Okay how would you have repsonded to 9/11 differently than Bush?

[Trad Bass]

How would you have handled it?

Trad

[DagmarK]

1. For starters.......I would have been FREAKED OUT from the get-go.....

As in........I would be SURPRISED, shocked, horrified, speechless. I would have wept -- as just about every other person did.

I am pretty darned sure I wouldn't have lined up a bunch of brown-skinned kids behind me to give some evil-doer press conference and talk about "tracking the evil-doers down and making them pay."

I esp would have gotten ALL CHILDREN away from me if I believed that I, as president, was a target.

I would NOT have told the air defense to NOT shoot down hijacked airlines (ie, the one in PA and the one that hit the Pentagon).

And these, my friends, represents his 1st hour after the attack.

Let's just leave it at that.

[indigo32]

2. He he

[Devlzown]

3. Yeah, I would've definitely

stopped reading the goat story to the kids. Then I would've tried to find out what the f*ck was going on.

[Maple]

4. When the first tower was hit

left for New York without reading books to kids.

Or at the very least Colorado.

Ordered all jets into the air with orders to shoot anyone going astray.

Ordered all civilian aircraft to land.

Made a statement to the nation to reassure everyone.

Find out who did it...not just pick names out of a hat. Or choose the favored bad guy of the moment.

Send a commando team to solve the problem, or immediately summon the UN to deal with the offending nation....which was neither Afghanistan or Iraq.

Treat it as a criminal matter, and not take the nation to war, or bankrupt it doing so.

[DagmarK]

8. And if I thought the hijackers were SAUDIS, I wouldn't have given

the royal family a govt escort OUT of the country!

[Maple]

12. Exactly

usually when a crime has been committed, all possible exits are closed until things are resolved.

[Terwilliger]

5. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE SCHOOLROOM AND HEAD FOR AF1

just a minor get going, ya know

[DagmarK]

6. Thank you!!!!!!

LOL

[Sperk]

7. When the US got warnings from Spain, Israel, Russia, France and

I believe Germany too, that would have been a good time to pull together all the top dogs of the major intelligence agencies, CIA, FBI, INS and NSA. See what each agency has, are they communicating and sharing info etc. Anyone would have done that, anyone who really wanted to prevent the attacks, that is.
:evilfrown:

[NNN0LHI]

9. I would have treated it as just what it was. It was a crime, not a war

If the military were needed to assist the FBI or CIA in any way I would have given the OK. But to declare a war in Afghanistan to throw one group of thugs out and replace them with another group of thugs and still not catch the people who our government says did 9/11 does not make sense to me.

Don

[madfloridian]

10. I would have done something about those jet planes???

Maybe? Instead of reading about a goat? Wondered why the jets were not scrambling?
How would you have handled it, Trad?

[Trad Bass]

11. I would have beat it to White Suphur Springs and hid in the vault

Seriously I would have been cautious in using the military.

I would have finished the story then got the heck somewhere safe to be updated. No sense in spooking the kids or teacher.

After that I dunno. Of course go after Osama but not Iraq.

Trad

[Maple]

15. Nobody knows to this day

if it had anything whatever to do with Osama.

We not only saw no proof of any kind, but even fellow Saudis said Osama didn't have the brains for this kind of thing.

[Trad Bass]

18. Doesn't matter

Osama had planned previous attacks against the US and even Clinton tried to kill him.

Trad

[Maple]

21. Yes it bloody matters...big time!

If someone committed mass murder in say...Denver....do you just pick up someone you know killed someone before or the person who actually did the mass murder??

Getting the RIGHT person is vital...or they can do it again.

[Trad Bass]

23. They haven't done it again

I beleive Osama had something to do with it. He has the money.

If you don't fine.

Trad

[gbwarming]

26. Yet.

Edit: By the way, Al Qeada isn't the last terrorist group the world will see, and Bush* has seriously damaged the international institutions that are most effective at tracking down these criminals.

AQ isn't gone, neither is the Taliban. The Saudis still pay for fundamentalist schools all over the world. Pakistan still has a corrupt intelligence agency. The US is seen more than ever as a bully - talking about democracy for everyone, but supporting corrupt regimes whenever it suits the corporate interests.

[rooboy]

28. Oil companies have much more money than OBL...

and a much greater motive to want the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Maple]

29. They don't need to now.

The US is hated from one end of the Muslim world to the other, Al Qaeda recruitment is sky-high, the US is pulling out of Saudi Arabia as demanded, meaning the Royal family there is vulnerable to an internal Wahabi coup, the US is bogged down in both Afghanistan and Iraq militarily, and the US is going broke doing it, and scared to death of every event no matter how minor.

Osama can sit on the beach and laugh at the success, no matter who actually did it.

And PS...lots of people have money.

[Trad Bass]

32. So who do YOU think did it?

Trad

[Maple]

40. Well now that the waters have been so muddied

it's gonna be hard to tell. But the first place I would be looking for culprits is Saudi Arabia.

NOT pulverizing Afghanis or Iraqis who had nothing whatever to do with it, however reprehensible the Taliban or Saddam are.

And I would be looking for an internal US connection.

911 had an American flare to it, not an Arab one.

[aquart]

77. Work in international courts to seize the money, honey.

Work to expand the RICO concept internationally.

Heh. And apply it to corporations.

Tee hee.

[rooboy]

24. What do you mean it "doesn't matter"????

If 9/11 wasn't done by bin Laden, it matters a hell of a lot. That's like saying that if you have a serial killer in your town, it's ok to arrest another serial killer.

[Trad Bass]

27. There is a whole network

Osama is just part of it.

Trad

[Maple]

31. Osama

is a created figurehead, and now a hero in the Muslim world.

We don't know that he has any actual connection to any of it.

And the 'network' could be 5 people.

[rooboy]

33. How do you know who is part of this "network"???

If a murder was committed by members of the Hells Angels in Australia, does that mean you have armed raids and prison terms for the Hells Angels in California? Of course not. But if its ARABS, then that's different.

It's so easy to say these guys are part of a "network" but that accusation has little more credibility than the other conspiracy theories floating around out there.

[Trad Bass]

34. I would put my intelligence folks on unravelling the network.

That's their job.

Trad

[rooboy]

36. Problem you have right now...

is Executive Privilege. Bush was a business partner of one of the bin Ladens, and is a personal friend of the Saudi royal family. We'd probably be at the bottom of this whole mess if it wasn't for the ass-covering.

[oustemnow]

22. No sense in spooking the kids or teacher

any other "leader" could have stepped out of there gracefully, without "spooking" the kids. Hell, I could have done it:

"Sorry, kids, something has popped up and I have to take care of it. Let little Timmy finish the reading; I promise I'll reschedule soon."

Christ, don't you think the kids and teacher were "spooked" an hour later, when they found out was going on?

[Trad Bass]

25. I'm not defending Bush

but damn don't get all panicky and rush out. Shit.

Trad

[oustemnow]

44. Damn, you're kind of dense, aren't you?

your first argument is, "you shouldn't spook the kids."

I explain to you that you can make a quick exit without panicking the kids, and explain how it could have been done.

You reply with, "Don't get panicky and rush out. Shit."

This is my last reply to you on this topic. Clearly, you're only interested in engaging in a circular argument.

[Nay]

80. Amen, oustemnow. He should have excused himself immediately

and gotten out of there to deal with the situation. There would have been no problem with "spooking" anybody,, especially considering that everyone was going to be freaked out in a few minutes by the news anyway.

And he should have gotten on the tv immediately to issue a calming statement. I personally would have gone to NY or Washington and spoken from there (Giuliani had the guts to be there) and shown some goddam balls, but not our little scaredy-cat pilot showoff.

[aquart]

74. He knew about the hit before he started the story.

The session should have been cancelled because of vital national emergency. Period.

[midnitemoleman]

13. Traded Bush/Cheney for carmel apple & Bin Laden

Or a giant snow cone, I love snow cones. Or one Satan for
two Satan wanabee's.

[jbm]

14. for starters...

I would have insisted that I be taken to New York or D.C. instead of roaming around and eventually going to Omaha. I don't care what the logic was behind all of that..he needed to be presidential.

