Semantics of “Historical” and “Actionable”

This administration intends to be candid about its errors. For as a wise man once said, “An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed – and no republic can survive.
       John F. Kennedy, after the Bay of Pigs


Considerable discussion is presently going on all over the United States regarding the contents of the August 6th memo that was intended for briefing the president on the likelihood of terrorist attacks in the U.S. This memo had been the object of simmering discussions every now and then ever since the 9/11 tragedy. The White House declassified it earlier this month hoping to put all acrimonious discussions to rest.

The declassified memo has however given rise to fresh controversial discussions. One of such issues is whether the warnings included in the memo were of ‘historical’ nature only as contended by Condoleeza Rice, the National Security Adviser, or did it have material information (‘actionable’) on which proper action could be taken. The memo refers to some incidents, which had occurred in the 1990s and includes warnings of the impending terror attacks. The President doesn’t have to be briefed on all the ‘historical’ events unless they seem to have bearing on the impending serious threats. The intention of sending this memo to the president would obviously appear that it contained ‘actionable’ information. But the White House read it otherwise.

Condoleeza Rice gave a very detailed statement in front of the 9/11 Commission. And then answering a question from the Chairman, Thomas Kean, she said, “And I said at one point, that this was a historical memo, that it was _ it was not based on new threat information. And I said, no one could have imagined then taking a plane, slamming it into the Pentagon _ I’m paraphrasing now _ into the World Trade Center, using planes as a missile….To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Chairman, this kind of analysis about the use of air planes as weapons actually was never used.”

Commissioner Ben-Veniste however tried to put Condoleeza Rice smack on the spot by noting first, “You acknowledged in your interview of February 7, 2004, that Richard Clarke told you that al-Qaida cells were in the United States,” and then asked, “Did you tell the president prior to August 6th, of the existence of al-Qaida cells in the United States?” Dr. Rice tried to answer the question in her usual long winded style and there were quick exchanges between the two – Rice trying to indulge in filibuster but Veniste insisted to bring her back to the specific question. In the end, she admitted she hadn’t. She said, “I really don’t remember, Commissioner, whether I discussed this with the President.”

In order to put the characterization of ‘historical’ in its true perspective, Ben-Veniste asked, “Isn’t it a fact, Dr. Rice that the August 6th PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing) warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?” Rice was finally cornered on this issue and she said, “I believe the title was , Bin Laden Determined to attack Inside the United States.” Then she again tried to embark on a filibuster trip, which Ben-Veniste wouldn’t let her. What could be more specific than the title of the 6th August PDB?

The opening lines of the PDB are: “Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate Bin Laden since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the U.S. Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and bring the fighting to America.” This seems to be clear enough and ‘actionable’. The World Trade Center was a target in 1993 and it could again become a target of the new attacks.

However Condoleeza Rice did not believe it was actionable. In her statement, she said, “The threat reporting that we received in the spring and summer of 2001 was not specific as to time, nor place, nor manner of attack. Almost all of the reports focused on al-Qaida activities outside the United States, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In fact, the information that was specific enough to be actionable referred to territorist operations overseas…”

She missed the title of the 6th August PDB, which was “Bin Laden Determined to attack Inside the United States,” not in the Middle East or North Africa but inside the United States.