The Sins of September 11th by William Rivers Pitt (The Actions of the Clinton Admin)

[avaistheone1]

This article first appeared in Truthout in 2003. Because the archived Truthout version contains some glitches, I am linking to another source. Pitt wrote one of THE best articles I have read about how the Clinton administration took bold action against terrorism including warning the incoming Bush admin of these real threats. The article is a quick read and it is mindblowing especially in light of the Bush establishment's September 11th performance.


t r u t h o u t | Perspective -- Monday 13 October 2003

I am beginning to despise reading. I have lost count of the number of
times I have read some passage in a politically-oriented book, and
then been uncontrollably motivated to hurl said book against a wall or
across the room in fury. My library looks like someone took a weed-
whacker to it; all the dust-jackets have taken a fearsome beating.

The book currently on my desk has begun to retain a damaged
appearance. Sidney Blumenthal's "The Clinton Wars" is a meticulously
researched and foot-noted tour de force through the last ten years of
the brainless savagery of American politics. The retelling of the
contrived scandals clarioned by a media establishment which abandoned
any pretense of journalistic integrity, pushed by a cabal of House
members and right-wing activists whose worshipped altar was the desire
for raw power, and the sad and sorry tale of the impeachment itself,
is a difficult but necessary review of a truly pathetic time in our
history. Blumenthal manages to bring his readers back to that tar pit,
and keep them enthralled, with an excellent and deft literary touch.

Since I have read most of the other books on the scandal-gasm and
impeachment, there was not much through the middle of this book that
brought me up short, though Blumenthal does present interviews and
perspectives of players on both sides of that aisle which are not
present in the other histories (It was amusing to read Congressional
impeachment warrior James Rogan speak of being "On the wrong side of
history" regarding the trial in the Senate). No, the book began to
take its obligatory pounding when I reached page 656, and the second
part of the chapter entitled "The Twenty-First Century."

The astounding level of blunt ignorance within the American populace
about the events surrounding the attacks of September 11 cannot be
easily quantified. In a nation with thousands of newspapers, thousands
of radio stations, and a ceaseless data stream from CNN, MSNBC, CNBC,
Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and PBS, some 70% of the population believed as
late as a month ago that Saddam Hussein was centrally involved in and
personally responsible for the attacks which destroyed the Towers and
struck the Pentagon. Beyond that, what most people know about the
single most important event in American history does not go much
beyond "evildoers" who "hate our freedom."

That is, simply, incredible. It is also not an accident. This
ignorance has a great deal to do with the stunning mediocrity of the
television news media, that empty well where most Americans go to
become informed. This ignorance also, and far more importantly, has a
great deal to do with the Clinton-era actions of a large number of
conservatives, many of whom are in positions of power today, many of
whom are now making careers out of September 11.

http://www.yopyop.com/citizens/comments.php?id=471_0_1_0_C

[bulloney]

1. Yet, on this anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the MSM gerbils will tell us how Bush protected us

from terrorist attacks.

[Agony]

2. this is why the OP below should be on the figurative front page of every paper in America

Fucker
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002965677

553 DU recs

thanks to Hissyspit

[backscatter712]

3. The Bushies spoiled 9/11 for me.

It should be a solemn day of remembrance, and for most people it is.

But what I see is the jingoism, the buffoonery, the mindless destruction of two wars, one with a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, the crass manipulation of the public using 9/11, the idiocy.

Here's a tribute to what became of 9/11, which has nothing to do with the actual tragedy.

[Snotcicles]

4. Thanks for posting................Ironic ain't it?

How we Americans as a whole assume the media is the great deliverer of enlightenment. Only to find out it can be equally effective at keeping us in the dark. By the way awesome read from Will Pitt.

[Martin Eden]

5. History is revised as it is happening

K&R, thanks for posting!