[MattNC]

16. hmm

stood on the front lawn of the White House and yelled "Bring 'em on!" :P

[rooboy]

19. Word is...

if you take the late afternoon White House tour you can still see him doing that...

[rooboy]

17. I would have FIRED Richard Myers and Condaleezza Rice. n/t

[liberalmuse]

20. I'll tell you how I wouldn't have handled it...

1. I wouldn't have taken a 5 week vacation right after receiving several reports that terrorists were going to hi-jack planes and fly them into the WTC and possibly the Pentagon, unless I were a lazy, incompetent fratboy who'd never made an honest living or worked a day in his life.
2. I wouldn't have ignored the Hart/Rudman report. That was some pretty powerful stuff. 'A 100% chance of a terrorist attack on American soil, killing thousands, within the next 25 years...' wow! You'd have to be a f*cking incompetent to overlook that threat.
3. I wouldn't have continued reading a book to school children when I knew that thousands of my fellow Americans were deciding whether to burn, or jump, unless I had known in advance it was going to happen and due to being a f*cking incompetent, my bosses told me to 'just read the book to the kids and try act natural, and for Chrissake's, don't smirk when you're told that thousands of people are dying'.
4. I wouldn't have let the FAA, NORAD or the Air Force off the hook, unless I, or someone in my administration had told them to 'stand down'.
5. I wouldn't have hopped on Air Force One and scurried into a bunker after bunker while my countrymen faced some as of yet, undetermined fate, unless I were a chickensh*t f*cking incompetent who could care less about being a noble leader because I was handed this job to make my dad and his friends richer and more powerful than their wildest imaginings.
6. I wouldn't have used the firemen who risked their lives and lost their colleagues as a photo op, and then recinded on my offer of financial aid, unless I were a greedy, incompetent, LYING man-without-honor who says one thing, and does exactly the opposite.
7. I wouldn't have used it as an excuse to piss on The Constitution, murder Afghanistan and Iraq, and rape America. I would've found the real perpetrators and tried them in a court of law, like Clinton did after the first WTC bombing, unless this had been planned for years in advance.
8. 9-11 wouldn't have happened unless I LET it happen.

[Trad Bass]

30. Oh sure

"Get the hell off the plane you bunch of sand niggers!"

They were in country and they legally got on the planes. To prevent them would've smacked of racism at the time.

How could you stop that?

Trad

[Maple]

35. Said no.

Without the idiot bad language.

[Trad Bass]

38. That racist reply is basically what the airport folks would've been saying

if they denied Atta and Co boarding. I just used it to illustrate my point.

Trad

[Maple]

42. No they wouldn't have

You don't call individual aircraft...there are thousands of them.

You shut down all airports. End of flights anywhere.

[Trad Bass]

43. Good point n/t

Trad

[liberalmuse]

37. Um, you're not getting it, are you?

Bush KNEW something was going to happen and did NOTHING. HE KNEW. Clinton received similar warnings before Y2K of a planned terrorist attack, but instead of taking a 5 week vacation, he called up the FBI and made sure security was heightened. He warned Bush before leaving office of the threat. Bush pulled back security and then turned his back until it was over.

[Trad Bass]

41. That still wouldn't have stopped Atta and Co

They were in country.


Trad

[uhhuh]

45. WTF???

This has got to be the most nonsensical reply to a post I have ever seen!!!

Can you point to one statment made in the previous post that says that this person would advocate forcibly removing passengers from a plane? If you think that the only way to have improved security on aircraft prior to 9/11 would be to bar arabs from flying, I think they might have a position for you in the chimp administration.

How do you know those guys were even on those planes. So far, there has been no verifiable evidence that the people they say carried out the attacks were in fact the people who did it. There is some unproven evidence that many of those reported to have been invovled are actually still alive.
If you don't trust the chimp to be president, why do you accespt that he's got the right guys?
Without a reasoned investigation, free from thoughts of fear and revenge, we will probably never know what happened, and after Saddam and Osama and all their supporters are rounded up and killed(like that's possible), what a shock it would be to find out that we in no less danger now than before and maybe even more. Or maybe we were never in any danger at all...at least from an outside threat.

