Debunk This...

Pre-9/11 Intelligence Ignored

From a letter sent by FBI translator Sibel Edmonds to 9/11 Commission members, following the publication of the commission's report:

"I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I, as a witness to the commission, made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues I am not aware of were also omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations...."
She then cites these specifics:

More than four months prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had been providing the bureau with information since 1990, provided two FBI agents and a translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by Osama bin Laden.... Through his contacts in Afghanistan, he received information that: 1) Osama bin Laden was planning a major terrorist attack in the United States targeting four or five major cities; 2) the attack was going to involve airplanes; 3) some of the individuals in charge of carrying out this attack were already in place in the United States; 4) the attack was going to be carried out soon, in a few months.

The agents who received this information reported it to their superior, Special Agent in Charge of Counterterrorism Thomas Frields at the FBI Washington Field Office, by filing 302 forms, and the translator translated and documented this information. No action was taken by the special agent in charge, and after 9/11 the agents and the translators were told to "keep quiet" regarding this issue.

Edmonds' claims have been thoroughly verified and substantiated, as she points out in her letter:
As you are fully aware, the problems cited in this letter are by no means based upon personal opinion or unverified allegations. As you are fully aware, these issues and incidents have been confirmed by a senior Republican senator, Charles Grassley, and a senior Democrat senator, Patrick Leahy. As you know, according to officials with direct knowledge of the Department of Justice Inspector General's report on my allegations, "none of [my] allegations were disproved." As you are fully aware, even FBI officials "confirmed all [my] allegations and denied none" during their unclassified meetings with the Senate Judiciary staff over two years ago. However, your commission's hearings, 567-page report and recommendations do not include these serious issues, major incidents and systemic problems. Your report's coverage of FBI translation problems consists of a brief microscopic footnote (Footnote #25). When Edmonds turned whistle-blower, she was promptly silenced with gag orders. Rep. Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, promised to hold public hearings with Edmonds, a pledge which he now says he "does not recall."

If you would like to know why Edmonds has been silenced and what secrets federal officials are hiding, contact Waxman in Washington DC at 202-225-3976 (phone) or 202-225-4099 (fax) or in Los Agneles, 310-652-3095 (phone) or 323-655-0502 (fax) and ask for open, public hearings on her case.

If you would like to read the original letter in its entirety, here is a PDF. Her official website, which provides much more information and details on other scandals that are being brushed under the rug, is here. .