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Kevin Fenton
02-26-2009, 03:25 PM
Did Not Find Recordings, Transcripts, Reports

One of the most serious omissions in the 9/11 Commission report was its failure to discuss NSA intercepts (http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=aspring00almihdharcalls&scale=0#aspring00almihdharcalls) of calls (http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a20002001interceptsmeta&scale=0#a20002001interceptsmeta) between two of the alleged hijackers in the US, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi (http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&the_alleged_9/11_hijackers=alhazmiAndAlmihdhar), and al-Qaeda’s central communications hub in Yemen (http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&projects_and_programs=complete_911_timeline_yemen_ hub). Why the commission failed to deal with the intercepts properly is still unknown, but information newly released by the National Archives shows that two of the staffers involved in searches of NSA records for 9/11-related information must have known of the calls, as they attended a meeting with then-NSA Director Michael Hayden at which Hayden offered an explanation for why the NSA did not exploit the calls.

The intercepted calls were mentioned in the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry report, which all ten 9/11 commissioners and at least some of the staff read at the start of the commission’s investigation.

The calls began soon after Almihdhar and Alhazmi arrived in the US in January 2000 and ended shortly before 9/11 (http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0801lastintercept&scale=0#a0801lastintercept). They were all intercepted by the NSA, which had been monitoring the communications hub in Yemen since 1996 (http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0596yemenhub&scale=0#a0596yemenhub), and was aware of its importance to al-Qaeda (http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=alate98fbimapsalqaeda&scale=0#alate98fbimapsalqaeda). Author James Bamford, who recently appeared in a PBS NOVA documentary (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/) about the hub, even found that it was the organization’s “operations centre.”

Continued at link:

http://hcgroups.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/911-commission-staffers-involved-in-search-of-nsa-records-knew-of-hijackers-monitored-calls-from-us-did-not-find-recordings-transcripts-reports/

Gold9472
02-28-2009, 09:39 AM
Hey Kevin... do you remember when "tomorrow is zero hour" was leaked, and Cheney was the most pissed off? According to Phil Shenon, it was Philip Zelikow who turned the 9/11 Commission away from the NSA because it wasn't as "sexy" as the CIA or the FBI. Philip Zelikow and Dick Cheney were both members of the Aspen Strategy Group. Do you think it's possible that Dick Cheney is the one who coerced Zelikow into shying away from the NSA?