The Democrat Times of New York; At it again!

The New York Times or as I like to call them The Democrat Times of New York recently reported that former CIA Director George Tenet and Counterterrorism Chief J. Cofer Black met on July 10, 2001 with National Security Advisor (at the time) Condoleezza Rice to warn of an imminent Al-Qaeda attack on the US and that this information was withheld from the 9/11 Commission. Problem is the reporter, Philip Shenon, got the story wrong. After apparently and let me say allegedly doing someone else’s bidding, he offered a new contradictory account saying that the 9/11 Commission had been told of the Rice-Tenet meeting.

This is what Shenon’s Monday morning article called 9/11 Panel Members Weren’t Told of Meeting said:

Members of the Sept. 11 commission said today that they were alarmed that they were told nothing about a White House meeting in July 2001 at which George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, is reported to have warned Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, about an imminent Al Qaeda attack and failed to persuade her to take action.

-Snip-

In interviews Saturday and today, commission members said they were never told about the meeting despite hours of public and private questioning with Ms. Rice, Mr. Tenet and Mr. Black, much of it focused specifically on how the White House had dealt with terrorist threats in the summer of 2001.

He claims Democratic commissioner, Richard Ben-Veniste, says that “the meeting was never mentioned to us.”

But surprise, surprise on the same day that article was ran, Shenon made a complete reversal by claiming in an article posted on the Times website that, in fact, members of the 9/11 Commission had been made aware of the meeting. The article called Records Show Tenet Briefed Rice on Al Qaeda Threat says:

Department of State spokesman Sean. McCormack also said records show that the Sept. 11 commission was informed about the meeting, a fact that former intelligence officials and members of the commission confirmed on Monday.

-Snip-


Mr. Tenet told members of the Sept. 11 commission about the July 10 meeting when they interviewed him in early 2004, but committee members said the former C.I.A. director never indicated he had left the White House with the impression that he had been ignored.


“Tenet never told us that he was brushed off,” said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the commission. “We certainly would have followed that up.”

Notice there is no mention of the contradictory statements from Richard Ben-Veniste!

It could be that the reporters sources didn’t have a clue as to what they were talking about, or they were using him to wield their political axes. Regardless, The New York Times should let their readers know that they got the story wrong!

Alas this is yet another example of the willingness and ease of the MSM to whack away at the Bush Administration with little regard for the truth! Journalism needs a complete overhaul and return to journalistic ethics. Today’s 24 hour showbiz journalism is doing a huge disservice to the people of this country. The internet has plenty of outlets for propaganda and reckless influencing, there is little need for it in our major news papers!