CIA didn't follow up on German 9/11 tip

From the New York Times via the Houston Chronicle:

The incident is of particular importance because Shehhi was a member of the al-Qaida cell in Hamburg at the heart of the Sept. 11 plot. Close surveillance of Shehhi in 1999 might have led investigators to other plot leaders, including Mohammed Atta, who was Shehhi's roommate. A native of the United Arab Emirates, Shehhi moved to Germany in 1996 and was inseparable from Atta in their time there. Both men attended the wedding of a fellow Muslim at a radical mosque in Hamburg in October 1999 -- an event considered an important gathering for the Sept. 11 hijacking teams just as the plotting was getting under way. U.S. and European authorities believe that Shehhi played a critical role in the Sept. 11 plot and was actively involved in its planning and logistics.

Click here.

Unlike pre-war intelligence on Iraq which was a failure because of Oval Office intimidation and optimism, this really does appear to be a CIA screw up. One thing I want to know is how badly did the known Bush administration pre-9/11 downplaying of the Al-Qaeda threat affect ongoing US investigations of Islamic terrorism? In other words, was this intelligence failure made inevitable by the Bush White House? Hopefully we'll find out soon.

Ah, hell, I already think that Bush knew it was going to happen...

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