Right-Wing Smears Berger To Avoid 9/11 Scrutiny

[wilheim]

Two days before the 9/11 Commission is set to come down like a ton of bricks on the Bush administration's handling of terrorism, the right-wing attack machine is in full gear. It should come as no surprise that allegations of malfeasance leveled at former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger – known nine months ago – have been leaked now. Once again, the far right has chosen politics over the protection of the American people.

It is no coincidence that details of a nine-month old case are leaked the same week as the release of the 9/11 commission's report. The timing of the leak reeks of politics. The incident occurred in October 2003, but the details were not made known to the media until two days before the release of the 9/11 report. Berger, who admitted that he removed documents from the National Archives, promptly returned all available materials in October and admitted that the removal of sensitive information was an "honest mistake." As the FBI has yet to interview Berger and conclude its investigation, the important question is who leaked the information and why now?
Conservatives are clearly using the episode to distract attention from criticism of the Bush administration's handling of terrorism. With the Bush administration set to take heat this week for its mishandling of terrorism threats and its false assertion that Iraq and al Qaeda worked in concert on the 9/11 attacks, conservative leaders leveled unsubstantiated and personal attacks against Berger for supposedly pilfering information to help the Kerry campaign. They have offered no credible facts to back their assertions and are advancing conspiracy theories involving socks and trousers.
President Bush should disavow the smear campaign. The removal of classified information is clearly a serious matter. Berger has responded appropriately by taking every step to cooperate with the investigation and freely admitting his mistakes. The notion that Berger stole information to help Kerry is patently absurd – issues surrounding port and airport security were widely discussed before October 2003, a time when Berger was advising several presidential candidates. President Bush should intervene immediately to stop the savaging of Berger's character by surrogates trying to advance his re-election efforts.



Daily Talking Points is a product of the Center for American Progress, a non-partisan research and educational institute committed to progressive principles for a strong, just and free America.

 

[Shotgun]

That's some funny shit coming from a "non-partisan research institute", especially since the White House had the 9-11 report days ago and knew the commission wasn't "set to come down like a ton of bricks on the Bush administration".

Another liberal lie. It sure is getting tiresome.

 

[wilheim]

9/11 report slams ‘deep’ failings in government
Worse attack ‘now possible and even probable,’ chairman says.

WASHINGTON - The United States could not protect its citizens from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because it failed to appreciate the threat posed by al-Qaida operatives, who exploited that failure to carry out the deadliest assault ever on U.S. soil, the independent commission investigating the attacks said Thursday.
Calling for major changes in U.S. intelligence operations, the commission warned that “we are not safe” yet. “Every expert with whom we spoke told us an attack of even greater magnitude is now possible and even probable,” said the panel’s chairman, Republican former Gov. Thomas Kean of New Jersey.

While the report noted numerous government missteps, it did not cast blame on any official, and it stopped short of saying the hijackings could have been prevented. But Kean said the government’s efforts to thwart the known threat from al-Qaida were so overshadowed by an old, Cold War-era mentality that they had not “disturbed or even delayed” Osama bin Laden’s plot.

At one point, the report suggests that it might not have taken much, saying the attacks might have been called off had bin Laden simply learned that Zacarias Moussaoui, whom he personally chose as one of the pilots, had been arrested.

The report cited Ramzi Binalshibh, the coordinator of the attacks, as saying that had bin Laden and al-Qaida planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed “learned prior to 9/11 that Moussaoui had been detained, they might have canceled the operation.” Bin Laden, however, did not learn of the arrest on Aug. 16, 2001, until after the attacks almost a month later, the report said.

Moussaoui, a French citizen, is awaiting trial on conspiracy charges connected to the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. He was arrested on immigration charges after he raised suspicions at a flight school in Minnesota.

MSNBC News

 

[PatPatriot]

Friday, July 23, 2004 1:34 a.m. EDT
Lanny Davis: ID of Berger Probe Leaker 'None of Your Business'

Former Clinton White House counsel Lanny Davis fueled speculation on Thursday that he personally leaked the news that former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger was under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, by repeatedly dodging the question.

Asked point-blank if he was the leaker, Davis refused to respond directly, but instead told Liberty Broadcasting's Linda Chavez that if he had asked a reporter the same question, the answer would be "None of your business."

Story Continues Below



When Chavez pressed for a straight answer, Davis suggested he would have leaked the news last year to Associated Press reporter John Solomon, who actually did break the story on Monday.
"Had I been asked last October by my old friend Sandy Berger," Davis told Chavez, "I would have suggested to Sandy that we call John Solomon and that he sit down with John Solomon and tell him the whole story and get the story out last October."

In the next breath Davis said he wasn't surprised that "somebody" had leaked news of the Berger investigation on "this particular week out of 52 weeks in 2004."

Suspicions that Davis was the source of the Berger leak surfaced on Tuesday, when the National Review Online's Mark Levin noted in his column:

"Lanny Davis's tactics of leaking bad information in order to control the media spin is clearly in play, if not by him, by others. But he is now a prominent voice pointing a finger at purported Bush motives.

"The Berger story first appeared in the Associated Press, and was written by John Solomon, whom Davis reveals in his book as his favorite reporter. In addition to Davis, the usual Clinton propagandists are involved as well – Lanny Breuer and Joe Lockhart."

The full exchange between Chavez and Davis went like this:

CHAVEZ: Did you leak this?

DAVIS: [Laughing] Well, first of all, thank you for asking me that. I've heard about that.

The caller [who cited Levin's National Review piece] is absolutely correct. I wrote a chapter in my book about one of the great reporters who covered the White House, John Solomon for the Associated Press. I always get him into trouble by saying he's a great reporter, 'cause people will think he treated us with a soft touch. In fact, he killed us almost all the time.

But I'm afraid if I asked John Solomon "Who leaked this to you?" he would give you the same answer that he's always given me when I asked that question, which is "None of your business."

CHAVEZ: OK, Lanny. But [the caller] was asking you. He wasn't asking John Solomon. Did you leak this information to John Solomon in order to get the bad news out of the way?

DAVIS: Oh, did I? [laughing nervously] Well, let me put it this way. Had I been asked last October by my old friend Sandy Berger - who is a great man, an honest man and has done something that he sincerely regrets - I would have suggested to Sandy that we call John Solomon and that he sit down with John Solomon and tell him the whole story and get the story out last October.

Because as sure as the sun rises in the East, Linda, there were enough people who knew about this that this particular week out of 52 weeks in 2004, is not surprising as the week that somebody chose to leak the story. [END OF EXCERPT]

Editor's note:

 

[GAMEFACE]

Burglar should be in a orange jump suit.

9-11 report says nothing, political correctness is killing this country.

 

[bblight]

Sandy Berger was caught with his hands in his pants and in his socks - that's a fact!

Sandy lied! That's a fact!
You don't "accidently" stuff documents into your nether regions by mistake - you put them there on purpose!

The security people at the archives set a trap and Sandy fell into it - and there's no getting out of it!

Wil, try as you might, you can't use thisd one to bash the right or for somew other silly reason.

The next question to ask in this watergate like crime, is "who knew what, and when did they know it?" We could be seeing the tip of an iceburg that could lead to J. F. Kerry.

Or it could be nothing!