NATIONAL DISGRACE New York Post April 14, 2004 -- The national 9/11 commission has been hijacked by political shills -- men and women eager to subordinate truth to partisan advantage; who hold a transitory victory on Election Day more dear than American victory in the war on terror. Tawdry ambition has eclipsed sacred duty; all Americans are diminished, but none more than the families of the 9/11 victims -- who expect better from the commission, and certainly deserve it. Unless it is the thousands of young Americans now under arms in Iraq and elsewhere; their bravery and devotion to duty is inspirational. How shameful that the commission attack dogs hold their sacrifices so cheaply. And John F. Kerry, who presumes to the presidency, acquiesces. What a disgrace. Yesterday, Democratic shills Richard Ben-Veniste and Bob Kerrey hectored Attorney General John Ashcroft. They implied he was a coward for travelling on government aircraft at a time of heightened pre-9/11 security - if not, in fact, a scoundrel in possession of advance notice of the attack. Last week, it was National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the Democrats' dock; she was a fool, a filibusterer, a liar. "Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that [President Bush was] warned against possible attacks in this country?" demanded Ben-Veniste. Funny thing about that warning. Ben-Veniste was speaking of the now-famous Aug. 6, 2001, presidential daily briefing paper - suggesting that it proved the White House had failed to comprehend al Qaeda's threat to America. Yesterday, it came out that someone had indeed gotten it right. George W. Bush, who had directed that the briefing paper be prepared. In a 13-page report titled "Threats and Responses in 2001," the commission staff paints a picture of alarm bells going off throughout Washington in the months before 9/11 about an imminent "spectacular" terror attack by Osama bin Laden. But the intelligence reports all talked about attacks occurring against targets overseas. And the fevered reports, in the summer of 2001, of possible threats "seemed to be focused on Saudi Arabia, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen and possibly Rome, but the danger could be anywhere . . . " So the CIA prepared the Aug. 6 memo, "summarizing its understanding of the danger." In sum: The briefing paper was written specifically for the president in direct response to an order from the president! Obviously, the CIA's "understanding of the danger" was deficient. But it clearly was not "a fact" that Bush was "warned against possible attacks in this country." It is clear, now, that the entire briefing-memo "scandal" was sewn from whole cloth. But will there be an apology from Ben-Veniste, Kerrey & Co.? Not a chance. Why not. Because, to the Democrats, the enemy is not just al Qaeda. It is also the George W. Bush White House. So they cross the bounds of acceptable political discourse, twisting the truth and bending the facts to produce a product that will advance their political ambitions. To hell with the 9/11 families. And to hell with eight young Americans reported killed in action in Iraq just yesterday; to the 65 who died over the past week - and to the hundreds who have laid down their lives for peace and freedom since 9/11. All to defeat Bush. John Kerry could shut it down in a heartbeat, simply by saying: "Stop it!" Kerry needs to do just that. He must state the obvious: that 9/11 was the work of Islamist fanatics, and that the danger will not have passed until those who make war on America are either killed or in captivity. It is simply disgraceful that he hasn't already done so.
We might have had a better chance of avioding 9/11 if the country wasn't being distracted by republicans who hate blow-jobs.
We would have avoided 9/11 if Clinton would have actually gave a crap about national security, which he did not. It's the economy, stupid, right?
Are you going to continue to ignore the FACT that Clinton did more to fight terrorism than any president up to that point, eventually being hamstrung by the GOP controlled Congress? That's right, you don't care about facts.
Is it not ironic that the same liberals who didn't lift a finger to combat terrorism during the 90's are the ones pointing fingers and playing the despicable hindsight blame game with regard to our nation’s greatest tragedy? All for political gain. Utterly disgusting. The liberals were too scared by the possible polling reaction to take action in the Middle East. When we finally have an administration that will stand up to the terrorist threat, without regard to meaningless polls, the liberals jump all over it. Pathetic. The Bush Administration has the backbone that the liberals lack. Bush has courage, the liberals only have negativity, partisan anger, and pessimism. I don’t know what is worse, this or trying to bring down one of America’s great African-American role models in Dr. Rice. The liberals have done this before, of course, with the Clarence Thomas character assassinations. Guess who was an analyst on CNN the other day discussing Dr. Rice’s testimony? Yup, you guessed it: Anita Hill. The depths to which the liberals and their liberal media outlets will stoop clearly KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES.
jesus andy, when are you going to let go of this ridiculous mantra- if clinton did so much, why were the 9/11 attacks completely planned on his watch? there are better measures of fighting terror than how many meetings one held, or how much money was spent. lobbing a couple of cruise missles at a $10 tent and hitting a camel in the ass is not an effective anti-terror response, no matter how much that missle cost. OBL showed what he thought of clinton's effectiveness.
Let me mention AGAIN that Clinton did more to fight terrorism than any president to that point and would have been able to do more if the GOP controlled congress had not hamstrung him by refusing funding and raising the cry of "wag the dog" when Clinton DID try to retaliate for terrorist attacks. I agree. It is execrable that Bush and his crew are using the worst terrorist attack ever for their own political gain. It is absolutely disgusting the depths to which they will stoop.
Jesus, basso, when are you going to let go of this ridiculous mantra- If Bush had not stopped focusing on terrorism, maybe we could have intercepted some of the hijackers like CLINTON DID with the LAX bomber. There are better measures of fighting terror than attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 based on faulty, exaggerated, and massaged "intelligence." OBL showed what he thought of Bush's effectiveness. Puh-leeze. If you can't come up with an effective response to the FACTS (you know, that Clinton focused more on terrorism than any other president as evidenced by the GOP claiming that he was "obsessed" with OBL and terrorism) you really shouldn't say anything to avoid looking so silly.
andymoon, it really chaps your hide that Clinton didn't have the guts to take out the Taliban. He didn't have the guts to take out Osama when Sudan called him up and offered him on a silver platter. Clinton would never have attempted anything on as grand of a scale as Bush. They ran their administration like an election -- look at the polls to guide your actions. Disgusting.
Back on the topic of the thread, do you realize, t_j, that the 9/11 commission is made up of an equal number of Dems and Reps AND that the commission is chaired by a Republican? Partisan bashing? Only from you.
It must REALLY chap your hide that Bush's administration GAVE THE TALIBAN $43 MILLION IN EARLY 2001! Bush didn't have said "guts" until AFTER 9/11, so go f*** yourself with your Clinton bashing. A claim that has since been debunked. Oh, thats right, you don't care about facts or evidence, just your talking points. You are right. Clinton never would have lied to the country to get us to support an unjustified war that will not further the war on terror. Instead, he would have just gone in and kicked Taliban a$$es and would have combed the mountain ranges between Afghanistan and Pakistan to get the guy who DID have something to do with 9/11. And GWB NEVER looks at polls, huh? You are blind or deluded or both.
