1 Check out Captain Ed: http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005175.php I have couple week posts, but, from what I understand, the rules that Jamie Goerlick and the Slick admin put in hamstrung the ability of military intel to share what they had with law enforcement, plus they were big weenies regarding investigating folks in the US on legal visas, despite possible AQ ties. Investigating Atta and company might have stopped 9/11, or maybe not. We will never know. The New York Times made sure that they did not mention Clinton in their article about this today.

2 OK head over to my blog. I have three posts. http://snookerswamp.blogspot.com/2005/08/data-mining-and-sandy-bergers-pants.html http://snookerswamp.blogspot.com/2005/08/connecting-some-more-dots.html http://snookerswamp.blogspot.com/2005/08/news-of-usefulness-of-gorelick-wall.html One explains data mining, the others the essence of the story. I built some data mines for unnamed users. Always willing to help the Jawa out.

3 Anyone with half a brain will figure out whose admin was occupying the White House when Atta's name came up. Oh wait.....

4 I think the groundwork for this fiasco was laid in the seventies, following our defeat in the first major propaganda war: Vietnam. At that time, the military and intelligence agencies were despised by many people and laws were passed to curb their perceived excesses. The Brass also began to evolve (devolve?) into PR people and poll watchers. The process accelerated during the nineties as Clinton exploited the "peace dividend". Wish I had a dollar for all the ex-military personnel who told me they resigned rather than serve under Slick Willy.

5 Check Andrew McCarthy's archives at NRO, he seems to be the expert on FISA and "the Wall." Heather MacDonald had a few pieces in City Journal that also hit on this.