An Excuse-Spouting Bush Is Busted by 9/11 Report

[Robbien]

Busted! Like a teenager whose beer bash is interrupted by his parents' early return home, President Bush's nearly three years of bragging about his "war on terror" credentials has been exposed by the bipartisan 9/11 commission as nothing more than empty posturing.

Without dissent, five prominent Republicans joined an equal number of their Democratic Party peers in stating unequivocally that the Bush administration got it wrong, both in its lethargic response to an unprecedented level of warnings during what the commission calls the "Summer of Threat," as well as in its inclusion of Iraq in the war on terror.

Although the language of the commission's report was carefully couched to obtain a bipartisan consensus, the indictment of this administration surfaces on almost every page.

Bush was not the first U.S. president to play footsie with Muslim extremists in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, nor was the Clinton administration without fault in its fitful and ineffective response to the Al Qaeda threat. But there was simply no excuse for the near-total indifference of the new president and his top Cabinet officials to strenuous warnings from the outgoing Clinton administration and the government's counter-terrorism experts that something terrible was coming, fast and hard, from Al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden's gang, they said repeatedly, was planning "near-term attacks," which Al Qaeda operatives expected "to have dramatic consequences of catastrophic proportions."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer27jul27,1,7719764.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

[izzie]

1. It would be nice to know where our leaders were on 911

Not one seemed to be found. What were they doing all watching out for them selfs?Could the President really have less power than the guards around him? That he was popping around the country to be safe and millions were running around the city of NY trying to get out of the way of falling building is sick.

[Sequoia]

2. I remember well the summer of 2001 when Bush said

how safe we all were. When he said that, I thought...we're in big trouble now. So despite all he says, he knew something was up and chose to ignore it or rather he had that "bring 'em on" mentality.

[captnjaq]

3. Commission report ignores Genoa precautions (7/2001)

I haven't read the report, but if anything regarding the massive precautions Bush was afforded in the summer of 2001, I haven't heard a peep. Copy and paste this and send it to the world:


George W. Bush last week reiterated his claim that if they "had and inkling" about the 9/11 attacks, they would have moved Heaven and Earth to prevent it. It is sad how easily one can expose this as a blatant lie.

First of all, the Bush Administration would like us to believe that the August 6, 2001 memo entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" was not itself an "inkling" of warning. Fine then, let's forget about the memo for one moment.

Let us never forget, and in fact let us remind the public as often as possible, that Bush himself admitted prior knowledge of the terrorist plot to fly jetliners into buildings.

In his prime time news conference disaster of March 6, 2003, Bush referred to intel he received before the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy:

"Ed, I asked for the briefing. And the reason I did is because there had been a lot of threat intelligence from overseas. And so -- part of it had to do with Genoa, the G8 conference that I was going to attend. And I asked, at that point in time, let's make sure we are paying attention here at home, as well.

"The report, itself, I've characterized as mainly history, and I think when you look at it you'll see that it was talking about '97 and '98 and '99. It was also an indication, as you mentioned, that bin Laden might want to hijack an airplane, but as you said, not to fly into a building, but perhaps to release a person in jail. In other words, serve it as a blackmail."

This, like the majority of his utterances, was a lie. The threat was specific: al Qaida operatives might hijack aircraft and assassinate Bush and other foreign leaders by crashing them into the meeting itself. This is why, as mulitple news sources reported, anti-aircraft guns were stationed strategically throughout Genoa and its airport during the conference. Additionally, Bush stayed on an aircraft carrier and other leaders slept on luxury cruise liners. The Italian government closed off local air space and had fighter jets patrolling the skies during the summit. (http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0406-11.htm) Security measures were unprecedented and underreported.

These events took place in July of 2001. If the Bush Administration dares to suggest that they had no warning of the kind of attack that took place on September 11, we must conclude that they are dangerously incompetent in forgetting the G8 warnings AND the August 8 memo, and not making the elementary connections between the two before and during September 11. Or they are lying.

Either way, these facts MUST be made widely known in the run-up to the election, because Bush somehow still polls very high in the public's trust against terrorism. I encourage everyone, everywhere in this country to write to their local newspapers, Congressmen, and campaign headquarters regarding the puzzle pieces above. Proof of Bush's guilt and/or incompetence is everywhere, but it is entirely up to us, the people, to make it known.

[newyawker99]

4. Hi captnjaq!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[captnjaq]

5. Hey back to ya!

Hiya Newyawk! And thanks....the toast icon just reminded me of the beer in the back of the fridge that I think I'm in the mood for.

How many of these replies do I need to do before I can post my own new topic? I'm just not sure how many people are reading these threads, and I crave the attention. :nopity:

These are fun!
:beer: