The name of Michael F. Scheuer, aka Anonymous, is, of
course, already scrawled on the John P. O'Neill Wal of
Heroes...Litchblau's story, though, is typically
NYTwit, referrring to the "largely glowing reaction"
to the 9/11 Commission Report, without referring to
Sibel Edmonds in particular, and writing that an
"intelligence official said that the C.I.A. quadrupled
the number of counterterrorism analysts and doubled
the number of counterterrorism officers in the year
after the Sept. 11 attacks<' without noting or at
least wondering aloud how many of them were assigned
to Iraq and Saddam instead of Al Qaeda and Osama. As
usual, no CONTEXT, no CONTINUITY.
"Out, out damn spot!"
Eric Lichtblau, New York Times: A senior officer for
the Central Intelligence Agency who led the unit that
tracked Osama bin Laden has written a blistering
letter to the Sept. 11 commission, attacking both the
C.I.A. and the commission itself over what he sees as
a failure to punish "bureaucratic cowards" in the
intelligence agencies.
The officer, Michael F. Scheuer, has written a
best-selling book under the pseudonym "Anonymous" that
is sharply critical of the way the United States has
pursued its global campaign against terrorism.
In a signed e-mail letter sent to the commission, he
lashed out in angry and highly personal tones at the
failure by the commission and the C.I.A. to hold
anyone directly accountable for Sept. 11 failures and
aimed sharp criticism at George J. Tenet, the former
director of central intelligence, without mentioning
his name.
In the Sept. 11 commission's final report, "you never
mention that the D.C.I. starved and is starving the
bin Laden unit of officers while finding plenty of
officers to staff his personal public relations
office, as well as the staffs that handled diversity,
multiculturalism, and employee newsletters," he wrote
in a letter that was sent July 31.
He also said that the United States gave short shrift
to protecting American lives before the Sept. 11
attacks so that it could pursue the sale of fighter
jets to an unnamed Arab government, which other
officials identified as the United Arab Emirates.
Repudiate the 9/11 Cover-Up and the Iraq War Lies,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/politics/17intel.html
C.I.A. Officer Denounces Agency and Sept. 11 Report
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: August 17, 2004
ASHINGTON, Aug. 16 - A senior officer for the Central
Intelligence Agency who led the unit that tracked
Osama bin Laden has written a blistering letter to the
Sept. 11 commission, attacking both the C.I.A. and the
commission itself over what he sees as a failure to
punish "bureaucratic cowards" in the intelligence
agencies.
The officer, Michael F. Scheuer, has written a
best-selling book under the pseudonym "Anonymous" that
is sharply critical of the way the United States has
pursued its global campaign against terrorism.
In a signed e-mail letter sent to the commission, he
lashed out in angry and highly personal tones at the
failure by the commission and the C.I.A. to hold
anyone directly accountable for Sept. 11 failures and
aimed sharp criticism at George J. Tenet, the former
director of central intelligence, without mentioning
his name.
In the Sept. 11 commission's final report, "you never
mention that the D.C.I. starved and is starving the
bin Laden unit of officers while finding plenty of
officers to staff his personal public relations
office, as well as the staffs that handled diversity,
multiculturalism, and employee newsletters," he wrote
in a letter that was sent July 31.
He also said that the United States gave short shrift
to protecting American lives before the Sept. 11
attacks so that it could pursue the sale of fighter
jets to an unnamed Arab government, which other
officials identified as the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Scheuer's e-mail, a copy of which was made
available to The New York Times, was a dissenting note
in what has otherwise been largely glowing reaction to
the Sept. 11 commission's final report last month,
which has set off broad debate about how best to
restructure the intelligence community. His letter,
which says restructuring is not the answer, is also
extraordinary in that it comes from a current senior
case officer at the C.I.A., where internal
whistle-blowers are rare. From 1996 to 1999, he led
the C.I.A. unit that tracked Osama bin Laden in
Afghanistan and he continues to serve in a senior
counterterrorism post.
While some intelligence officials took issue with Mr.
Scheuer's version of events, the C.I.A. and the Sept.
11 commission declined to respond to his specific
accusations.
"A lot of people call and e-mail us with their
thoughts," said Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the Sept.
11 commission. "Some people criticize us, some people
praise us and we don't respond. The report is out
there for the American people to judge. "
In recent weeks, Mr. Scheuer has given numerous
anonymous interviews promoting his book, "Imperial
Hubris," including some television appearances in
which his face was not shown. But the C.I.A. has now
ordered him to curtail his public commentary sharply,
and to get advance approval for future statements. A
publicist for Mr. Scheuer's book said Monday that he
could not comment on the letter to the commission
because of the C.I.A.'s new restrictions.
While some Web sites and media outlets have disclosed
Mr. Scheuer's identity before, The Times has
previously referred to him only as "Mike" at the
request of an intelligence official because of
concerns about his safety. Now that he has signed his
name in his letter to the Sept. 11 commission and the
C.I.A. has sought to curb his public comments, the
newspaper is using his name.
Some government officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Monday that they regarded Mr.
Scheuer's latest accusations as exaggerated or
unfounded.
On the question of whether Mr. Tenet put public
relations staffing ahead of combating terrorism, for
instance, an intelligence official said that the
C.I.A. quadrupled the number of counterterrorism
analysts and doubled the number of counterterrorism
officers in the year after the Sept. 11 attacks and
that these numbers have risen further since then.
A second intelligence official noted that Mr. Scheuer
had testified privately at length before the Sept. 11
commission. "If they didn't buy what he had to say,
that ought to tell you something," the official said.