New Report: Clinton Era CIA a Failure

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Posted Aug 21st 2007 2:53PM by Patrick Casey
Filed under: Scandal, Hillary Clinton, War on Terror

There is an explosive new declassified report just released by the CIA's own Office of Inspector General (OIG) titled CIA Accountability With Respect to the 9/11 Attacks (caution, PDF). It represents the results of an investigation conducted by the OIG after 9/11, concurrent with the other fairly useless 9/11 commissions and committees, investigating the attack and the failures of our intelligence community leading up to it.

The report directly refutes the impression given by the prior administration during the 9/11 Commission Hearings about the competence of the CIA and the intelligence community in general during the Clinton years. Notably, the report refers to years of mistake after mistake -- and from the dates used in the summary it's clear that the OIG was not talking about problems that started after President Bush took office in 2001.

This is not good news for Hillary Clinton, since many people associated with her husband's administration are playing key roles in her election campaign, and would (I assume) hold important positions in any potential Hillary administration.

This Executive Summary was issued in June 2005, which makes me curious why it wasn't released (or leaked, which the CIA is particularly good at) before now -- say, prior to the 2006 elections. The first page claims that the OIG's investigation found no evidence of violations of the law or misconduct. But incompetence from the top down -- that's another story.

The report confirms that CIA Director George Tenet did, in fact, issue a memo to the CIA in 1998 stating that we are at war with the terrorists. But the report also concludes that neither Tenet nor anyone directed by Tenet did anything, other than than issuing that statement, to address the "war" in any definitive way. No strategy to combat terrorism was ever developed by Tenet or the Clinton administration.

In fact, in one of the most remarkable findings in the summary, the IG determined that CIA Director Tenet was successful in getting supplemental funding from Congress to fight this new war on terrorism - specifically funds to fight al-Qaida. But the CIA diverted the money appropriated for this purpose to other unspecified "needs" within the CIA, including administrative costs. In fact, as opposed to the contention by the Clintonistas that no expense was spared fighting al-Qaida, there was always money left over in the CIA's counter-terrorism accounts at the end of the fiscal years investigated.

Read the whole thing. Although I'm sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg, it puts the lie to the Clinton administration's claims that they took the fight against terrorism seriously during their years in office, and that 9/11 was the Bush administration's fault. It's clear that by turning the CIA from an effective intelligence agency into a political apparatus whose hierarchy was populated by Democrat political appointees (former lobbyist Tenet, for example), Clinton and the Democrats actively destroyed any capability to prevent 9/11.

Furthermore, I firmly believe that by not holding the CIA (and its enabler the State Department) responsible in some measure for 9/11, President Bush has allowed the problems to fester and get worse. Bush had the chance, immediately after 9/11, to rebuild the intelligence and foreign service communities from the bottom up. He blinked, and we are all worse off because of it.

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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)

1. The ball was dropped in the previous administration, and not picked up by the new administration in time to prevent 9/11. Will the next administration get it right?

Steve Bonomo at 6:11PM on Aug 21st 2007

2. Last time I checked, the 9/11 commission blamed both the Clinton and Bush administrations for failing to connect the dots that lead to the tragedy on 9/11.
As to whether or not this is bad news for Hillary Clinton, that remains to be seen. No doubt Patrick you are HOPING it is bad news for her.
Your agenda is rather obvious....

David S. at 6:30PM on Aug 21st 2007

3. This is old news. It should have been above the fold front page material and would have been if the blame could have been laid at the feet of Bush. The fact that it cannot means there will be no coverage at all from the liberal media. As far as the 9/11 commission is concerned...politicians polluted the results of the commission. Their primary purpose was to whitewash and protect both parties from embarrassment. The fact that the results of the investigation was debated heavily tells me that the purpose and results were political and not for the best interests of the Country.

David at 7:07PM on Aug 21st 2007

4. Let's remember that the current Bush CIA is also a docuented failure. Not only that, the current CIA has been caught in far more lies and illegal acts than anything during the 8 Clinton years.

