What Did Bush Know About 9/11?

The New York Times article this morning on President Bush's re-election plans had this to say about a remark made by Howard Dean concerning September 11th:

During (President Bush's) news conference on Monday, he was asked several questions about politics and the political implications of his policies. In response to one such question, concerning Iraq, he said that "I look forward to the political debate later on" but that "my answer is going to be the same until I'm ready to engage." That answer, he said, is, "Forget politics."

He made an exception, though, when he was asked about remarks by Howard Dean, who is now seen by White House political aides as the most likely Democratic nominee, suggesting that Mr. Bush might have had information beforehand that the country was under threat from the kind of attacks that ultimately occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. In response to that question, the president paused. Then he called Dr. Dean's comments "an absurd insinuation."

What is the truth here? MoveOn.Org reports the facts:

At his press conference yesterday, President Bush was asked about charges that he had received warnings prior to the September 11th attacks that a terrorist incident was imminent. He answered that even asking such a question was "an absurd insinuation."1 It was the same sentiment expressed by Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who said in May of 2002 that "[no one predicted] that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane."2

The problem for the president and the administration is that the White House has previously admitted that the president had personally received such specific warnings. As ABC News reported in May of 2002, "White House officials acknowledge that U.S. intelligence officials informed President Bush weeks before the September 11th attacks that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network might try to hijack American planes."3 As Condoleezza Rice said at a hastily called press conference to spin these revelations, the President specifically received an "analytic report" on August 6th, 2001 at his Crawford mansion that "talked about Osama bin Laden's methods of operation" and "mentioned hijacking."4 According to Reuters, that report was congruent with "intelligence since 1998 that said followers of bin Laden were planning to strike U.S. targets, hijack U.S. planes."5.

While the administration claims that the president's pre-9/11 warning was actually "not a warning," the threat was specific enough for Attorney General John Ashcroft to stop flying commercial airlines. While no warning was issued for the general public after Bush's personal intelligence warning, Ashcroft was flying exclusively by leased jet instead of commercial airlines because of an official "threat assessment by the FBI."6

Sources:

1. President Bush Holds Press Conference, 12/15/2003.
2. "Report Warned Of Suicide Hijackings", CBS News, 05/17/2002.
3. "Bush Was Warned of Hijackings Before 9/11; Lawmakers Want Public Inquiry", ABC News, 05/16/2002.
4. National Security Advisor Holds Press Briefing, 05/16/2002.
5. Reuters, 7/24/03.
6. "Ashcroft Flying High", CBS News, 07/26/2001.