With George W. Bush going on the sports radio talk show Mike and Mike today, Sept 11, it makes you want to yell, " Hey George what day is it"?
But if you were George W Bush or Condoleeza Rice who play acted National Security advisor in Bush's first term you probably wouldn't want to remember what day it was either.
As the 911 Commission exposed, and a torrent of facts, documents and testimony revealed, George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and Dick Cheney were guilty of the worst case of criminal negligence, malfeasance, and dereliction of duty regarding the national security of the United States in American history.
From the first day of his presidency as documents and testimony showed, Bush Rice and Cheney dismissed terrorism and Al-Qaeda specifically as a threat to the United States and believed that Bill Clinton had grossly exaggerated the threat. This despite the documents and testimony at the hearings that showed that during the transition period and in his national security briefings, Bush was told by the FBI, CIA, outgoing National Security advisor Sandy Berger and Bill Clinton himself that Al-Qaeda represented the most serious threat to U.S. national security in the world.
In exhibiting the kind of foresight and competence completely absent from the Bush and the Obama administrations, Berger told Bush and Rice that the threat to U.S. security by Al-Qaeda was so great, he predicted that the Bush administration would be dealing with Al-Qaeda more than any other single issue or problem throughout his entire presidency. Bush made sure that became true.
As Karl Rove boasted to Time magazine after Bush's election " The Bush administration is going to be ABC - Anything But Clinton" . If Clinton did it, Rove boasted, Bush was going to undo it. That not only applied to terrorism, in the end it also applied to the economy.
And so Bush, Rice, Cheney even Attorney General John Ashcroft, dismissed every piece of actionable intelligence which would have stopped the 911 attacks in its tracks. In fact the Assistant Director of the FBI testified under oath that when he went to see Ashcroft with what he thought was important information regarding terrorism Ashcroft told him " Don't you ever come into my office with anything related to terrorism again".
And so Bush, Rice, Cheney even Attorney General John Ashcroft, dismissed every piece of actionable intelligence which would have stopped the 911 attacks in its tracks. In fact the Assistant Director of the FBI testified under oath that when he went to see Ashcroft with what he thought was important information regarding terrorism Ashcroft told him " Don't you ever come into my office with anything related to terrorism again".
CIA intercepts of Al-Qaeda traffic in the summer of 2001, indicated the U. S. was going to be hit with a "spectacular " terrorist attack and Richard Clarke, the White House anti-terrorism chief for 4
presidents, Reagan,Bush 41, Clinton and now George W. Bush, testified that in August
of 2001 he and CIA Director George Tenant were so alarmed by the intelligence
showing there was going to be an "imminent" and "spectacular" terrorist attack by Al Qeada that he and Tenant were "
running around the White House like men with their hair on fire" trying to get Bush and Rice to do something. They never did.
Incredulously, Bush was also given a national security briefing on August 6,2001 where he was told in a Presidential Daily Briefing that not only was Al-Qaeda going to attack inside the U.S., there were already cells in the U.S., they had office buildings in New York city under surveillance, and so stupefying its hard to believe the news media and Democrats didn't beat the drum for Bush's resignation, Bush was told on August 6,2001 that the means of the Al Qaeda attack was going to involve the hijacking of U.S. airliners.
Bush did nothing. Rice did nothing. They dismissed all of it. And Bush went on vacation to Crawford.
Incredulously, Bush was also given a national security briefing on August 6,2001 where he was told in a Presidential Daily Briefing that not only was Al-Qaeda going to attack inside the U.S., there were already cells in the U.S., they had office buildings in New York city under surveillance, and so stupefying its hard to believe the news media and Democrats didn't beat the drum for Bush's resignation, Bush was told on August 6,2001 that the means of the Al Qaeda attack was going to involve the hijacking of U.S. airliners.
Bush did nothing. Rice did nothing. They dismissed all of it. And Bush went on vacation to Crawford.
Had Bush or
Rice simply ordered the FAA to issue a high alert to U.S. airports and airlines to be vigilant for a credible threat for potential
hijackings by middle eastern men, 911 never would have happened.
The 911 hijackers showed up that day at Dulles and Logan airports all buying one way tickets to San Francisco. None had reservations so had to pay top price of $2500 for a one way ticket. They paid cash. And none had any luggage. And of course were all middle eastern. What do you think any ticket seller or supervisor at any major airport for any airline would have done when confronted with those sets of facts and circumstances along with a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for middle eastern men for potential hijacking threat and to report any suspicious activity?
In fact the ticket seller at the Maine airport testified as much saying on that morning he sold a one way ticket to San Francisco connecting at Logan Airport to a middle eastern man without a reservation who paid the top price of $2500 for a one way ticket and paid cash. He thought it strange since he had never seen anything like that in 20 years at the Maine airport but because there hadn't been any directives, said nothing. The buyer was one of the hijackers.
When Condoleeza Rice was grilled during the hearings by committee counsel Richard Ben Vineste as to why with all that information including the fact that Al-Qaeda was going to hijack airliners, neither she nor Bush did anything , her answer was, " we didn't know the day, we didn't know the date, we didn't know the targets and we didn't know the names of the hijackers. We couldn't connect the dots. And we didn't know they were going to use planes as missiles".
Stunningly the news media took Rice's preposterous but revealing answers and turned a statement of gross incompetence into a term of art with " we couldn't connect the dots" becoming the expression of choice in Washington for years to come and is still used.
That it was an expression of the worst case of gross incompetence in American history might make it understandable that it was adopted by the news media and politicians.
That both Democrats and the news media were so intimidated that they refused to hold Bush and Rice accountable and force their resignations showed not only cowardice , it led to more disasters like Iraq.
The 911 hijackers showed up that day at Dulles and Logan airports all buying one way tickets to San Francisco. None had reservations so had to pay top price of $2500 for a one way ticket. They paid cash. And none had any luggage. And of course were all middle eastern. What do you think any ticket seller or supervisor at any major airport for any airline would have done when confronted with those sets of facts and circumstances along with a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for middle eastern men for potential hijacking threat and to report any suspicious activity?
In fact the ticket seller at the Maine airport testified as much saying on that morning he sold a one way ticket to San Francisco connecting at Logan Airport to a middle eastern man without a reservation who paid the top price of $2500 for a one way ticket and paid cash. He thought it strange since he had never seen anything like that in 20 years at the Maine airport but because there hadn't been any directives, said nothing. The buyer was one of the hijackers.
When Condoleeza Rice was grilled during the hearings by committee counsel Richard Ben Vineste as to why with all that information including the fact that Al-Qaeda was going to hijack airliners, neither she nor Bush did anything , her answer was, " we didn't know the day, we didn't know the date, we didn't know the targets and we didn't know the names of the hijackers. We couldn't connect the dots. And we didn't know they were going to use planes as missiles".
So the National Security advisor to the President of the United States needed to know all that before even ordering or recommending to the president that the FAA issue an alert? Because they didn't know the planes would be used as missiles? So hijacking airliners and holding hundreds if not thousands of passengers hostage would have been okay?
Connecting the dots as
everyone knows is a child's game. There are a series of dots all numbered and
all you have to do is connect them consecutively and you get to see the whole
picture. Rice admitted they couldn't, didn't, or wouldn't do it.
Stunningly the news media took Rice's preposterous but revealing answers and turned a statement of gross incompetence into a term of art with " we couldn't connect the dots" becoming the expression of choice in Washington for years to come and is still used.
That it was an expression of the worst case of gross incompetence in American history might make it understandable that it was adopted by the news media and politicians.
That both Democrats and the news media were so intimidated that they refused to hold Bush and Rice accountable and force their resignations showed not only cowardice , it led to more disasters like Iraq.
It's no secret why the media and Democrats were afraid. Republicans knowing what accountability
would have meant for them were ready to accuse anyone attacking Bush as giving
aid and comfort to the enemy and questioning their patriotism. And Democrats and
the news media knew it and were intimidated.
If Wolf Blitzer, CNN and other news outlets had gone after Bush, Rice and Cheney with just half the intensity with which they went after Anthony Weiner over his consensual online sex chats, there never would have been a war with Iraq.
If Wolf Blitzer, CNN and other news outlets had gone after Bush, Rice and Cheney with just half the intensity with which they went after Anthony Weiner over his consensual online sex chats, there never would have been a war with Iraq.
To date Republicans have held 7 congressional hearings on Benghazi ostensibly because of 4 Americans killed. On the Sept.11,2001 attacks that killed 3000 they did nothing. And not a single Democrat has pointed out the hypocrisy.
If anyone doubts for a second that Bush, Rice and Cheney are aware they were responsible for allowing the 911 attacks consider this: Neither Bush, Rice nor Cheney has ever attended any memorial, service, rememberance or commemoration of the 911 attacks. Not one in 14 years. Not any anniversary. Not the groundbreaking for 1 World Trade Center which would replace the twin towers. Not the opening of the 911 museum or it's dedication. Not anything in the 14 years since the attack. Because they know the attack succeeded because of their negligence. And had the decency to stay away.
But not from a sports radio talk show on the anniversary of that day.
If anyone doubts for a second that Bush, Rice and Cheney are aware they were responsible for allowing the 911 attacks consider this: Neither Bush, Rice nor Cheney has ever attended any memorial, service, rememberance or commemoration of the 911 attacks. Not one in 14 years. Not any anniversary. Not the groundbreaking for 1 World Trade Center which would replace the twin towers. Not the opening of the 911 museum or it's dedication. Not anything in the 14 years since the attack. Because they know the attack succeeded because of their negligence. And had the decency to stay away.
But not from a sports radio talk show on the anniversary of that day.
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