On May 20, 2009, General Richard Myers was at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California to give a talk and a book signing. Bruno Bruhwiler and Jeremy Rothe-Kushel of WeAreChangeLA were there to call into question the 'General's' credibility when it came to talking about 9/11 and threats to the nation. Watch the following 3 videos, created by Paul Wittenberger, to see what happened. All I'll tell you for now is that towards the end of his speech, Myers said, "I'm sorry about the disturbance. If I had anything to do with causing that, I apologize." Well, I guess you could consider that the small step of a criminal towards owning up to and doing penance for his participation in treason, mass murder and war crimes.

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y3SeRpQejM

How can that be? I thought, "The Bush administration put relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime." Tenet once said that he would not be the "Fall Guy." Maybe now would be a good time for him to nail Cheney to the wall. - Jon

Waterboarding was ‘well done,’ Cheney says

Source: rawstory.com

BY JOHN BYRNE
Published: June 1, 2009

On Iraq and 9/11: ‘That’s not something I made up’

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is usually very careful at choosing his words.

Perhaps not so today. In a speech Monday at the National Press Club, continuing along familiar themes of terrorism, Guantanamo and his hatred for The New York Times, Cheney spoke defensively of the administration’s practice of water-boarding detainees.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090531/OPINION02/905310309

There's more to the story

Published: May 31, 2009

Barrie Dunsmore's article of May 17 was basically saying that torture has been used for centuries and that Cheney and the CIA claim that torture works. The FBI disagrees. Dunsmore quoted Cheney as saying it has "kept America safe from further major acts of terrorism" (presumably like 9/11).

After describing the pros and cons of torture, Dunsmore said: "I get very nervous when I hear talk of punishing high-ranking members of the Bush administration for war crimes. … The resulting congressional gridlock would inevitably impede Obama's important agenda on which the country's future greatly depends."

Richard Clarke, Bush's Counterterrorism Czar and a holdover from the Clinton Administration, weighs in on the Bush Administration prior to and after 9/11, and recent attempts by Rice and Cheney to spin the events and their actions. Clarke gives his own spin, essentially labeling Bush Administration principals as negligent, but not calling for accountability, merely a slight correction of perspective and course. Clarke, in his book and in testimony, is one of the people who placed Cheney in the PEOC while the attacks were in progress (Against All Enemies, 2-19). Here he recalls, "Once in the bomb shelter, Cheney assembled his team while the crisis managers on the National Security Council staff coordinated the government response by video conference from the Situation Room." and quotes Cheney's recent admission that he was, without noting that this contradicts Cheney's and the 9/11 Commission's timeline; "'I'll freely admit that watching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities,' Cheney said in his recent speech."

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/05/just-like-with-iraq-facts-regarding-911.html

3 facts show that the government "fixed the facts" regarding 9/11 around a policy decision to exonerate the government from any blame whatsoever.

1. 9/11 Commission's Chief Counsel says Official Story "Almost Entirely Untrue . . . There Was an Agreement Not to Tell the Truth about What Happened"

As Daily Kos notes in a recent recommended story, the senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission - John Farmer - states in a new book that the official story of 9/11 "almost entirely untrue".

As I noted last month, he also says:

At some level of the government, at some point in time...there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened.

and

The Centre for Research on Globalization writes:

IndictBushNow files Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get to bottom of story

The cover-up of Bush-era crimes is taking a shocking but not unexpected turn. A fateful move has been made and it is certain to backfire.

A prisoner who was horribly tortured in 2002 until he agreed - at the demand of Bush torturers - to say that al-Qaeda was linked to Saddam Hussein is suddenly dead. Several weeks ago, Human Rights Watch investigators discovered the missing inmate and talked to him. He had been secretly transferred by the administration to a prison in Libya after having been held by the CIA both in secret “black hole prisons” and in Egypt.

(...)

Mr. Libi is suddenly dead. A Libyan “newspaper source” says that his death is an apparent suicide. His friends don’t believe that.

Mr. Libi joins the ranks of others, such as Bruce Ivins and David Kelly, whose convenient and suspicious suicides virtually put an end to painful government embarrassments.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/05/executive-summary-what-do-experts-say.html

Here is a very brief summary of what the experts say about torture:

• Torture doesn't work in providing information which will keep us safe

• Torture actually reduces our national security

• Prosecuting those who created the torture program will REDUCE attacks against the U.S. and against American troops

• Most of those tortured were innocent

• They were not tortured in order to prevent terrorist attacks, but to create a false justification for the war in Iraq (by creating a false linkage between Iraq and Al Qaeda) (and see this)

• The 9/11 Commission report was primarily based upon confessions from those who were tortured. However, none of the information from those who confessed is credible. For example, one of the main sources for the 9/11 Commission Report was tortured until he agreed to sign a confession that he was not even allowed to read. See also this, this, this and this.

