Salon: Conason on Ashcroft & 9/11 Commission

[kskiska]

(snip

What the attempt to blame Gorelick for the manifest failures of the FBI and the CIA really exposed, however, was the reflexive ideological desire to find scapegoats associated with former President Clinton, the right's great Satan. Only Osama bin Laden is responsible for the tragic destruction wreaked on 9/11, conservatives solemnly declare -- but whenever the opportunity arises, they rush to hang Clinton on the same scaffold.

That old impulse may backfire, as it did on Ashcroft. In his opening remarks -- after pompously reminding his audience that he had sworn to tell the truth -- the attorney general made a startling assertion that turned out to be false. He insisted that the Clinton administration had never ordered the assassination of bin Laden. In fact, he claimed to have reviewed the previous administration's authorizations against bin Laden almost as soon as he took office in February 2001.

"Let me be clear," said Ashcroft. "My thorough review revealed no covert action program to kill bin Laden." In other words, all the former Clinton officials who had sworn otherwise, including Clarke, must be lying.

A few minutes later, members of the commission dryly informed Ashcroft that he was badly mistaken. Without saying so directly as to compromise classified material, Richard Ben-Veniste and Fred Fielding both indicated that the commission had obtained a 1998 Clinton "memorandum of notification" specifically targeting the al-Qaida chieftain. Evidently the commission staff found this important document among the Clinton papers withheld by the White House until very recently (and disgorged only after a public complaint by Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey). It would be interesting to find out why that particular item was held back from the commission by White House lawyers. After being told that the "MON" contradicted his accusation, Ashcroft was forced to swallow his words. He ended up promising that "we'll work to understand that more thoroughly."

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/04/16/911comm/index.html

[Fridays Child]

1. The neocons have figured out that they can lie with impunity.

Even if a few in the media call them out on their crap, the majority of the press remains silent or, worse, runs with their lies. For that slimeball Dick Morris to blame Gorelick for 9-11 is a perfect example. As the Salon article points out, Ashcroft's own deputy signed off on the same restrictions a few days before the attacks.

[Tellurian]

2. Turning the screw...

And the final summary in Mr. Conason's article:

"The fact is, the bipartisan commission has been remarkably united on its core issues. Republican commissioners have stood with their Democratic counterparts on many of the most fundamental questions and concerns. It was Chairman Thomas Kean, a lifelong Republican and friend of the president's father, who sharply rejected the charges of partisanship and the calls for Gorelick's resignation. It was Commissioner Slade Gorton, a hard-line conservative and former Republican senator, who reminded Ashcroft of the facts about the Gorelick memo. It was Commissioner Fielding, a former Republican White House counsel, who questioned Ashcroft closely about his ignorance of Clinton's order to kill bin Laden."

"The truth is that conservative critics of the commission aren't concerned about partisanship or conflict of interest. They are voicing the fears of political strategists in the White House. They seek to undermine the commission precisely because it is too bipartisan, too independent -- and too far beyond the reach of Karl Rove. But the commission just keeps on doing its work, and given the scope of what it's finding, the disinformation campaign about it doesn't seem likely to work."

[0007]

3. I hate having to jump through all those tricky hoops

to read something that should be out for all of us.

[librechik]

4. wow, are we about to learn that democracy actually works?

uhoh, I'm starting to hope. Kill me now.

[Democat]

5. Ashcroft lied under oath!

Where is the impeachment?

[JawJaw]

6. er...

no, he um... "mis-spoke" *cough*

[Nlighten1]

7. Mistaken?

How about perjured?

[DinahMoeHum]

8. Piss poor leadership. . .one trait of this is passing the buck.

* and AG Asswipe have this trait mastered to a T.

:evilfrown: