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coleen rowley on FBI mishandling of information prior to 9/11 — Transcript

by Paul Baker · 3,012 words · 423 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00this morning from john nichols to
0:02associate myself with the comments
0:05really want to associate with what van
0:08just said because minnesota we were one
0:10of the guts rope people who tried that
0:12it's brilliant it's the example of
0:15creative grassroots generated you get
0:18have a better chance with the lower
0:20level politicians these days so it's a
0:23wonderful idea there's been mentioned in
0:26the i don't remember which sessions of
0:28another very grassroots thing that that
0:31very much goes with this which is I know
0:33Lisa this Lisa graves this morning
0:35mentioned the war costs of war loss of
0:37war that's a website that will actually
0:39quantify what she says it's about four
0:42trillion right now with the Wars of
0:44costs and it will quantify by state and
0:47all there's another thing called
0:49priorities project even by city I
0:51believe and so what you do with that
0:54knowledge is that you then go to your
0:56state legislature in your city councils
0:59and you you tell them to opt out of the
1:03war and you say you know this is costing
1:05us this much our over in our budget are
1:09dead is this much and we pass this
1:11resolution now your state legislatures
1:14if they pass their resolution it can go
1:16directly to the federal legislators I
1:19was in a session this morning where we
1:21were decrying the fact that the
1:23politicians the federal politicians
1:25especially do not listen to the people
1:27they listen to the lobbyists they listen
1:29to the people who are campaign
1:33contribution still get the ear of the
1:36feds for a lot of reasons so these
1:38resolutions have a trickle up and we've
1:42been talking about several of them
1:43they're all really great ideas I want to
1:46correct just the introduction slightly
1:48which is that we're at the anniversary
1:50of 911 and I was not the investigator of
1:53the case in Minnesota where there was
1:55the suspect in a couple of weeks there's
1:58going to be even some more information
2:00coming out for all of you so called
2:02conspiracy theorists out there
2:04there's a lot of history and facts that
2:07were covered up and so these things
2:10every anniversary trickle out a little
2:12bit what I did do though besides not me
2:16I wasn't the investigator but I was the
2:18truth seeker or tell or afterwards eight
2:21months afterwards because none of the
2:24responses to 911 had any bearing
2:28whatsoever on why 911 happened I mean
2:31that the fit is just apples and oranges
2:34and it's even if they're just almost
2:37opposites what happens and occurs after
2:40nine eleven to include attacking the
2:43rack which is a country that is a buffer
2:45it's a buffer zone against al-qaeda you
2:48know so you attack the country that
2:50might have helped actually if you if you
2:52were really concerned about al-qaeda you
2:54never would have attacked a rap because
2:55Saddam was an enemy of al-qaeda so these
2:58things are not just slightly askew
3:00they're completely opposite of what the
3:02problem is and to the point where I
3:04could hardly stand at eight and a half
3:06months later and I write a memo that
3:07gets leaked to the public and so the
3:10point here is that that that that we are
3:14still in this mode and you we still have
3:16to tell the truth 911 then does change
3:20everything so you know people dispute
3:24that all I did really change your job
3:25changed anything but because there's no
3:28truth for for actually a couple of years
3:30is not even the slightest bit of truth
3:32coming out about why it happened that
3:35you get these responses in in in
3:37actuality I just drafted for a French
3:40paper they're translating it into French
3:42damash or humanity monete demolishes
3:45Bertha and I said 911 changed everything
3:48we no longer have law in this country so
3:50we're here to talk about the
3:51Constitution how many read Glenn
3:53Greenwald if you don't you should and he
3:57does a real good job of putting this in
3:59stark terms I mean the laws literally
4:02now do not exist and there's a lot of
4:05reasons why the Constitution and we can
4:08all talk about little aspects of
4:10but in green one the main things are the
4:12Bill of Rights the First Amendment
4:14freedom of speech I'm in Minnesota and
4:17guess what happened in Minnesota you're
4:19in the lead up to the Republican
4:21National Convention all of our little
4:23groups planning picnics and marches all
4:25had infiltrators spying on us for no
4:28good reason I was in a library in
4:31Northfield Minnesota Public Library room
4:34with about 40 people the one lady was
4:37talking about the March one vet for
4:39peace was talking he was going to have
4:41people dress up in orange jumpsuits
4:42which they did the day before him and do
4:45a March I our group was planning a
4:47picnic and we had three of the 40 turn
4:51out to be law enforcement Terrorism Task
4:55Force people and we actually know this
4:57now because the one officer who is in
5:00the back of the of the room and again
5:03there's only 40 people and he I'm
5:06speaker so he thinks when I speak and I
5:08walk he's I'm gonna recognize him
5:11because he was on the FBI's Joint
5:12Terrorism Task Force and so he's he's
5:15hiding behind a woman in front of him
5:17now I was so Dom and I was so you know
5:20obviously concerned about telling about
5:21my picnic coming up that I didn't notice
5:24this guy doing this you know that's a
5:27clue by the way if you got an
5:28infiltrator if there's some guy who's
5:29trying to hide his name is the he was a
5:33Bloomington police officer who was on
5:35the FBI's Terrorism Task Force named
5:36bike named Richard Grievous and and I'm
5:40going to use this I was going to use it
5:42afterwards as a positive thing because I
5:44know a lot of people when you talk about
5:46the surveillance spine all violative of
5:51the Fourth Amendment search and seizure
5:54and all these things when you talk about
5:56this in in protest and active activist
5:59groups when you talk about the fact that
6:01now 23 anti-war activists in Chicago and
6:05in the twin cities are certainly under
6:09investigation none of them have been
6:10charged yet but they've been subpoenaed
6:12grand
6:12they've been rated so when you talk
6:14about these things what's the natural
6:16response well I don't know what the
6:18percentage is but at least sixty seventy
6:20percent of the people I talked to who
6:22are good people and have maybe marched a
6:25couple of times the first thing is to
6:27withdraw I don't want to get on a list I
6:30don't want to be stopped at the airport
6:32all these things so the first response
6:34is a fear you know if I speak out then
6:37if I'm taped I'll be they'll go after me
6:40and I want to tell you that there is a
6:43hidden benefit of the surveillance this
6:46Richard Green list who sits in the back
6:48row later retires from the police and he
6:51writes a book and one chapter in the
6:54book is about his efforts during the
6:56lead up to the RNC you know and then
6:58then about how four or five months ago
7:01there's a knob that he's been retired
7:03maybe two years now there's an outfit in
7:05our paper on the title is we need more
7:09protesting against the war so when I
7:13tell people you know don't be afraid use
7:16it as a teachable moment and I've
7:18actually have the proof that you know we
7:21were able I'm you know if it was us but
7:23this guy has turned into now an advocate
7:26in the war and it's a pretty amazing
7:28thing is probably wasn't us but there's
7:31a cumulative effect here so when you are
7:33being monitored use it as a teachable
7:37moment that's the positive side I don't
7:40know how many people I noticed there's
7:41like one person out there who heard me
7:43speak on secrecy and secrecy is all is a
7:46large part of the root problem that is
7:50undermining the rule of law if Ashcroft
7:55after the Patriot Act what was his
7:57response when people said all this is
7:59bad you're abusing civil liberties do
8:02people remember what his response to as
8:04these Russell's well there hasn't been
8:05any complaint and he said this for a
8:08couple of years you know if there was a
8:10complaint so I think we know about it
8:12the IG hasn't gotten any complaint well
8:14of course it's pretty hard to complain
8:16when the that's its secret it took maybe
8:19several years to even find out about
8:21this spy
8:22I could complain about Richard Greene
8:24list because I know because he finally
8:25wrote a book but at the time how can you
8:27complain if you got a national security
8:29letter you don't even know if you're on
8:31the watch list it's a suspicion if they
8:33haul you off every time but you you
8:35don't really know just to mark how this
8:39has progressed and it did start
8:41overnight with 911 it was you know the
8:44anthrax attacks the sniper picking
8:46people off the combination the wars all
8:49these things slowly slowly but even the
8:52civil than 911 Commission when they are
8:57doing they're right up theirs they end
8:59up with 41 recommendations I can't tell
9:01you all their recommendations one was
9:03for the Czar the intelligence are and
9:05there's few others but three of those 41
9:09recommendations deal with what it's it's
9:13so passe now that nobody will even
9:15remember they dealt with civil liberties
9:17there was an extreme worry and concern
9:20on the part of lots of people including
9:25even the privacy and civil liberties
9:26oversight board that viewing what was
9:28starting to happen they didn't know
9:30torture was happening at the time I mean
9:32they didn't even know that we were being
9:33warrantless Lee monitored at the time
9:35but they had enough knowledge to know
9:38that there's some very worrisome
9:40developments and when you get this
9:41perfect storm going of people afraid and
9:44government saying they have to preempt
9:47we're going to do everything folks I
9:49ashcroft I do not apologize for anything
9:52we've done to protect the American
9:53people when that's going on and you get
9:56these factors that we will probably
9:58there's a good chance we'll start to
10:00repeat the COINTELPRO arrow and Jagger
10:04Hoover's from the 50s and 60s you know
10:08gathering information on people based on
10:10the threat of communism and that we
10:12could well see this repeat that was a
10:15worry it was also a worry of even the
10:18FBI director it's amazing now to see the
10:21transition over ten years people forget
10:23that he gave speeches he was brand new
10:26then he even got flaws from the ACLU
10:29Robert Muller's first speech he promised
10:33he says
10:33well aware of the COINTELPRO era and why
10:37I promise you we will never repeat these
10:39abuses it brought the house down so
10:42people who are worried that privacy and
10:44civil liberties oversight board which
10:46was three of the 41 recommendations Bush
10:51did not want to do he was forced to
10:54through an act of Congress that December
10:57of 2004 they passed a law mandating it
11:00so he was forced to set one up he put
11:03four cronies on it and then one Democrat
11:06we thought he could control or whatever
11:08and that fell apart because the one guy
11:11finally resigned in protest said it was
11:13being it was being nullified it was not
11:16being allowed to do its work about a
11:18year later the yeah our wonderful
11:20immediate military congressional media
11:22complex media did not cover this barely
11:25at all but this was an incredible thing
11:28that the whole privacy and civil
11:29liberties oversight board had the rug
11:31pulled from under it even though it's
11:33mandated by Congress and so then of
11:36course that that descended then with
11:38Bush but then Obama who of course was
11:41campaigning on being a constitutional
11:44law professor and of course that might
11:46mean that he might have to have this
11:48privacy which is what our Congress went
11:51back and made it stronger they actually
11:54strengthened the privacy they second
11:56time Obama comes in and it's just
12:00completely out there never has been
12:02reconstituted I don't think he's ever
12:05you might correct me on this I don't
12:06think he's ever named anyone to this
12:09board that just sits out there in Title
12:12only and you don't even see anyone even
12:14bringing it up it would make a big
12:16difference I can tell you this oversight
12:19is absolutely key to any constitutional
12:24anything that's on paper a right that's
12:26on paper has to have a way of the people
12:28learning about it it has to have some
12:30oversight and it has to have some way of
12:32enforcing it we have inspector general's
12:36in the Department of Justice the one in
12:39the Department of Justice was Glenn fine
12:41and he was actually doing a fair job
12:45certainly he had his limits and he
12:47picked his battles but he is the one
12:49he's the only reason we know about some
12:52of these civil liberties abuses right
12:54now including the infiltration of the
12:56thomas martin center and the
12:58environmentalists were the only reason
12:59we know these things the the abuse of
13:01national security letters is because
13:03there was an IG who took it on in the
13:06CIA probably ray and the audience here
13:09can tell us more but i know that that
13:11the there was one CIA IG who actually
13:15also did a fair job and I I just kind of
