The 9/11 Story That Got Away

Judith Miller (of all people!) talks about the 9/11 warning story from the summer of 2001 that the New York Times considered putting on the front page but ultimately failed to report on at all. It also involves the NSA, which is interesting given the new CIA Director nominee Michael Hayden was the head of the NSA at the time.

http://www.alternet.org/story/36388 /

Here's the crux of it, IMHO, from Miller's mouth, talking about the July 4th weekend before 9/11:

"But I did manage to have a conversation with a source that weekend. The person told me that there was some concern about an intercept that had been picked up. The incident that had gotten everyone's attention was a conversation between two members of Al Qaida. And they had been talking to one another, supposedly expressing disappointment that the United States had not chosen to retaliate more seriously against what had happened to the Cole. And one Al Qaida operative was overheard saying to the other, 'Don't worry; we're planning something so big now that the U.S. will have to respond.'

"And I was obviously floored by that information. I thought it was a very good story: (1) the source was impeccable; (2) the information was specific, tying Al Qaida operatives to, at least, knowledge of the attack on the Cole; and (3) they were warning that something big was coming, to which the United States would have to respond. This struck me as a major page one-potential story.

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I should also point out that it's not that surprising to see Judith Miller's name pop up here, because she was the New York Times' most prominent reporter on terrorism related issues for years. She wrote a series on al-Qaeda in January 2001 that later won her a Pulitzer Prize. She had a good reputation then, and believe it or not, she actually worked for liberal outlets like the Progressive and NPR for years before going all neocon.

What's interesting is why didn't she reveal this almost story until now? Obviously, she and the New York Times were protecting the Bush administration's reputation. In fact, the New York Times even went so far as to remove an interesting story about al-Qaeda they'd published on September 9, 2001 immediately after 9/11. Until this day, if you try to access this story through their web archive you are sent to another story by the same article written shortly after 9/11.

So, if that's so, why is she coming out with this information now? Given that it knocks the NSA and Hayden is up for confirmation as head of the CIA, I don't think that's just a coincidence. Why she would be against his nomination I don't know, maybe the power faction she's allied with these days doesn't like him for some reason.