Bush uses bad intelligence again

Marklet12

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Remember that press conference on Monday when Bush lambasted the press for exposing his secret surveillance by comparing it to an instance when the press allegedly tipped Osama off that the US could track his satellite phone? Pretty dramatic, except that case is most likely false. Surprise surprise. But lies make baby Jesus cry.

Interestingly, the paper the Bush admin referred to was the staunchly conservative Washington Times, which caused the WT to run a long article yesterday rebutting the claim. Then, the Washington POST comes to the Times' defense and calls it an urban legend

President Bush asserted this week that the news media published a U.S. government leak in 1998 about Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, alerting the al Qaeda leader to government monitoring and prompting him to abandon the device.

The story of the vicious leak that destroyed a valuable intelligence operation was first reported by a best-selling book, validated by the Sept. 11 commission and then repeated by the president.

But it appears to be an urban myth.

The al Qaeda leader's communication to aides via satellite phone had already been reported in 1996 -- and the source of the information was another government, the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan at the time.

The second time a news organization reported on the satellite phone, the source was bin Laden himself.


What does it take to be a White House factchecker these days? A junior high education?
 

Ginny

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This is comparable to a woman on television this morning showing all the policeman directing traffic in NY b/c of all the people walking to work without a transit system... she went on to say that "all the policeman have been pulled from their security checkpoints" so that they may monitor traffic/commuters. HELLO? :scratch:

:preach:Attention, criminals! Here is your ticket!

Also comparable to the ding dong journalists repeatedly asking the President what type of surveillance is currently being used in the "war on terror".

What does it take for the media to get a clue? A junior high education?
 
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Marklet12

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Ginny said:
This is comparable to a woman on television this morning showing all the policeman directing traffic in NY b/c of all the people walking to work without a transit system... she went on to say that "all the policeman have been pulled from their security checkpoints" so that they may monitor traffic/commuters. HELLO? :scratch:

:preach:Attention, criminals! Here is your ticket!

Also comparable to the ding dong journalists repeatedly asking the President what type of surveillance is currently being used in the "war on terror".

What does it take for the media to get a clue? A junior high education?
So how did what the Washington Times, or any other media outlet, reported tip off Osama? The fact that Osama used satellite phones WAS DISCLOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT WHEN IT INDICTED HIM IN 1998 (do a google of "indictment + 1998 + bin laden").

And let's pretend that the press did blow the satellite phone secret...that is a "method"...what is being disclosed now, that the government listens to international transmissions, is NOT a new "method"...do you really think terrorists have been using email and phones because they thought, in good faith, that the Great Satan was honoring the letter of the law on warrants (nevermind FISA)?

I'm sick of this loser president and his loser cabinet blaming their idiocy on other people. It's just like my college rival coach blaming his bball team's losses on crowd attendance. At least if we had a 'cut and run' president, we'd have cut our losses. Instead, we have a slowly lose and whine about it president. Great.
 
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awesome liver

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Yojimbo said:
Remember that press conference on Monday when Bush lambasted the press for exposing his secret surveillance by comparing it to an instance when the press allegedly tipped Osama off that the US could track his satellite phone? Pretty dramatic, except that case is most likely false. Surprise surprise. But lies make baby Jesus cry.

Interestingly, the paper the Bush admin referred to was the staunchly conservative Washington Times, which caused the WT to run a long article yesterday rebutting the claim. Then, the Washington POST comes to the Times' defense and calls it an urban legend




What does it take to be a White House factchecker these days? A junior high education?

nah, a degree in creative writing.
 
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