Soccer Dad

Thoughts on the 9/11 Commission

Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson were interviewed on MSNBC because they had written an article "Terrorism on Trial" in May 2001 arguing that America's approach to Al Qaeda had to change from a law enforcement approach to a military approach. Of course, based on what they pointed out in that article, even more of a law enforcement approach would have been helpful, if it had been more thorough. They mentioned in that article was that there was plenty of evidence of Al Qaeda activity on American soil based on the testimony given in the embassy bombing trial. Such information could have been used to track those Qaeda cells. Might that have given law enforcement the opportunity to note increased activity in the summer of 2001? It's certainly possible.

In the MSNBC interview Pipes expresses his dismay that we seem to returning to pre-9/11 view that we're not at war. Without the casualties, as Emerson points out, that's hard to do in a democracy.

I've been reading Richard Miniter's "Losing Bin Laden" and Gerald Posner's "Why America Slept." My impression so far on Miniter is that his account is marred by a deep dislike for Bill Clinton. That's not to say that his contempt isn't earned, it's just that it undermines the effectiveness of the book. I'm not sure that everything Miniter faults Clinton for is fairly laid at Clinton's feet. A lot of the failures really must be attributed to, as the Kean commission pointed out, "a failure of imagination". But the picture the Miniter draws of Clinton is of one who is more concerned with politics than power. One question worth asking of Miniter is whether he feels that Kerry, who might understand the concept of responsibility would be as bad as Clinton in handling external threats.

Gerald Posner, doesn't fault just President Clinton. He faults the unseriousness of society. When different milestones in the planning of 9/11 are recounted, he writes what was in the headlnes at that time and it's clear that no one had much of an inkling of what our enemies were planning. And he, in many ways, confirms that the Bush administration didn't necessarily heed Richard Clarke's warnings. Though, unlike in Clarke's public portrayal, the administration wasn't clueless. Condoleeza Rice asked Clarke about Al-Qaeda and asked him to write up an anti-terror plan. The administration didn't act upon it though.

Posner would apparently agree with Pipes and Emerson that we need to understand that we are at war. It's a case that the President must really more persistent abouit.