Historical Document

One of the weird distinctions Rice tried to draw was by claiming the August 6th PDB was a "historical document." I, along with the rest of the sentient population of the United States, have no idea what that's really supposed to mean. But, in any case that characterization, for what it's worth, is completely undercut by what she said just a few minutes later. From Kautilyan:

RICE: You said, did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States.

later....

KEAN: This is the last question, Senator.

KERREY: Actually it won't be a question.

In the spirit of further declassification, this is what the August 6th memo said to the president: that the FBI indicates patterns of suspicious activity in the United States consistent with preparations for hijacking.

That's the language of the memo that was briefed to the president on the 6th of August.

RICE: And that was checked out and steps were taken through FAA circulars to warn of hijackings.

In other words, it was a historical document that reported no new threat but nonetheless we responded to it as if it was a new threat.


as Franken would say...



LIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR