Neocons to the shrub pre-9/11: Ignore Al Qaeda distractions, Saddam is the problem

Seriously? We always knew the neocons were a bunch of frauds but it doesn't say much about the rest of the shrub cabal who fell for their stupidity.

 NY Times:

The direct warnings to the shrub about the possibility of a Qaeda attack began in the spring of 2001. By May 1, the Central Intelligence Agency told the White House of a report that “a group presently in the United States” was planning a terrorist operation. Weeks later, on June 22, the daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be “imminent,” although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible.

But some in the cabal considered the warning to be just bluster. An intelligence official and a member of the shrub cabal both told me in interviews that the neoconservative leaders who had recently assumed power at the Pentagon were warning the White House that the C.I.A. had been fooled; according to this theory, Bin Laden was merely pretending to be planning an attack to distract the administration from Saddam Hussein, whom the neoconservatives saw as a greater threat. Intelligence officials, these sources said, protested that the idea of Bin Laden, an Islamic fundamentalist, conspiring with Mr. Hussein, an Iraqi secularist, was ridiculous, but the neoconservatives’ suspicions were nevertheless carrying the day.