Stones From Glass Houses: Bush-Cheney's Intelligence and National Security Record

From progressreport.com

National Security
Stones From Glass Houses: Bush-Cheney's Intelligence and National Security Record

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have repeatedly accused their
opponents of trying to slash intelligence, defense, and national
security spending in the lead up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the
record shows that it is top members of the Bush administration who are
guilty of the very charges they are now hurling.

CIA NOMINEE LED EFFORT TO GUT INTELLIGENCE: "President Bush's nominee
to be the director of central intelligence, Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-FL),
sponsored legislation that would have cut intelligence personnel by 20
percent in the late 1990s. Goss was one of six original co-sponsors of
legislation in 1995 that called for cuts of at least 4 percent per year
between 1996 and 2000 in the total number of people employed throughout
the intelligence community... The cuts Goss supported are larger than
those proposed by Kerry and specifically targeted the 'human
intelligence' that has recently been found lacking." Goss proposed these major
cuts well after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing made clear the United
States faced a serious threat of terrorism. [Source: Washington Post,
8/24/04
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27092-2004Aug23.html) ]

CHENEY LED EFFORT TO BLOCK KEY INTELLIGENCE REFORMS: The Federation of
American Scientists (FAS) reported that in a March 1992 letter to
Congress, then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney "defended the status quo and
objected to proposed intelligence reform legislation, particularly the
Director of National Intelligence position." In the letter, Cheney wrote
that intelligence reforms proposed by Congress "would seriously impair
the effectiveness" of government and specifically opposed empowering a
director of national intelligence. Cheney wrote, "I would recommend
that the President veto [the measure] if [it] were presented to him in its
current form." FAS noted that as a result of Cheney's stance, "we now
face many of the same problems, and the same proposed solutions, more
than a decade later." [Sources: FAS, 8/5/04
(http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2004/08/080504.html) ; Cheney
letter, 3/17/92 (http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_cr/cheney1992.pdf) ]

CHENEY LED EFFORT TO SLASH SIZE OF MILITARY: While the Bush-Cheney
campaign has attacked its opponents for cutting the military, it was Cheney
who admitted he led the effort to slash the size of the armed forces.
In 2000, Cheney said that as defense secretary he "did in fact
significantly reduce the overall size of the U.S. military." Specifically, The
New York Times noted Cheney worked to "reduce active-duty troop
strength" from 2.2 million to 1.6 million while making "deep cuts in the
Reserves and National Guard." Those cuts have left the U.S. military
stretched thin today. [Source: LA Times, 8/24/00
(http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/24/latimes.cheney/) ; NY
Times, 8/4/91]

CHENEY LED EFFORT TO ELIMINATE CRITICAL DEFENSE PROGRAMS: While the
Bush-Cheney campaign has attacked its opponent for supposedly cutting
defense spending during the 1990s, it was Cheney who repeatedly tried to
cut defense spending at the very same time. In 1984, during the height of
Cold War tensions, it was Cheney who said that if President Reagan
"doesn't really cut defense, he becomes the No. 1 special pleader in town."
Cheney urged Reagan "to reach out and take a whack at everything to be
credible" and said "you've got to hit defense." Six years later, Cheney
proudly told Congress, "since I became Secretary, we've been through a
fairly major process of reducing the defense budget." He bragged that
during the first year of his tenure, he "cut almost $65 billion out of
the five-year defense program" and that subsequent proposals would "take
another $167 billion out." While Cheney now claims his opponent
"repeatedly voted against weapons systems for the military," like the Apache
helicopter, it was Cheney in 1990 who bragged to Congress about weapons
"programs that I have recommended for termination," including fighter
jets, the Phoenix missile and "the Apache helicopter." [Sources:
Washington Post, 12/16/84; Cheney testimony, 2/1/90; Cheney speech, 3/17/04
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040317-3.html) ]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TOOK FOCUS OFF BIN LADEN: Reversing efforts in the
fight against terrorism, a senior Bush administration official in April
2001 told CNN, "the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much
energy on bin Laden." Similarly, AP reported in 2002 that the Bush
administration's "national security leadership met formally nearly 100
times in the months prior to the Sept. 11 attacks yet terrorism was the
topic during only two of those sessions." [Source: CNN, 4/30/01
(http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0104/30/ip.00.html) ; AP, 6/29/02
(http://www.detnews.com/2002/politics/0207/01/politics-526326.htm) ]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TERMINATED PROGRAM THAT TRACKED AL QAEDA: "In the
months before 9/11, the Justice Department curtailed a highly classified
program called 'Catcher's Mitt' to monitor Al Qaeda suspects in the
United States." [Source: Newsweek, 3/21/04
(http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040321/nysu007a_1.html) ]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION BEGAN EFFORT TO CUT COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAMS: The
New York Times reported that in its final 2003 budget request, the
administration "called for spending increases in 68 programs, none of which
directly involved counterterrorism...In his Sept. 10 submission to the
budget office, Ashcroft did not endorse FBI requests for $58 million
for 149 new counterterrorism field agents, 200 intelligence analysts and
54 additional translators. Ashcroft proposed a $65 million cut for a
program that gives states and localities counterterrorism grants for
equipment, including radios and decontamination suits and training." By
comparison, "Under Janet Reno, the department's counterterrorism budget
increased 13.6% in the fiscal year 1999, 7.1% in 2000 and 22.7% in 2001."
The Washington Post reported that in its first budget, the White House
left "gaps" between "what military commanders said they needed to
combat terrorists and what they got." When Congress tried to fill those
gaps, the administration threatened a veto. [Source: NY Times, 2/28/02
(http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/transcrime/articles/How%20Sept_%2011%20Changed%20Goals%20of%20Justice%20Dept.htm)
; Washington Post, 1/20/02
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8734-2002Jan19?language=printer)
; Newsweek, 5/27/02
(http://foi.missouri.edu/terrorismfoi/whatwentwrong.html) ]