Robert Campbell at 9:10PM on Aug 21st 2007

5. Yeap, that old George Tennet guy was Clinton CIA Director and he knew every angle on Bin Ladens movement.It's about time to vote in real American citizens that put American peoples lives before politics.It is time for President Mitt Romney to clean up the White House and Congess.

Jor at 2:52AM on Aug 22nd 2007

6.
Just wondering why when President Bush took office he'd didn't take the necessary steps to fix the mess the at the CIA ? Why didn't he fire Tennet immediately after taking office ? Exactly what steps were taken by the Bush administration after taking office to prevent 9/11 ? Can you name even ONE ? Read Richard A. Clarkes "Against All Enemies" if you want an insight as to how security issues were handled after 2000. If anything the new Bush administration weakened an already insufficient anti-terrorism program. Clinton had no strategy ? The Bush administration basically ignored the problem after taking office. Blink ? Yeh sure - if you say so.
If there was no effective strategy to combat terrorism under Clinton as least they recognized there was the threat. And this was BEFORE 9/11.
Ironically President Bush awarded the now much maligned George Tennet the Congressional Medal of Freedom. This was AFTER 9/11.
Good luck on rewriting that part of history.

max at 12:13PM on Aug 22nd 2007

7. This is not really knew information as those of use that have kept accounts over these decades KNOWS that The Clinton years did more towards fostering terrorism then in any other time of presidency. He let them do what ever they wanted to,to us, while at the same time trying to do away with most of our military assets. He was by far the worst president for a time of sorrows and war. History will expose his failures as it unfolds. But how could we expect much out of him? Just look at WHAT he married and you'll see how bad his judgements are.

Larry at 8:51PM on Aug 25th 2007

8. I blame Clinton for 9/11. I think Sandy Berger destroyed warnings that Clinton didn't want found, Berger took the fall for the clintons, if Hillary got elected would he be put back on payroll?????????/ I think he was promised something, think he is on payroll? Hillary has some very dark secrets she is hiding and doesn't want them out before 2008, as she said her records wouldn't come until then, so________________waht is she hiding??????????? Berger sort of went into hiding until election is over??????? Who is paying him until then????????????????? Clintons are bad news.

Jane at 3:51PM on Aug 27th 2007

9. Open letter

Are these the people we are going to have in government, with you?

Connecting the dots

Dear Mr. Giuliani,

Running for office? Please, read the following, you will be asked about it.
Your strong support for the judge mentioned herein, and in return, her and her family’s (monetary and otherwise) support of you raise serious safety, security, judicial and ethical questions. When you don’t do anything about this “judge”, in order to protect all people including children, what kind of safety, security, law and justice are we all pursuing?
Friends, concerned citizens including myself, will generate this letter throughout our great country.

Open season on Blacks, Jews, children, women… and hate crimes!?

Dear Madam/Sir, fellow Americans,

In reality, the following is an exceptionally dangerous ruling by a nice Jewish New York Supreme Court judge (Marilyn G. Diamond). No one is safe or protected under such ruling.

Noose found on (Black) professor's door at Columbia University? Swastikas? Death threats to Jews, children, women? What racism? What hate crimes?
It’s legally justified!? Let’s get them!?.
Please, pardon the language in this communiqué.

The following explicit messages as expressed by coworkers to an employee at a workplace and later conveyed by same (identified/recognizable voice) perpetrator to same employee’s answering machine at home were presented to New York Supreme Court as evidence. In what appears as a ruling of a first impression, a New York Supreme Court judge in an unprecedented move contrary to the rules of evidence, has ruled that life threatening/racial statements containing explicit intent(s) to harm, rape, kill children and/or women, specifically of Jewish persuasion, conveyed at ones workplace and/or communicated to same ones home, cannot be introduced as evidence at trial for they are “inflammatory (and) prejudicial”. (Supreme Court of the State of New York - New York County Index No: 113786/03).This New York State ruling(s) and its implication(s) will among other issues, makes it all but impossible to prosecute hate crimes, and may be presented as a case law rationalizing hate crimes.

