There's no way around it. The memo is pretty damning for the Bush administration. But I think people are missing the point. The issue at hand isn't whether there was actionable intelligence or whether the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented (I believe Richard Clarke admitted that they couldn't be prevented). I think what it really boils down to is a matter of trust. Can we trust Bush and company to continue leading our country?
I think the answer is a clear "no". They have consistently either withheld information or blatantly lied to cover their own asses. Case in point: from the beginning the company line has been that their was never any evidence of a domestic threat, and that every indication suggested that only overseas interests would be targeted. But the PDB obviously contradicts this assertion.
They knew their lie would be revealed if they released the PDB. That's why they withheld it so long, and only released it when they had no choice. Even then they conveniently released it on a Saturday night, when they knew nobody would be paying attention.
There's an article in "The Nation" which is fairly insightful (and I think pretty fair, even though it's a very left-wing magazine):
<a href="http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1370">
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgame...bid=3&pid=1370</a>