.html
Judson Kilpatrick
Buzz,
Subj: Drip...Drip...Drip...
For more than eight months the White House claimed it had no prior knowledge, no red flags, no frickan clue. And now all of a sudden, we once again hear of recorded messages from 9/10 saying zero hour is upon us. But the strange thing is, Shrub is mad because he deems a little truth as a leak. The American people should demand that the dam be broken. Let it all flow out. All the warnings that were never acted upon. All the dots that $30 billion a year in intelligence couldn't connect. And bring in someone who can interrogate those cows in Crawford.
RK/Seattle
Dear BuzzFlash,
Re: In Their Genes
I've always distinguished the worst repugs as "genetic republicans" when referring to those who are so narrow minded, black and white thinking, bigoted, morally challenged yet insist they have "high morals," etc. etc. We all know the worst of them are currently "running" or more to the point RUINING our government and American way of life. Even though this genetic defect seems to be situated more on the Y chromosome than the X, "genetic republicanism" does not discriminate for gender or even race. So yes Rebecca, I too believe it's often in their genes!! Thanks!
AM Higgins
BuzzFlash,
I'd like to be the first to say that all the pieces are in place for the next convenient act of terrorism to take place. I was just able to put it together after checking your site this morning, June 21st. Here are the pieces as I see them:
For the last two days our Boston papers have been running stories about the extraordinary precautions that will be in effect for our traditional, well attended 4th of July celebration on the banks of the Charles river. This in and of itself is not earthshaking and I am sure that all cities and towns across the nation will be doing something similar in order to ensure that we Americans can celebrate our day of Independence without incident and they too have undoubtedly been putting out stories that are intended to assure citizens that all necessary and possible precautions are being taken.
Of course the terror warnings are getting more intense. Last night there was a brief report, no details available, that a man of Middle Eastern descent got a message on his cell phone in Arabic that, translated said "We will hit them on their day of freedom." This happened in Las Vegas and was reported on our local ABC affiliate, WCVB.
Then this morning at your site I saw the 'Orwellian News Flash' that the pResident was deeply concerned about leaks from the investigation and had directed Cheney to contact the committee chairs. The president was concerned that the information getting out might in some way obstruct agencies from adequately stopping terrorist attacks. The chairs, or at least Rep. Goss fully complied.
One upshot is that the investigation will not continue until after the 4th of July Congressional holiday. That was the key piece, and this is how I think it fits together: To begin, this regime doesn't want the investigation to continue but has no real way to contain it; then having failed to convince Daschle et al 'not to probe too deeply into the events leading up to Sept.11th' creates the possibility that the truth will actually come out. Now that the congressional investigation is underway and they seem to be losing credibility in the battle to prevent an independent investigation and the continued 'daily warnings' are beginning to be seen as the mere ploys that they are, floated to deflect serious questions, the regime must do something dramatic.
From the onset of the 'War on Terror' (when will the media begin to point out that there is no 'War' until the Congress consents to pass the request from the president to declare a state of war) Dimwit W. Doofus has told us that 'they hate us for our freedoms'; based on the report from Las Vegas we now have that concept cemented in the public's consciousness; "We will hit them on their day of Freedom", what could be more clear than that? It serves so many purposes; it solidifies the idea that 'they hate us for our freedoms' (they don't; they hate us for our exploitation of Muslim countries and populations, they hate us for our willingness to murder thousands of innocents in pursuit of oil, they hate us for our arrogant swagger that says we can do anything we want with the earth's resources, they hate us because we feel that we need answer to no one for our deeds and they hate us for our unwavering support of the murderous Sharon in particular and of Israel in general). It justifies the constant drumbeat of terror attack warnings issued from D.C., it proves that there really are 'thousands of murderers' out there waiting to get us.
After the next attack happens they will be able to say that the attack may have been stopped if (a) there hadn't been so many leaks to the public from the investigation (b) if the investigation hadn't taken so much of the crucial agencies' time (c) if there hadn't been so much concern over 'legal rights' (d) if the agencies involved had only had a free and unhampered hand and (e) if the media would stop second-guessing the administration and let them do what they know is best without question. The pResidents' ratings will soar, the investigation will cease and any talk of an independent investigation will be silenced. The criminal Bush will have hit yet another ''Trifecta''.
Lucky him.
A BuzzFlash Reader
