Eighty-three pages of miscellaneous notes drafted by the 9/11 Commission's staff, apparently team 3, in preparation for writing their sections of the final report. The notes are a "stream of c...
Eighty-three pages of miscellaneous notes drafted by the 9/11 Commission's staff, apparently team 3, in preparation for writing their sections of the final report. The notes are a "stream of consciousnes" style of writing and offer unvarnished comments on a number of aspects of counterterrorisim policy, for example the notes: (a) Go as far as to call the dispute between the Pentagon and the CIA over the Predator drone a "big pissing contest;" (b) Ask "How sustainable is our long-term Saudi policy;" (c) Call the response to the embassy bombing "$1 million to strike tents;" (d) Point out, "The State Department didn't do very much;" (e) Call al-Qaeda a "Ragtag group of shitheads," and say they "looked like the gang who couldn't shoot straight;" (f) Comment: "9/11 was a history changing event. Because of its magnitude, accountability should be found at the top; did they take strong enough action? That's where fault is, with those entrusted to act and to protect the public. If nobody made any mistakes there wouldn't be a big smoking hole in lower Manhattan;" (g) Remark, "The families: at some level they are never going to be satisfied. They want what happened not to have happened. They want their loved ones back;" (h) Ask, "Did military slow roll all of this (action against bin Laden before 9/11)? (i) Comment, "It was not a failure of information. A failure of strategy and leadership;" (j) Call the FBI "useless and obstructionist.."
Other points of interest: (1) Able Danger is mentioned on page 8 of the file. (2) The title of a Senior Executive Intelligence Brief (SEIB) item for December 16, 2003 is revealed on page 27. It is "Terrorism Complexities Make Repeating September 11 Difficult."
Also some withdrawal notices for a few pages of the notes.
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