In late August 2001, George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, learned that the F.B.I. had arrested Zacarias Moussaoui after he had enrolled in a flight school. Mr. Tenet was given a memorandum titled "Islamic Extremist Learns to Fly." But he testified that he took no action and did not tell President Bush about the case.
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in Wolfowitz's estimation: "The Fallujah problem is at the core of the major activity designed to try to destabilise the new Iraq. "To dignify these people as resistance or insurgents - these are not labels they deserve. These are the former killers and rapists and torturers

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Ashcroft is now such a bogeyman that it's almost tempting to feel sorry for the guy. You find yourself thinking: He can't be that bad, can he? But then Ashcroft goes up to the Hill, as he did yesterday to testify before the 9/11 Commission, and he gives a performance that makes you conclude his harshest critics aren't nearly harsh enough.

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But Jews, like other voting groups, are not predominantly single-issue voters. A strong majority of Jews in the United States are more liberal on social issues than the country at large on matters such as abortion, the death penalty and civil unions, putting them squarely at odds with Bush's positions.

"I am baffled as to what the net gain is [for Bush]," said pollster John Zogby.

While uncertain about the effect of Bush's decision on Jewish voters, Zogby said he was far more confident in predicting that Arab-Americans who had supported Bush in 2000 would reject him in 2004.