CBS Report on Rumsfeld's 9/11 Notes Under Scrutiny
Published March 13, 2005
On September 4, 2002, CBSNEWS.com ran a bombshell of a story titled "Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11." The article stated that "barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks." The article cited "notes taken by aides who were with Rumsfeld in the National Military Command Center on Sept. 11."
CBSNEWS.com, "Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11," 9/4/02:
. . . at 2:40 p.m., the notes quote Rumsfeld as saying he wanted "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H." - meaning Saddam Hussein - "at same time. Not only UBL" - the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden . . . "Go massive," the notes quote him as saying. "Sweep it all up. Things related and not."
To those of us who were questioning the Bush administration's push to invade Iraq, this article was nothing short of mind-blowing. The last part of the notes was the kicker. What did Rumsfeld mean when he asked his aides to "[s]weep it all up," looking for "[t]hings related and not," unless he was encouraging them to cherry-pick for anything that could be used to link the attacks to Iraq? In ten words, Donald Rumsfeld had confirmed our very worst fears about the Bush administration's reckless approach to Iraq. Looking at the article, it is obvious that CBS knew that the last few sentences were the key part of the quotation. Printed in bold letters, under a menacing photo of Rumsfeld, were the lines: "Go massive . . . Sweep it all up. Things related and not."
Since the article was published in September 2002, thousands of websites and blogs have linked to it. On my blog, outragedmoderates.org, I contrasted Rumsfeld's "related and not" quote with Robert E. Lee's observation that "[i]t is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." When I read Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack, I was intrigued to learn that Colin Powell had also been drawn to Lee's quotation during the lead-up to Iraq.
But while Robert E. Lee's quotation surfaced in Plan of Attack, Rumsfeld's "related and not" quotation is nowhere to be seen. Woodward's account of 9/11 discusses Rumsfeld's notes from that afternoon, but there is no mention of the "Go massive . . . Sweep it all up. Things related and not" quotation that was reported in CBS's article.
Woodward, Plan of Attack, p. 24-25:
At 2:40 P.M. that day, with dust and smoke filling the operations center as he was trying to figure out what happened, Rumsfeld raised with his staff the possibility of going after Iraq as a response to the terrorist attacks, according to an aide's notes. Saddam Hussein is S.H. in these notes, and UBL is Usama Bin Laden. The notes show that Rumsfeld had mused about whether to "hit S.H. @ same time - not only UBL" and asked the Pentagon lawyer to talk to Paul Wolfowitz about the Iraq "connection with UBL." The next day in the inner circle of Bush's war cabinet, Rumsfeld asked if the terrorist attacks did not present an "opportunity" to launch against Iraq.
- CBS Report on Rumsfeld's 9/11 Notes Under Scrutiny
- Published: March 13, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Politics
- Writer: Thad Anderson
- Thad Anderson's BC Writer page
- Thad Anderson's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
I'm not sure what the big deal is.
Lots of sources have Rumsfeld arguing for going after Iraq right after 9/11
Frontline has reported it several times.
As you say, just because you didn't find it anywhere else doens't mean it is wrong.
Did you try and contact the reporter or producer on the story to see what their response is?
The point of this article is that Frontline is not a 'source'. What you have is a lot of news media reporting it, but no named source - a source being someone who was there and heard the statement.
Dave
Well, as the post says, the issue isn't whether Rumsfeld argued for going after Iraq that afternoon, because a number of sources confirm that he did (in addition to the 9/11 Commission Report and Plan of Attack, Clarke's book describes this in detail). The issue is just whether the "Go massive . . . Sweep it up. Things related and not" quote was part of the notes he wrote.
I wouldn't consider the discrepancy significant, except that the specific quotation had a profound impact on so many people, including myself. I've looked pretty hard, and have found no other news source independently reporting the quote.
All this vitual ink and trying to run down the source, but "After spending hours researching this online, and skimming through dozens of books at bookstores," where do I see Thad Anderson making an honest attempt to contact CBS News' National Security Correspondent, David Martin and get this sorted out? It seems very odd that he'd spend all that time and never even attempt to contact the the person named in the story. He might have done that and been able to say, if true, "repeated e-mails and phone calls to Mr. Martin..." and give result or lack there of.
You talk about CBS's carelessness, with regard to the distract-o-matic "forged memo" story -- which was really the Bush/AWOL from Guard fact-based story that stands on its own without the questionable memo -- but what about your own carlessness here?
CBS still has the story on line: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml
According to the report:
"(CBS) CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq -- even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.
That's according to notes taken by aides who were with Rumsfeld in the National Military Command Center on Sept. 11 - notes that show exactly where the road toward war with Iraq began, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.
With the intelligence all pointing toward bin Laden, Rumsfeld ordered the military to begin working on strike plans. And at 2:40 p.m., the notes quote Rumsfeld as saying he wanted "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H." - meaning Saddam Hussein - "at same time. Not only UBL" - the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden.
Now, nearly one year later, there is still very little evidence Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. But if these notes are accurate, that didn't matter to Rumsfeld.
"Go massive," the notes quote him as saying. "Sweep it all up. Things related and not." -###-
Now, why would Rumsfeld want to "go massive" and find a pretext to attack Iraq? Read Greg Palast's exclusive for Harpers (HARPER'S: BAGHDAD COUP D'ETAT FOR BIG OIL From the April Issue of Harper's Magazine - http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=418&row=0) for background on that question.
There are still so many unanswered questions regarding the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and its relationship to Bush's war of aggression in Iraq, but over time truth has a way of leaking out..."sweep it up, go massive, things related or not."
CC
I realize that the story is online - that's why I linked to it in my post.
I will try to contact CBS, but I've never gotten any non-automated responses to any comments or questions I've ever submitted to TV networks.
I never have any trouble getting through to a specific person's voice mail at a news network. Just call their local number in New York and ask for the person you want or used the automated system to find them. Works like a charm most of the time.
BTW: ""Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11." - and here I thought they began the moment GB-42 left office.
Dave
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/26681)
Great piece of research, Thad! Hope it bears fruit...