WASHINGTON, 4 June — Lawmakers publicly confirmed reports Sunday on Newsweek magazine’s story that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) waited more than a year and a half after Al-Qaeda terrorist suspects entered the country before sharing their names with other agencies. And a key Senate Democrat said she is very disturbed by President Bush’s call for "pre-emptive military strikes" against nations or groups that threaten the US.
Interviewed Sunday on network news talks shows, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Senator Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, confirmed Newsweek’s report that the CIA was closely watching Nawaf Al-Hasmi and Khalid Almihdhar – both on board American Airlines Flight 77 that flew into the Pentagon.
On CNN’s "Late Edition," Sen. Feinstein told host Wolf Blitzer this report was "not new news" for her or others in the House and Senate intelligence panels, but would be the focus of a hearing by the joint intelligence committee which begins today.
"I don’t think this is the only revelation that’s going to come forward," said Sen. Feinstein.
On NBC’s "Meet the Press," FBI Director Mueller said, "I have not read the (Newsweek) article yet. I am aware that we were notified in August 2001 of two individuals who had links to a meeting in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)" in January 2000.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, and vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said the report "goes right to the heart of communication between the various intelligence agencies, CIA FBI, NSA (National Security Agency), immigration, you name it. It has not been a flow of information when people needed it between all the agencies."
"We’ve got to do better," he said.
Sen. Feinstein said Sunday she believed "racial profiling" was a factor in the "reticence of the FBI" to follow up on some leads that indicated young Muslim men with ties to Al-Qaeda were being recruited for US flight schools. "I believe it played a role in the (agency’s) reticence to move ahead" on a memo with that information submitted by a FBI agent in Phoenix in July, she added.
Feinstein said she felt racial profiling was a "real issue here," noting that the FBI knew it was not "going to be looking for blond Norwegians."
"I think the racial-profiling debate has created a kind of disservice… in the terrorism area, particularly with respect to the FBI. I believe it has had a chilling impact," said Feinstein.
In multiple talk-show appearances Sunday, Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft acknowledged the intelligence agencies could have better analyzed information that pointed to Sept. 11, but probably could not have prevented the attacks.
Also on Sunday, Sen. Feinstein told CNN she was greatly disturbed by President Bush’s call for "pre-emptive military strikes" against nations or groups that threaten this country.
"I think this is a predicate for an attack on Iraq, and I’m very concerned about it," said Feinstein.
"I think it would be a terrible mistake for the United States unilaterally to attack Iraq and to do so without any congressional authorization," she told Blitzer on CNN.
Feinstein was talking about President Bush’s Saturday commencement address to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he said "unbalanced dictators" must be stopped before they develop weapons of mass destruction or provide them to terrorist groups.
Feinstein said such a move would go beyond the authority Congress granted the president after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The authorization we gave the president with respect to 9/11 was precisely crafted to connect the use of force with those who either perpetrated or were connected to 9/11. Iraq was not. And, therefore, I think a pre-emptive attack without full debate in the Congress would be a terrible mistake."
