MARTIN LEE
Author of The Beast Reawakens, a book that explores relations between U.S. intelligence and right-wing extremist groups, Lee said today: “There is abundant evidence that Bush administration officials engaged in a post-9/11 cover-up to avoid acknowledging what we now know to be true — that the FBI, CIA, and several foreign intelligence sources had picked up signs of an impending terrorist attack in the United States by bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. Such revelations underscore the need for a full-fledged Congressional investigation to explain how and why the U.S. government did not prevent the atrocities of Sept. 11…. Incompetence, rather than conspiracy, remains the most plausible explanation for the U.S. government’s failure…. We’ve been told that the CIA has been playing with a weak hand dealt by Bill Clinton — that U.S. spies were hamstrung by red tape, which prohibited them from enlisting terrorists, human rights abusers, and other unsavory characters as espionage assets — but this is patently false…. The public would be well-served if longstanding CIA ties to violent Islamic fundamentalists were thoroughly scrutinized by Congress and news media.”
DAVID MacMICHAEL
A former analyst for the CIA, MacMichael said today: “I certainly support an independent commission. But there is little conflict between Congress and the executive branch in matters which question the legitimacy of major government action. The Congressional investigations into Iran-Contra and the ‘October Surprise’ covered up more than they uncovered.”
JOSEPH GERSON
Director of the Peace and Economic Security Program at the American Friends Service Committee, Gerson said today: “Clearly there were some intelligence failures. Unfortunately, given where the Democrats are, what we’re likely to see come out of this is more unified intelligence agencies instead of dealing with Bush’s global military crusade. So long as we have a policy of full-spectrum dominance, we’re going to have attacks from any number of sources.”
More Information
KIT GAGE
National coordinator of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, Gage said: “It is troubling that the administration took eight months before describing early warnings about possible hijackings.”
CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON
Professor of communications at American University, Simpson is author of the books Blowback, Science of Coercion and National Security Directives of the Reagan and Bush Administrations.
WAYNE MADSEN
Madsen, a former communications security specialist for the National Security Agency, has recently authored a number of articles, including “Did We Have Advance Warning of Attack?”
BEAU GROSSCUP
Grosscup is author of The Newest Explosions of Terrorism and professor of international relations at California State University in Chico.
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
