In light of the current revelations that American intelligence agencies gave warnings as early as July of impending al-qaeda hijackings, could more have been done to prevent the initial hijackings? UK news agencies are also commenting on whether or not the various reports of men of Arabic appearance enrolled in flight schools could have been investigated earlier or more thoroughly.
What do members think of the use of a photograph taken of President Bush on September 11th being used as a fundraising tool?
As an adjunct to this post, I am reading “Report from ground zero” by Dennis Smith. I would just like to say that from across the Atlantic the events of September the 11th were horrific enough, but reading this book about the work of the NYPD, PAPD, the Fire Department and the EMT crews during and after the event, I can honestly say I have never read of a braver, more dedicated or selfless group of people. Their example of courage deserves the highest recognition, not least of all the 403 brave souls who consciously ran into harms way and never returned.
Regards, respectfully,
kev35
By: optimator11 - 22nd May 2002 at 03:17
RE: Sept 11th and CIA warnings of al-qaeda hijacki
Re: The constant warnings that attacks are imminent.
Just in case anything happens the Government can say
that the public was warned. Seems that all the warnings
on Arabs taking flight training at U.S. schools were discounted
by the Intel. agencies prior to 911 but to date all
the information has not been released. Guess the folks
managing the Intel. at the top had better things to do to
occupy their time. A lot of us would be interested in
knowing what was more important.
There seems to be a mindset that we defend everything
everywhere. Brings to mind GFM Erwin Rommel’s quote,
“He who defends everything defends nothing.” He did
prove himself correct in that.
By: kev35 - 18th May 2002 at 16:23
RE: Culpability
If as the US Government now admits, warnings were received about potential al-qaeda hijackings, whether or not they were aware of the way in which these aircraft would be used, is the Bush administration culpable in any way? What are the feelings of the American people on these revelations? (PII, elp, any comments?)Is there now a likelihood as Mongu suggests that the families of victims could start legal proceedings?
As to my second point, is the use of photos of President Bush, taken on Sept 11th, (to raise money for his political campaign,) the cynical and unfeeling charade it appears? The president is giving sets of photo’s away to people who donate $150 to his campaign. He obviously wishes to promote his image now as a leader in the fight against terrorism, my question would be where was he in the immediate aftermath of the attacks?
Regards,
kev35
By: mongu - 18th May 2002 at 12:21
RE: Sept 11th and CIA warnings of al-qaeda hijacki
I still find the hatred of security measures really confusing.
Do people have a constitutional right to board someone else’s aeroplane without walking through a metal arch, having their bags x-rayed or being pat-searched?
In most of the world, if someone checks bags in, but doesn’t make the flight, the airline has 2 choices. Either wait for the passenger or go without him – but offload his bags first. I don’t know whether this is a US requirement or not, but even if it is, a lot of carriers seem to be non-compliant judging by press articles issued at the time.
I recall that Al Gore led an enquiry into domestic airline security a few years ago, and he recommended that security be beefed up. But the airlines refused. If that is the case, then you have to say that they are culpably negligent in this. Have any law suits started yet?
By: keltic - 18th May 2002 at 09:10
RE: Sept 11th and CIA warnings of al-qaeda hijacki
I still think that the US administration knew that something tough was going to happen. The question is…..did they keep quiet because they consider the attack positive for the administration or they simply didn´t expect such a terrible attack?. I don´t know. I don´t have hints to make me feel inclined for any theory.
By: djcross - 16th May 2002 at 22:03
RE: Sept 11th and CIA warnings of al-qaeda hijacki
The problem is that before Sept 11, nobody in charge would believe the airliners would be used as kamikazes. They were still under the belief that the jets would be flown to Cuba and hijackers would issue demands.
Actions taken since Sept 11 are a joke. Multi-billion dollar bail-out of airlines due to bureaucratic indecision during the grounding. Long checkpoint lines to make the public think things are safer.
By: mongu - 16th May 2002 at 21:37
RE: Sept 11th and CIA warnings of al-qaeda hijacki
Security for US domestic flights has always been non-existent. Still is, really.
It would seem to be a sensible precaution to have beefed up security, esp. given that the hijackers targeted domestic flights.
Also, I find it amusing that Bush had the nerve to intimate that the Clinton administration was lackadaisical over the bin Laden threat!
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May 16, 2002 at 8:05 pm