Oof. That has to hurt
Quote of note:
Freeh also said intelligence services were aware of the danger that a terrorist might use a hijacked plane as a weapon.
He said steps were taken to defend the White House as well as special events, such as the 2000 Olympic Games and meetings of world leaders, against such a threat but nothing was done to protect the country at large.
Commission Criticizes Ashcroft, FBI
Tue Apr 13, 2004 01:41 PM ET
By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commission on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Tuesday broadly criticized the Justice Department and the FBI for failing to meet the threat from al Qaeda and said Attorney General John Ashcroft did not see counterterrorism as a top priority before it was too late.
In its latest report detailing security breakdowns throughout the government, the commission issued two lengthy staff reports analyzing the failure to prevent the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people.
One report drew attention to a May 10 Justice Department document that set out priorities for 2001. The top priorities cited were reducing gun violence and combating drug trafficking. There was no mention of counterterrorism.
When Dale Watson, the head of the counterterrorism division, saw the report, he "almost fell out of his chair," the report said. "The FBI's new counterterrorism strategy was not a focus of the Justice Department in 2001."