If you are in the 9/11 Truth Movement, you may have heard someone ask "if they pulled it off to go to war with Iraq, then why didn't they get Iraqis on the planes?" Now you can tell them, because they didn't need them to be Iraqis. All they had to do was torture people to get the connection that they wanted. It also didn't hurt to have a media willing to parrot whatever the Administration wanted them to (read Fact #'s 12, and 27). - Jon

Detainee whose tortured tales were used as justification for Iraq war ‘committed suicide’ in Libyan prison

Source: rawstory.com

BY STEPHEN C. WEBSTER
Published: May 14, 2009

The chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell says that the Bush Administration authorized torture of detainees before even rendering a legal opinion on the practice — and that they sought to torture detainees in an effort to produce intelligence tying Iraq to al Qaeda.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/05/one-of-main-sources-for-911-commission.html

A special report from NBC news states:

The NBC News analysis shows that more than one quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al-Qaida operatives who were subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques. In fact, information derived from the interrogations is central to the Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks. The analysis also shows - and agency and commission staffers concur - there was a separate, second round of interrogations in early 2004, done specifically to answer new questions from the Commission.

I don't know why Rawstory is treating this like "news." It has been known for a long time. Read Fact #31 of my article, "The Facts Speak For Themselves." I am happy though that they mention the September 11th Advocates call for a new investigation. - Jon

Source: rawstory.com

By Stephen C. Webster
Published: May 13, 2009

Much of the material cited in the 9/11 Commission’s findings was derived from terror war detainees during brutal CIA interrogations authorized by the Bush administration, according to a Wednesday report.

“More than one-quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al Qaeda operatives subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques,” writes former NBC producer Robert Windrem in The Daily Beast. “In fact, information derived from the interrogations was central to the 9/11 Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks.”

C-Span video at article link below; for more info on FBI Agent Ali Soufan and how he figures into the 9/11 investigation, see his profile: http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=ali_soufan_1

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/13/ex-fbi-agent-no-actionable-intelligence-from-enhanced-interrogations/
Ex-FBI agent: Waterboarding produced ‘no actionable intel’ BY DAVID EDWARDS

Published: May 13, 2009
Updated 11 hours ago

A former FBI agent who interrogated suspected terrorists told a Senate panel Wednesday that no actionable intelligence was gained from “enhanced interrogations” such as waterboarding.

“I strongly believe that it is a mistake to use what has become known as enhanced interrogation techniques,” said Ali Soufan who worked for the FBI from 1997 to 2005. “These techniques, from an operational perspective, are slow, ineffective, unreliable, and harmed our efforts to defeat al Qaeda.”

not exactly "news", except that a former NBC producer is saying this...

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/13/report-much-of-911-commissions-findings-cite-intelligence-garnered-by-torture/
Report: much of 9/11 Commission’s findings cite intelligence garnered by torture BY STEPHEN C. WEBSTER

Published: May 13, 2009
Updated 1 hour ago

Much of the material cited in the 9/11 Commission’s findings was derived from terror war detainees during brutal CIA interrogations authorized by the Bush administration, according to a Wednesday report.

“More than one-quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al Qaeda operatives subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques,” writes former NBC producer Robert Windrem in The Daily Beast. “In fact, information derived from the interrogations was central to the 9/11 Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks.”

In this article, the AP writer continually refers to Zelikow's memo as if it's a fact; as far as I know, the only evidence of it existing in 2005 is that Zelikow, a completely untrustworthy source, claims he wrote it and circulated it. Perhaps he did. Nowhere does this article claim the AP has already obtained a copy, and they say, "Several members of Congress have asked the Obama administration to search for a copy." Still, it will be interesting to see what he has to say, and how he justifies not resigning, knowing what was going on, and having the opinion that he alleges he did.

Profile: Zelikow
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=philip_zelikow

Historian Sheldon Stern found numerous errors in their transcription of JFK tapes, some of which change the context of statements and conversations, despite him being able to clearly understand the words when he reviewed the tapes himself:
May 2000: Future Authors of 9/11 Report Produce John F. Kennedy Book Riddled with Errors
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a052000zelikowmay#a052000zelikowmay

The article quotes Zelikow as saying he "suspect[s]" he gave Rice a copy:

Rice stumbles when asked about torture by fourth-grader by John Byrne
http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/05/04/rice-stumbles-when-asked-about-torture-by-fourth-grader/#tab=home&url=home.php

Rice: "September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die"

Profile: Condoleeza Rice
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=condoleezza_rice

Selections:

July 6, 2001: Clarke Tells Rice to Warn Agencies to Prepare for 3 to 5 Simultaneous Attacks; No Apparent Response
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a070601threetofive#a070601threetofive

July 10, 2001: CIA Director Gives Urgent Warning to White House of Imminent, Multiple, Simultaneous Al-Qaeda Attacks, Possibly Within US
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a071001tenetwarnsrice#a071001tenetwarnsrice

July 27, 2001: Rice Briefed on Terrorist Threats, Advised to Keep Ready
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a072701ricebriefed#a072701ricebriefed

Between August 6 and September 11, 2001: No High-Level Meetings to Discuss ‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US’ Memo

From Rawstory: "House Minority Leader John Boehner has posted an alarming new video on his YouTube page that includes images of the Pentagon burning on Sept. 11, 2009, and implications that the Congressman, or those who created the video, support torture techniques used on terror war prisoners during the Bush administration."

Note that Sept. 11, 2009 should have read Sept. 11, 2001, but I've quoted Rawstory verbatim, errors included. They or may not correct it soon.