YOU HAVE TO READ THIS ARTICLE that was written in Time Magasine in August of 2002.
It's a brilliant work.
In a nutshell, it would appear that Bush and company were too busy tearing down everything Clinton had put together to care about lost time dealing with terrorists.
Bush and Rice totally dropped the ball on this one and I am amazed that someone hasn't fingered them to date on the issue.
It's all about partisan politics. Bush/Rice didn't want any perception in Washington that the previous administration had clue one to do with anything.
As a result, you had a lapse in Security.
Ironically, it would appear that the French had warned the USA that Al-Queada was up to something just days before it happened.
It's a great read, and you can now access Time's back issues over the net for no cost. You used to have to pay for such things.
Read it.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...333835,00.html