Stompy

What are they trying to get at with this?

They're making people testify, take oath, and this and that as if it was a criminal trial. I'm somewhat confused with the whole thing as I haven't been reading up on it and didn't read about it when it started.

Aren't they just putting together a report as to what happened or something? Why are they making it all serious by making people take oath and testify, etc?

Superbelt

www.911commission.gov
Frequently asked questions about the 9/11 commission

Ustwo

Its a farce. Truth is not the goal, just political manuvering.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

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seretogis

If you're going to copy/paste what I say, at least spell it right.

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seretogis - sieg heil
perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most, forgot how it feels well almost
no one to blame always the same, open my eyes wake up in flames

Ustwo

Spelling is for secretaries.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

kwoodmex

oh snap

Elegant Holmes

I can't see the point either. WTF? Should the US Gummint be blamed for not stopping the attacks? Why not blame the dirty little SOB's who got on the plane? WTF???

balderdash111

Here is the simple answer (the one that ignores the political overtones):

The commission was created not to assign blame for the attacks on Bush, Clinton, etc.

Rather, its goal is to study what went wrong with the US intelligence, law enforcement, security and policy efforts? In other words, they're trying to figure out why we didn't see this coming and what we can do to stop something like this from happening again.

Of course, regardless of the original motive, those commissioners who are still active in the political game have an incentive to make it look bad for the other party.

HamiC

I suspect that the purest motivations are as follows....

1) Learn from what happened. It is often said that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. There is something to be said for trying to figure out what we did well and what we did poorly so as to do better next time -- or avoid a next time altogether.

2) Provide some degree of closure to the families most directly impacted. I cannot hope to imagine what they must feel, but I know that many of the victims' families groups have been calling for greater disclosure and analysis around what actually happened. If the hearings can help them move towards closure, I'm all for it.

Sadly, even with worthy goals and motivations.....these things often get political. But that does not eliminate the good reasons for doing this kind of thing....or completely destroy any lessons we can take away.

mml

While any commission created by politicians is going to be inherently political, I believe that investigations like the 9-11 Commission are a necessary and justified part of Democracy. I, personally, do not need to point a finger at someone and say "It's your fault!" I don't think there are enough fingers in all of the TFP for that - the blame is widespread and goes back many years.

What I do want to learn is what happened and what we can do to help prevent something like this from occuring again. I do not feel comfortable letting the minds of just one administration (the Bush administration in this case) review the facts and make the reccomendations for change. I want just what we have, a group of highly qualified, politically diverse and politically savvy people to look at what occured and make wise, legitimate and achievable reccomendations. I also think that we, the public, deserve to know what our elected officials, our appointed officials and our bureaucratic officials did or didn't do.

If we fail to study the past we are doomed to repeat it.

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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."
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txlovely

Elloquent answer. Those families who lost loved ones have demanded an investigation if for no other reason than to prevent a similar occurrence. Now that doesn't mean our govn't can, but if it exposes some missteps and relieves some of the pain for survivors, then it is the right thing. I don't think there was any "big cover-up" and I believe Condy Rice is telling as much of the truth as she is able, but I do think that government agencies were not communicating fully and by retracing "what went wrong" perhaps those issues can be remedied. Partisan politics aside...

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Cruel words erode self-esteem like the ocean eats away the shore.

fuzyfuzer

it is a por mend who can thenk of only one way to spel a werd

Andrew Jacson

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"The difference between commiment and involvment is like a ham and egg breakfast the chicken was involved but the pig was commited"

"Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorious history. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

analog

Wow. Harsh words. I wonder if your sentiment would be similar if this were 1950, "Re: Holocaust- How did this happen?"

Say what you want, but they are trying to figure out who dropped the ball.

Also, as mml so wonderfully stated, it is a great deal of importance to the families, loved ones, and friends of 3,000+ people who were murdered or gave their lives that day- and indeed to me as well, a fellow american, whose sorrow for the innocent murdered and pride in the heros lost is immense.

World's King

Conversation with myself.


Why did 9/11 happen? The people over there that live in the sand don't like us.

Why don't they like us? We've been fuckin' with them and their oil for years.

Why have we been doin' that? We feel we own the world.

What does that have to do with anything? Our way of life goes against everything that they hold dear.

Okay? That's why they don't like us.

Because we need lots of oil to fuel our giant SUVs and light up Las Vegas? Yes. We need everything they have to keep our mass of mindless robots happy.

So, that's why they blew up our buildings? Yes. You get it now.

But what about all the talk that we knew it was gonna happen and we didn't stop it? One thing: Hail to the Thief.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

Seaver

Of course it has nothing to do with the resentment of living in a country that crushes free speech, or displeasure that they look at how the Ottoman Empire used to be, and are angry that they are not ontop anymore... its all us.

Yes, because we go over there and rape their women and children and run off riding our SUVs into the sunset like the train robbers in the movies.

How about the world looks to us everytime there's a peace that needs to be enforced, and the simple fact that we basically control the worlds economies makes it easy for us to negotiate favorable treaties.

Yes because you dont use any of that oil, you ride your bike on vacations, and walk accross town everytime you need groceries.

Once again, learn how elections work and stop bitching about the election 3.5 years ago.

Hanxter

it's called the blame game only because we're in an election year...

it doesn't matter...

as an example - kerry is blaming bush for the loss of jobs, jobs going out of the country - but who approved NAFTA?

World's King

Seaver: Learn to take a joke.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

Stare At The Sun

Humor can be a hard thing to come by in Tilted Politics

Personally, I think its just politics, trying to make Dubya look bad, and the like.

It will pass.