AWOL on al-Qaida - Eric Alterman

[dArKeR]

We still have never received an honest accounting of what took place on 9/11, and the media has been remarkably complicit (and complacent) in its pursuit; this is all the more amazing when you consider the fact that this is just about the most written about event in all human history.

AWOL on al-Qaida:  Let’s get this straight before the White House propaganda machine twists it with pretzel logic:  The Bush administration ignored the al-Qaida threat before 9/11 and panicked (WSJ) on 9/11 when confronted by the deed itself.  We still have never received an honest accounting of what took place, and the media—until this Wall Street Journal story--has been remarkably complicit (and complacent) in its pursuit; this is all the more amazing when you consider the fact that this is just about the most written about event in all human history.

I spend a lot of time on this issue in The Book on Bush, but rarely, if ever, have I seen it explained or even addressed.  Take a look at this incredible timeline upon whose sources I relied when I wrote this chapter and see if you can figure out what’s really going on. (Note: When I wrote my Nation column on this topic last year, which is drawn from the book, I did a lousy job of crediting this terrific research.  I made sure to do it in the book, but I regret having failed to so as well in the column.) 

P.S. There’s more here and some of that piece’s sourcing can be found here.

… And Homeland Security, Too.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/

[jean]

1. "Pretzel Logic" This is a great one, better than "fuzzy math!"

The word pretzel implies such images as b*sh choking, falling off the couch, mindlessly snacking as a couch potato...

I think Alterman has come up with a gem.

[alarcojon]

2. Didn't know Alterman is a Steely Dan fan

eom

[dArKeR]

6. Eric loves music and knows the history of many many groups. He's really

and honest, moral, cool guy! Why is there NEVER a Republican who fits the previous sentence?

[Old and In the Way]

3. The timeline he refers to is paulthompson's, a DU poster!

www,cooperativeresearch.org

This was also referenced by the 9/11 Citzen Watch group on C-Span today.

Way to go, Paul! The truth is getting out!

[paulthompson]

7. As we say here in New Zealand...

Sweet as! :)

I'm happy to see that because when Alterman came out with an article in the Nation last year, I thought he'd more than a little channeled material I'd written. I'm glad to see he's giving credit.

[Miss Authoritiva]

4. Of timelines and time lies....

One of the many, many things that I find distressing about the US government's response to 9-11 has been the fact that the events surrounding 9-11 have never been treated with the rigor of a scientific, criminal, forensic, or even an NTSB investigation.

Because the attacks "felt" like an act of war -- BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BIG, BLOODY, MESSY -- it doesn't seem like much effort was made to undertake painstaking reconstructions. And the fact that dedicated nongovernmental parties are the ones putting so much effort into developing timelines and chronologies says something.

During the early days after 9-11, I don't think the "fuzziness" was necessarily intentional. Afterwards, however, I think the Bush partisans realized that a certain fuzziness about Bush's personal timeline would be a good thing. And so, even today, you have Bush himself and Bush Administration officials making slightly or outright contradictory statements about who took what actions and when.

Finally, all that vague fuzziness has lost its protective value and is now a distinct liability.

[Skittles]

5. I don't know

for a long time after the events of 9/11 the atmosphere in America was just that one could not question ANYTHING reagarding 9/11 without risking being called a traitor or labeled as part of the "blame Amercica first" crowd. Then the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq. Now that this so-called war on terror is being seen as the phony war it is, and a disaster at that, all bets are off. We can finally talk about that day and dammit I hope the media finally does their f***ing jobs. There are a lot of unanswered questions.