View source for George W. Bush/impeachment/2008 resolution/Article XXXIII

'''Article XXXIII'''. REPEATEDLY IGNORED AND FAILED TO RESPOND TO HIGH LEVEL INTELLIGENCE WARNINGS OF PLANNED TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE US, PRIOR TO 911

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed",
has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President,
failed in his Constitutional duties to take proper steps to protect the nation prior to September 11, 2001.

The White House's top counter-terrorism adviser, [[Richard A. Clarke]], has testified that from the
beginning of George W. Bush's presidency until September 11, 2001, Clarke attempted unsuccessfully
to persuade President Bush to take steps to protect the nation against terrorism. Clarke sent a
memorandum to then-National Security Advisor [[Condoleezza Rice]] on January 24, 2001, "urgently" but
unsuccessfully requesting "a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack."
In April 2001, Clarke was finally granted a meeting, but only with second-in-command department
representatives, including Deputy Secretary of Defense [[Paul Wolfowitz]], who made light of Clarke's
concerns.

Clarke confirms that in June, July, and August, 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warned
the president in daily briefings of unprecedented indications that a major [[al Qaeda]] attack was going to
happen against the United States somewhere in the world in the weeks and months ahead. Yet, Clarke
was still unable to convene a cabinet-level meeting to address the issue.

Condoleezza Rice has testified that [[George Tenet]] met with the president 40 times to warn him that a
major al-Qaeda attack was going to take place, and that in response the president did not convene any
meetings of top officials. At such meetings, the FBI could have shared information on possible
terrorists enrolled at flight schools. Among the many preventive steps that could have been taken, the
Federal Aviation Administration, airlines, and airports might have been put on full alert.

According to Condoleezza Rice, the first and only cabinet-level meeting prior to [[9/11]] to discuss the
threat of terrorist attacks took place on September 4, 2001, one week before the attacks in New York
and Washington.

On August 6, 2001, President Bush was presented a President's Daily Brief (PDB) article titled "[[Bin
Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.]]" The lead sentence of that PDB article indicated that Bin Laden
and his followers wanted to "follow the example of World Trade Center bomber [[Ramzi Yousef]] and
'bring the fighting to America.'" The article warned: "Al-Qa'ida members—including some who are
US citizens— have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a
support structure that could aid attacks."

The article cited a "more sensational threat reporting that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a US aircraft,"
but indicated that the CIA had not been able to corroborate such reporting. The PDB item included
information from the FBI indicating "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with
preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings
in New York." The article also noted that the CIA and FBI were investigating "a call to our embassy in
the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with
explosives."

The president spent the rest of August 6, and almost all the rest of August 2001 on vacation. There is
no evidence that he called any meetings of his advisers to discuss this alarming report. When the title
and substance of this PDB article were later reported in the press, then-National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice began a sustained campaign to play down its significance, until the actual text was
eventually released by the White House.

''[[New York Times]]'' writer Douglas Jehl put it this way: "In a single 17-sentence document, the
intelligence briefing delivered to President Bush in August 2001 spells out the who, hints at the what
and points towards the where of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that followed 36
days later."

[[Eleanor Hill]], Executive Director of the joint congressional committee investigating the performance of
the US intelligence community before September 11, 2001, reported in mid-September 2002 that
intelligence reports a year earlier "reiterated a consistent and constant theme: [[Osama bin Laden]]'s intent
to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States."

That joint inquiry revealed that just two months before September 11, an intelligence briefing for
"senior government officials" predicted a terrorist attack with these words: "The attack will be
spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack
preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning."

Given the White House's insistence on secrecy with regard to what intelligence was given to President
Bush, the joint-inquiry report does not divulge whether he took part in that briefing. Even if he did not,
it strains credulity to suppose that those "senior government officials" would have kept its alarming
substance from the president.

Again, there is no evidence that the president held any meetings or took any action to deal with the
threats of such attacks.

In all of these actions and decisions, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his
trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and
justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W.
Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.