A couple of weeks ago, at the Republican National Convention, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush did his best to defend George W. Bush’s record, reminding his audience that the former president “kept us safe.” It’s one of those boasts that’s always been hard to understand given some of the tragedies of the Bush era.
Most notably, of course, were the attacks of 9/11, carried out 11 years ago today. We learned in 2004, during testimony from Condoleezza Rice to the 9/11 Commission, that Bush received an intelligence briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, at which he was handed a memo with an important headline: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.”
Bush, however, was on a month-long vacation at the time. He heard the briefer out and replied, “All right. You’ve covered your ass, now.” A month later, al Qaeda killed 3,000 Americans.
As scandalous as that sounds, we are still learning more about the events of that summer. Kurt Eichenwald has a piece in the New York Times today reporting that the declassified Aug. 6 memo has become notorious, but it appears even worse when “read in conjunction with the daily briefs preceding Aug. 6, the ones the Bush administration would not release.” [Update: Eichenwald is scheduled to appear on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight.]
The direct warnings to Mr. Bush about the possibility of a Qaeda attack began in the spring of 2001. By May 1, the Central Intelligence Agency told the White House of a report that “a group presently in the United States” was planning a terrorist operation. Weeks later, on June 22, the daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be “imminent,” although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible.