Messages conveyed by employees at workplace

• “You fucking Jew! Go back to your country! Nobody wants you here. Everybody hates you”.
• I hate Jewish people. And you know why? Because they are my bosses and they don’t pay me enough”.
• “Slut Jew”.
• “Robert stepped out. Only the Jewish bitch is here”.
• “Do not cooperate with the Israeli bitch”.
• “I’m holding myself from punching you! You fucking Jew”.
• “Tell this Jewish bitch, we spit in her coffee everyday”.
• “You’re dead meat”.
• “We know were you live, fucking Jew!”.
• “We know were your children are, we’re doing to get them”.

Messages received at home answering machine

• “Yeah, we know where you fucking live now, bitch. Watch it, you’re gonna fucking die, bitch. Yeah, keep fucking around, you fucking Jewish slut. Watch me fucking catch you. Ain’t gonna be no easy shit either. You gonna get raped, you nasty little slut Jew. Watch”.
• Come back to FAIRWAY again and we’re going to fucking kill you bitch”.
• You’re dead (last name)!”.

In addition to the unprecedented ruling by a judge of questionable character, clearly arranged on behalf of a prominent food establishment catering to (the) prominent officials, further abuse of power, out of line activities were successively carried out by NYPD, NYC and NYS official, all in order to shield that food establishment, who’s employees carried out the above offenses on their premises, with their knowledge.

Complaint filed with NYPD regarding the above life threatening messages, produced an NYPD detective who came up with a demand for ($900) bribe money in order to initiate an investigation. An unheard of demand from police. Then, when complaints were filed with police internal affairs and with city and state government offices regarding police demand for bribe money, considerable efforts by officials to cover up this dreadful incident came into play. Furthermore, the captive NY media “so concerned with public safety” know of the tainting/spiting into people’s food, the hate crimes committed at that food establishment, and about the police cover up… but the public does not. Yet, perhaps there is still hope. Complaints regarding police demand for bribe were registered with NY Governor’s office who as NYS top Prosecutor vowed to clean up NY government of corruption once elected to office, the NYS office of the unblemished Attorney General, and with the NYC Public Advocate's Office, the very office who with all due respect called for a “thorough investigation” of the (faraway) Phoenix police when one of their own tragically died while in police custody. Hopefully, comparable resources will be devoted to prevent harm or untimely death to others as well, and an investigation into police misconduct here at home will also take place. It’s all about people’s safety, since tragedy does not discriminate.

The thugs are still at large and continue to impose serious threat to public health/safety since they most likely go on tainting/spiting into people’s foodstuff at their food store/workplace. Equally important, these thug’s specific unrestrained threats to harm my children and my wife for being Jewish and attempting to put an end to all this, remains real. Acts of terror weather prompted by foreign or domestic perpetrators are by all means acts of terror period.
This is a time sensitive issue/communiqué intended to (hopefully) prevent uncalled-for bloodshed.
Learn more about this nice Republican Jewish judge at: Google, and at > http://www.judicialaccountability.org/articles/diamondnyjudgeprobedbyfbi.htm
Where that nice Republican Jewish judge, as reported, and among other things:
•
Judge Eyed in Court-Transcript Probe
By Brad Hamilton, New York Post, May 7, 2006
The state court watchdog is investigating charges that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Marilyn Diamond changed official transcripts, allegedly to help cover up favorable rulings she made for pals, The Post has learned. The Commission on Judicial Conduct interviewed court reporter Maurice Schwartzberg two weeks ago - and he admitted making "substantial revisions" to transcripts at the judge's request in one case.
•
Judge Slapped in Art 'Scam'
By Brad Hamilton, New York Post, December 25, 2005
A federal judge-citing 24 alleged illegal acts-has ordered embattled Manhattan jurist Marylin Diamond and two associates to enter settlement talks with a family that claims the trio stole hundreds of millions from an elderly art heiress. The judge ruled the heiress' surviving relatives showed enough proof of two dozen fraudulent acts by Diamond's co-trustee of the family trust, Janet Neschis, and another associate to allow their racketeering lawsuit to go forward. Manhattan federal Judge Richard Berman also found that the relatives presented sufficient evidence for a special trust to be created to freeze the late woman's fortune, which the relatives value as high as $2 billion. But a lawsuit by surviving relatives alleges the two women and Littman conspired to take advantage of the Alzheimer's-stricken octogenarian. The case includes allegations that Diamond and Neschis also ripped off the Anturia Foundation, an overseas entity Jacques Gelman set up in Liechtenstein that was once worth $40 million but is now worth about $6 million.
•
Judge's $$ Offer in 'Ripoff'
By Brad Hamilton, New York Post, October 31, 2004
Embattled Manhattan Supreme Court judge Marylin Diamond has made a multimillion-dollar settlement offer to an Israeli research center that claims she and her ex-law partner ripped off millions it stood to inherit, sources close to the deal said. Diamond made the offer last week even as she and ex-partner Janet Neschis were battling to get the center's 3-year-old lawsuit tossed out of Manhattan federal court. The renowned Weizmann Institute of Science claims in court papers that it was due to inherit about $8 million from wealthy art collector Natasha Gelman upon her death in 1998. But the institute claims it lost out after Diamond and Neschis got their hands on the elderly woman's vast fortune.
•
Court Tosses Judge's Rulings
Dareh Gregorian, New York Post, March 24, 2004
A state appeals court yesterday tossed all of embattled Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marylin Diamond's rulings in a civil case involving JPMorgan Chase, finding she failed to disclose her financial ties to the banking giant.
•
Greg B. Smith and Bob Port, New York Daily News, February 10, 2004

