Judith Miller to assert she was warned of large scale attack before 9/11

[zimv20]

raw story link (http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Former_NY_Times_reporter_Judith_Miller_0518.html)
alternet link (text below) (http://alternet.org/story/36388/)


The 9/11 Story That Got Away

In 2001, an anonymous White House source leaked top-secret NSA intelligence to reporter Judith Miller that Al Qaida was planning a major attack on the United States. But the story never made it into the paper.

[...]

Now, in an exclusive interview, Miller reveals how the attack on the Cole spurred her reporting on Al Qaida and led her, in July 2001, to a still-anonymous top-level White House source, who shared top-secret NSA signals intelligence (SIGINT) concerning an even bigger impending Al Qaida attack, perhaps to be visited on the continental United States.

Ultimately, Miller never wrote that story either. But two months later -- on Sept. 11 -- Miller and her editor at the Times, Stephen Engelberg, both remembered and regretted the story they "didn't do."

[miller:]
"But I did manage to have a conversation with a source that weekend. The person told me that there was some concern about an intercept that had been picked up. The incident that had gotten everyone's attention was a conversation between two members of Al Qaida. And they had been talking to one another, supposedly expressing disappointment that the United States had not chosen to retaliate more seriously against what had happened to the Cole. And one Al Qaida operative was overheard saying to the other, 'Don't worry; we're planning something so big now that the U.S. will have to respond.'

"And I was obviously floored by that information. I thought it was a very good story: (1) the source was impeccable; (2) the information was specific, tying Al Qaida operatives to, at least, knowledge of the attack on the Cole; and (3) they were warning that something big was coming, to which the United States would have to respond. This struck me as a major page one-potential story."

in my mind, there are two stories here. the first is that the NYT did not end up running the story. reading through the article (a lot more than i posted), i get the sense it was a typical journalist/editor debate about whether enough was known to run it.

the second story is that the information was leaked to ms miller in the first place. i'd like to know if that's the typical kind of information she got from the source, or if this was more along the scooter libby line of leaking. and if so, just how much was known about the coming 9/11 attack that we have yet learn?

[IJ Reilly]

Not that Judith Miller is the most impeccable source, but this story does raise a series of questions, the last one being the most important: What did the administration know about the threats before they became reality?

Also, if the "conversation" between the two Al Qaida operatives related here is to be taken literally, then it would appear that the U.S. has played right into their plans by invading Iraq and generally pushing the U.S. towards police-statism. We've exceeded their wildest expectations, I'd say.

[XNine]

Not that Judith Miller is the most impeccable source, but this story does raise a series of questions, the last one being the most important: What did the administration know about the threats before they became reality?

Also, if the "conversation" between the two Al Qaida operatives related here is to be taken literally, then it would appear that the U.S. has played right into their plans by invading Iraq and generally pushing the U.S. towards police-statism. We've exceeded their wildest expectations, I'd say.

Damn straight we did. We took it hook, line and sinker. And we sure have sunk on various level of democracy and public rights.

Why not post something like this? Even if you don't have every bit of detail, it would still raise suspicion from the people and government officials alike, who would then have to disclose what they know (or at least in portion, to make sure they were able to twhart these people before they comitted the attacks.)

To think this one little story could have prevented the whole thing... :(

[skunk]

Not that Judith Miller is the most impeccable source, but this story does raise a series of questions, the last one being the most important: What did the administration know about the threats before they became reality?
Also, if the "conversation" between the two Al Qaida operatives related here is to be taken literally, then it would appear that the U.S. has played right into their plans by invading Iraq and generally pushing the U.S. towards police-statism. We've exceeded their wildest expectations, I'd say.More to the point, perhaps, is that this indicates that they should have been aware of the possibility that such attacks were designed to provoke a response. In other words, they should have known that they were playing Bin Laden's game. Reckless in the extreme, I'd say.

[IJ Reilly]

More to the point, perhaps, is that this indicates that they should have been aware of the possibility that such attacks were designed to provoke a response. In other words, they should have known that they were playing Bin Laden's game. Reckless in the extreme, I'd say.

