9/11, Pentagon exercise: leak? spies?

I tend to dismiss 9/11 conspiracy theories as a crock of BS.  But something occurred to me last night, that seems within range of plausibility

We know the Bush Admin has had its troubles with spies.  AIPAC, Chalabi, and probably more we don't know about.

What if one of these spies managed to learn about the Pentagon's plans for a terrorism drill exercise on 9/11?  

And what if that information made its way back to Al Qaeda, when, coincidentally, they were already planning a hit on the US for some time in late 2001?

Al Qaeda could then have chosen the specific date to minimize detection and/or maximize chaos.  

So while the Bush Admin wouldn't have directly caused 9-11, its utter incompetence at dealing with spies could have played a significant role in what actually happened.  

If this is correct, there sure is a huge incentive for it to be covered up.  Anyone want to start digging...?

We already know the Bush Admin has been infested with spies: AIPAC, and Chalabi's people, and probably more.  Chalabi's people already got the Iranian Crypto item, which was as damaging as if someone had told Mussolini that we had broken Hitler's codes in WW2.  

What if the spy story goes even deeper...?

As of Richard Cranium's diary "Earliest documentation on Iraq planning," it's likely that the Bush Admin was planning Iraq as far back as October 2001.  

But what if the planning went back further?   What if it went back to the early months of the Bush Admin...?   And what if Bush were relying on Chalabi and his network at that point in time?  This is a key piece that needs to be dug up.

On a separate and unrelated track, the Pentagon plans a terrorist multiple-hijacking drill & response training exercise, to take place on 9/11, including the involvement of NORAD.  This is fairly well documented.  It would have required high-level approvals, so the information, while classified, would have been available to the politicals in the Bush Admin, for example Libby and Rove and others, and possibly their immediate subordinates.  

Now consider a hypothetical informal get-together between one of Chalabi's guys and one of Bush's guys.  

Chalabi's guy, fishing for information, asks Bush's guy if he's concerned about terrorism.

Bushie-guy:  Nah, we've got that covered.  No problem.

Chalabi-guy:  What makes you so sure?  

Bushie-guy:  I'm not supposed to talk about this, but  the Pentagon is doing a full-scale exercise on September 11, involving simulations of multiple hijackings.  I think we'll be in fine shape to beat up anyone who tries to pull something.  

Chalabi-guy:  Hmm.

Later, Chalabi-guy sends a message back to his contacts in Iran. They may or may not have known what Al Qaeda was planning, but they pass the information along to their local Al Q contact anyway.  

Meanwhile, Al Q is planning an attack for some time in 2001, date yet to be determined.  Once they get hold of this little tidbit about the Pentagon exercise, they choose the same day.  

Their rationale is that one or possibly two things will happen.  

One, the Pentagon exercise by itself confuses things enough to give them a better shot.  For example, if the actual terrorists were detected by airport security, they could have been mistaken for part of the exercise.  

Two, the Pentagon over-reacts in some way, possibly including shooting down one or more airliners, thereby causing more terror and confusion, and alienating Americans from their government.  

And the rest is history...

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This would explain much in the way of cover-ups and stonewalling by the Admin.  The stonewalling has fueled conspiracy theories but those have been a distraction.  

If this is the real deal, it's about as damning as actual collusion.  

The first thing we need to know is, what was the earliest date on which Bush was engaged with Chalabi?  Second, when did the Pentagon start planning its terrorist drill?  Third, when did the Pentagon choose the date?  And then, who in the Admin was privy to the details about the Pentagon exercise, including the date?  And did that person have any contact with any of Chalabi's people, or with anyone who had direct contact with any of Chalabi's people?  

If the facts line up, we have the makings of a world-class bigtime stink, with potential repercussions in '06 and '08 if not an impeachment.  Or two.