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mml · 04-12-2004, 09:51 AM

After reviewing the document, I would agree that it is a "historical document" that gives the President and his advisors a solid background briefing on what has previously transpired and what could "possibly" be planned in the future. These types of briefings are common in the White House. There are innumerable issues that the President and his staff must deal with and they need to be briefed on the issues prior to comming up with a plan of action.

My concern is why this particular threat was not even brought to the President until August 6th. This is where Clarke's concerns become most pursuasive. It is not that this administration totally ignored this issue, its just appears that there was little urgency. The fact that the Clinton administration (which did many things poorly on this issue) had identified Bin Ladin as an extreme threat and had made attempts on this life (not very effective ones, I'll admit) and apparently made this point to the Bush transition team and yet it was still almost seven months before Bush was even briefed on this issue.

Additionally, I think this memo should have had the effect of encouraging the administration to "shake the trees" and encourage all of the different agencies to review possible threats. Perhaps, this might have surfaced the infamous "Phoenix Memo" and we may have been able to track down some of the hijackers.

This is a lot of "what if's" and "maybe's", and in reality I think given the state of our intelligence community at that time the attack would have been exceedingly difficult to stop. For me the question is not whose fault, but how to prevent another attack. I personally do not hold Bush and his administration totally resonsible, the blame (as had been said by many) is widespread. I do hold the Bush administration responsible for poor follow-up and misguided action in the wake to 9-11(underfunding Homeland Security, not completing the Afganistan action before moving on to Iraq, the invasion of Iraq etc..) but that is another topic entirely.

04-12-2004, 09:51 AM	#38 (permalink)
mml Adrift Location: Wandering in the Desert of Life	After reviewing the document, I would agree that it is a "historical document" that gives the President and his advisors a solid background briefing on what has previously transpired and what could "possibly" be planned in the future. These types of briefings are common in the White House. There are innumerable issues that the President and his staff must deal with and they need to be briefed on the issues prior to comming up with a plan of action. My concern is why this particular threat was not even brought to the President until August 6th. This is where Clarke's concerns become most pursuasive. It is not that this administration totally ignored this issue, its just appears that there was little urgency. The fact that the Clinton administration (which did many things poorly on this issue) had identified Bin Ladin as an extreme threat and had made attempts on this life (not very effective ones, I'll admit) and apparently made this point to the Bush transition team and yet it was still almost seven months before Bush was even briefed on this issue. Additionally, I think this memo should have had the effect of encouraging the administration to "shake the trees" and encourage all of the different agencies to review possible threats. Perhaps, this might have surfaced the infamous "Phoenix Memo" and we may have been able to track down some of the hijackers. This is a lot of "what if's" and "maybe's", and in reality I think given the state of our intelligence community at that time the attack would have been exceedingly difficult to stop. For me the question is not whose fault, but how to prevent another attack. I personally do not hold Bush and his administration totally resonsible, the blame (as had been said by many) is widespread. I do hold the Bush administration responsible for poor follow-up and misguided action in the wake to 9-11(underfunding Homeland Security, not completing the Afganistan action before moving on to Iraq, the invasion of Iraq etc..) but that is another topic entirely. __________________ Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." -Douglas Adams