Justice Marylin Diamond appointed her former law partner and close friend to handle a sick man's legal affairs. That same friend oversaw a trust that later awarded Diamond $1.1 million. She hired an engineer who was a witness in a case she heard to work on her apartment building, not disclosing her actions until after she had ruled in favor of the party that had called the engineer. And 19 times since 2000, she has heard civil cases while she or her husband owned stock in one party - without disclosing her financial ties to the opposing side. Diamond refused repeated requests from the Daily News for an interview and did not respond to written questions.
•
State Court Probe Eyes Judge and 'Art of the Steal'
By Brad Hamilton, New York Post, January 18, 2004
The state court system is investigating charges that embattled Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Marylin Diamond lied about her relationship with an art heiress to loot the woman's trusts.
•
Cases vs. Diamond Dismissed
By Michele Mcphee, Daily News Police Bureau Chief, April 3, 2003.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct has dismissed more than a dozen complaints against Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Marylin Diamond, even as the FBI opened a case into whether she engaged in potential conflicts of interest from the bench. The commission, which is run by Gerald Stern, dismissed all of the complaints without contacting the people who wrote his agency letters.
•
F.B.I. Investigates Judge's Decisions for Defendant, Officials Say
By William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, March 29, 2003
The F.B.I. is investigating accusations that an acting State Supreme Court justice, in several civil cases in Manhattan, favored a defendant represented by the law firm where the judge's husband works, law enforcement officials said yesterday…The investigation has focused on the role of the judge, Marylin G. Diamond.
•
The NY Judge Who Was Previously Accused Of Sending Herself Threatening Letters
New York Daily News, Michele McPhee, New York Daily News, March 28, 2003.
The FBI has launched an investigation into Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marylin Diamond, focusing on possible conflict of interest from the bench, the Daily News has learned. FBI Special Agent Matthew McPhillips has interviewed two men in the so-called Diamond Support Group, a cadre of 21 former litigants who say the judge ruled against them because of political alliances and personal vendettas. Separately, Sherrill Spatz, the inspector general for the state Office of Court Administration, also has opened a probe into Diamond's decisions, sources said
•
Jewess Judge Diamond Writes Anti-Semitic Threats To Herself the Judge's Mysterious Letters
By Michele Mcphee, New York Daily News, Daily News Police Bureau Chief, Saturday, September 14th, 2002.

A criminal profiler who analyzed threatening letters sent to a Manhattan judge has concluded that the judge wrote them herself, the Daily News has learned. Since Acting Supreme Court Justice Marylin Diamond reported the first of the bizarre threats three years ago, she has been guarded virtually around-the-clock by NYPD detectives or Supreme Court officers, according to law enforcement sources.

Comments/suggestions or help stop/end this, to: kmark52@yahoo.com