13:19deduced from reading things that
13:21eventually he did such a good job that
13:23it was like he was pressured to leave so
13:25you can see that oversight works when
13:28they're actually pressuring some of
13:30these aiji's and and and never I mean a
13:33lot of people said on what difference
13:35what a privacy board that's a stupid
13:37thing well the fact that it's never
13:39happened and it's been undercut to this
13:41extent I think you know in a reverse way
13:43shows you that somebody was afraid that
13:45with five people on there we might get a
13:48general to guba or somebody who would
13:50actually do something all of these
13:53things by the way because they're so
13:54legit this isn't like a liberal making
13:58this up these are two congressional laws
14:00that pass as well as the three so these
14:03are very fair game for people to be on
14:07right now all over and especially if you
14:09care about re getting our constitutional
14:12rights back we have to start somewhere
14:15oh I want to follow up on what's been
14:22said a lot of times about during the
14:25course John Nichols especially has done
14:26such a great job because he said this
14:28more than once and he says you know this
14:32tension between war and democracy war
14:36and the Constitution when if you
14:39remember back to the little red sign
14:42campaign the little red sign said
14:44support the troops and the war and so
14:47right off the bat I thought oh my gosh
14:49we could just plug in lots of things
14:51where war is going to hurt oh it's not
14:54just hurting the troops there's a whole
14:56to think so we immediately did one
14:58support the Constitution and the war
15:01ultimately what Nichols said is you
15:03can't have a democracy with continual
15:05war and he's paraphrasing James Madison
15:08James Madison and the founding fathers
15:10understood this so well that if we
15:13continue in over 10 years we're taking
15:15it's not a surprise where we are with
15:17the subversion of the law isn't
15:18listening to grip reading grant Glenn
15:20Greenwald's horrify discoveries that
15:24this has been violated and that's been
15:26violated it's hardly a hardly surprised
15:29because we've been ten years in the war
15:31and we have a seventy percent consensus
15:34to end the wars and the same people
15:37realize there are studied papers about
15:40the losing of Vietnam the same generals
15:43who are trying to rewrite Vietnam
15:45history that Jane Fonda lost it for us
15:48Jane Fonda Daniel Ellsberg and the
15:52liberal media lost Vietnam if we could
15:56have in Walter Cronkite and in others if
16:00we could have just kept up the the
16:03public perception that we were winning
16:06on the war and that war was a good thing
16:09Walter Cronkite had not blabbed and
16:12whoever 68 the new theory there are
16:16papers literally PhD papers published on
16:19this in the war colleges we would have
16:22won Vietnam so you can see that when
16:25this repeats now that the enormous
16:28pressure for all of the of this
16:32consensus going against the seventy
16:34percent consensus and I think that's the
16:37real challenge because if you realize
16:38that that's consensus is not just on the
16:41left anymore because with the two-party
16:43bipartisan ping-pong it's actually also
16:46on the with the libertarians with the
16:48greens with the independence and even
16:51the fiscal conservatives who realize now
16:55that we're going to go bankrupt those
16:57good old Eisenhower people who aren't
16:59and it is enormously important i will
17:03just suggest if you're
17:05interested read top secret america which
17:08is all about the surveillance and spying
17:10going on it's it's a mind-boggling
17:13situation rent it actually is COINTELPRO
17:16on steroids what's going it's it's so
17:18much worse because of the technology
17:20back in the Hoover era when they were
17:24spying on Pete Seeger and Burrell lives
17:26and the Hollywood people they actually
17:29would send people in personally they
17:31don't have to do that now there's a lot
17:33of it is the vacuuming up of electronic
17:35information email communications
17:38telephone calls I only see a couple
17:41people that's running 1.6 billion pieces
17:44of data so don't worry you're on a list
17:471.6 billion pieces of data this is in
17:51the washington post every 24 hours is
17:54going into a government database on
17:56people and i'm going to I'll take
18:00questions later but thank you very much

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