2008 Woodie Awards
CIA and FBI face questioning
Alissa Brew
Issue date: 4/15/04 Section: News
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In light of recent testimonies about the United States level of preparation for the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush issued a statement during a press conference held on Tuesday night that was borderline apologetic of the FBI and CIA's failure to prevent the terrorist events of 9-11.
"I feel incredibly grieved when I meet with family members, and I do quite frequently. I grieve for the incredible loss of life. There are some things I wish we did looking back. Hindsight is easy," Bush said.
On Tuesday, the independent commission questioned Louis J. Freeh, director of the FBI from 1993 until he retired three months before the Sept. 11 attacks; Thomas J. Pickard, the bureau's acting director during the summer of 2001; and Attorney General John Ashcroft and his predecessor, Janet Reno.
Freeh defended the FBI and said that the bureau did a thorough job of watching terrorist threats, despite an inadequate budget. Ashcroft placed some of the blame on the Clinton administration and said that Reno made communication difficult between intelligence and criminal investigations. He also said that the FBI was underfinanced.
Reno said that during the Clinton administration, the FBI did focus on terrorist threats. However, Reno stated that she did not recall focusing on al Qaeda or the possibility of their presence in the United States.
"I never focused just on al Qaeda, because I stood there and watched the Murrah building in rubble, just as we saw the beginnings of the Oklahoma City bombing on CNN and tended to jump to conclusions," she said. "You can't jump to conclusions. You can't say that one thing is going to be our overriding issue."
There was a stark contrast between the testimonies of Pickard and Ashcroft. Pickard blamed Ashcroft, saying that Ashcroft failed to make counterterrorism a high priority and that he told Pickard that he did not want to discuss terrorism threats at FBI briefings.
Ashcroft denied making those comments to Pickard.
"I feel incredibly grieved when I meet with family members, and I do quite frequently. I grieve for the incredible loss of life. There are some things I wish we did looking back. Hindsight is easy," Bush said.
On Tuesday, the independent commission questioned Louis J. Freeh, director of the FBI from 1993 until he retired three months before the Sept. 11 attacks; Thomas J. Pickard, the bureau's acting director during the summer of 2001; and Attorney General John Ashcroft and his predecessor, Janet Reno.
Freeh defended the FBI and said that the bureau did a thorough job of watching terrorist threats, despite an inadequate budget. Ashcroft placed some of the blame on the Clinton administration and said that Reno made communication difficult between intelligence and criminal investigations. He also said that the FBI was underfinanced.
Reno said that during the Clinton administration, the FBI did focus on terrorist threats. However, Reno stated that she did not recall focusing on al Qaeda or the possibility of their presence in the United States.
"I never focused just on al Qaeda, because I stood there and watched the Murrah building in rubble, just as we saw the beginnings of the Oklahoma City bombing on CNN and tended to jump to conclusions," she said. "You can't jump to conclusions. You can't say that one thing is going to be our overriding issue."
There was a stark contrast between the testimonies of Pickard and Ashcroft. Pickard blamed Ashcroft, saying that Ashcroft failed to make counterterrorism a high priority and that he told Pickard that he did not want to discuss terrorism threats at FBI briefings.
Ashcroft denied making those comments to Pickard.