Even more to the point, foolish in the extreme. I've heard time again about how the U.S. "didn't do enough" in response to previous attacks (glassifying some Middle Eastern nation, presumably), when in fact the U.S. was being goaded by the terrorists into doing too much. Which we've now done, in spades.

[mactastic]

Even more to the point, foolish in the extreme. I've heard time again about how the U.S. "didn't do enough" in response to previous attacks (glassifying some Middle Eastern nation, presumably), when in fact the U.S. was being goaded by the terrorists into doing too much. Which we've now done, in spades.
Which means the "Bush is my man, Kerry is bin Laden's" bumper stickers would have been true had the names been reversed.

[zimv20]

More to the point, perhaps, is that this indicates that they should have been aware of the possibility that such attacks were designed to provoke a response. In other words, they should have known that they were playing Bin Laden's game.
and it took the NYT (hell, they still haven't said anything, it was judy miller) 4 1/2 years to tell us.

[solvs]

and if so, just how much was known about the coming 9/11 attack that we have yet learn?
"Bin Laden determined to attack the United States".

What was SiliconAddict's sig at one point? "Never suspect conspiracy when incompetence would accomplish the same result"? Something like that.

[CanadaRAM]

Great but... such non specific knowledge means... what, when you are talking about a response?

I mean - everybody knows that there is going to be another big earthquake on the San Andreas fault. Impeccable foreknowledge.

Al Q says "Yes, we must strike a major blow against America" Take that one as given. Without where and when, however, all speculation about what could/should have been done is fruitless hindsight. It could have been a bomb at a highway interchange or 3, poison koolaid in a drinking water system, anthrax powder in the mail, rat poison in shipments of Viagara.

[solvs]

Great but... such non specific knowledge means... what, when you are talking about a response?
That's what we'd like to know. What she knew, who said what. Then we'd learn how bad this thing really is.

Meanwhile, the conspiracy theorists go nuts and the rest of us start to wonder.

[IJ Reilly]

So, should Judith Miller be living in the cell next to Zacarias Moussaoui? After all, he was sentenced to life in prison for knowing something about 9/11 before it happened and not warning anyone. If what she says is true, isn't Miller just as guilty?

[freeny]

Yet another reason to check out Fronlines "The Man Who Knew".

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/

[pdham]

Damn straight we did. We took it hook, line and sinker. And we sure have sunk on various level of democracy and public rights.

Why not post something like this? Even if you don't have every bit of detail, it would still raise suspicion from the people and government officials alike, who would then have to disclose what they know (or at least in portion, to make sure they were able to twhart these people before they comitted the attacks.)

To think this one little story could have prevented the whole thing... :(


Hindsight is 20/20. Of course now it seems absolutely terrible and nonsensical that the story wasn't published. But, If news outlets ran with every story that they had shady details about or where "leaked" to them, or came to them through this contacts, contacts sectretary. Then eventually noone would act on anything. look what happened after 9/11 when at least weekly, the news started reporting that there was new info on a possible terrorist attack. People stop listening.

[zimv20]

Hindsight is 20/20. Of course now it seems absolutely terrible and nonsensical that the story wasn't published.
as far as releasing the information is concerned, that's the smaller issue, whereas the larger one is why it took 4 1/2 years for someone to mention it?

then there are the larger issues about who knew what when and if the leak to ms miller was politically motivated.

[XNine]

Hindsight is 20/20. Of course now it seems absolutely terrible and nonsensical that the story wasn't published. But, If news outlets ran with every story that they had shady details about or where "leaked" to them, or came to them through this contacts, contacts sectretary. Then eventually noone would act on anything. look what happened after 9/11 when at least weekly, the news started reporting that there was new info on a possible terrorist attack. People stop listening.


I know, it's just really ****** that all of these people have lost their lives (both here in the USA, and in IRAQ) because this information wasn't brought up. America hadn't seen a large-scale terrorist attack in quite a few years before 9/11, I'm sure it would have gotten people's attention. Though, the plans could have been saved for a later date.

I dunno... I think it's a travesty that this lady, nor the government who had this kind of information tried to do anything about it.

[FFTT]

Judith Miller could have yelled till the cows come home
and nobody in this administration would have lifted a finger.