[Trad Bass]

48. Well then who did it?

A bunch of Nazis? Space aliens?

Trad

[Maple]

50. So for you

the only other choice beyond Osama is Nazis or space aliens??

I think we have another joker here folks, bored and wasting everyone's time.

[Trad Bass]

54. The don't reply.

n/t

Trad

[uhhuh]

61. I don't know

But since there is a good degree of evidence that the "official story" has a lot of holes in it. I think attacking other countries with out a lot of those questions being answered is totally irresponsible and doesn't solve anything.

[aquart]

75. Started the air marshall program as soon as the warnings came in.

Insisted on and inspected reinforcement of the cockpit doors to prevent seizure of the controls.

For a start.

[knight_of_the_star]

39. Simply put

I would have gracefully got up, apologized and explained that I had to leave to go do my job, get on AF1, go to DC, and while en route order ALL civilian airliners grounded ASAP, scrambled every single military aircraft with a weapon of some kind, ordered all aircraft in the vicinity of the Eastern Seaboard to go on constant CAP over the entire seaboard with shoot on sight orders for any non-military aircraft aside from AF1 that was NOT en route to an airport, sealed the borders north and south, and got on the tv as soon as I got in to the white house to assure the American people that this crime will be punished and order the CIA, the FBI, the INS, and the NSA to get on the case pronto. Any members of the above agencies who mishandled intelligence that could have stopped the attack would have been fired on the spot and arrested for manslaughter by gross negligence. I would then have convened the UN and NATO and called for increased global cooperation in the coming investigation. Then I would have called Interpol to get all needed info to all the agencies involved in the hunt to them ASAP. Then after all that is over (this is just the first two days) I would have called for a bill that would allow for a large increase in funding to the FBI and the CIA to be used to establish and strengthen counterterrorism departments. After all this is over, I would then get some sleep and get on with my term.

[Maple]

46. Good man!

Er....knight.

[pink_poodle]

47. Unless of course, you had something to hide and a reason to.........

run away. Let's face it. He knew something.

[knight_of_the_star]

53. True

The way the admin was acting during and following 9/11 whenever their chosen view of how things went was questioned was that of someone trying to hide something.

[ErasureAcer]

49. I would have listened to the "terrorists" demands.

I would have met face to face with the leaders of these guys who blasted us and said hey...what will make you guys stop attacking us? Get our troops out of the Mid-East? Sure. Stop supporting Israel? That can be done too, and should have been done a long time ago. I'd apoligize for the past administatrions horrible handling of the middle east. I would have proposed a treaty outlining everything we agreed upon and signed the damn thing.

Leaving the Middle East to deal with their own problems, and America can concentrate on our own.

I would have wished the guys good luck and hopefully one day we can find a common ground between our civilizations. But for now, let us live in peace and stop the Jihad's and "war on terrorism".

Would the guys keep their word? Would they even agree? Who knows...we never tried.

Basically, I would have tried to solve our differences with diplomacy and not with war.

[Trad Bass]

52. Israel is the big problem in all of this- your right

We need to cut back our support. Both Dems and Repubs love that country.

Trad

[jagguy]

57. this is a joke right ?

they kill thousands of Americans and you really think that they're going to have a face to face with the leader of that country ? Let me rephrase that, walk into a lead pipe cinch ambush ?

You guys are cracking me up tonight !

[ErasureAcer]

67. No, I'm dead serious.

I really don't care who the hell started the war(which it is between cultures...global domination/secular people). I would have started the end to the war by making a peace treaty. Would they have come? I dunno. But you can only do as good as you try to be. And when you only look at the military option, all you get is an endless war.

Do you think this war on terrorism will ever end with a military victory?

Israel can fight their own wars. So can the Ukraine, Vietnam, Koreas, Liberia, Colombia and so forth. We're not the world saviours. The UN was designed to be the world saviours. If there is a problem with the world(ethnic clensing for example)...America will be one nation in a chorus of other nations to make the world a better place. America is not a nation to dictate who the ruler of Iraq is or any other nation for that matter.

It was Patrick Henry who got up in 1775 and said, "give me liberty or give me death"...his stance, with others, lead to our independence and our half-decent society we live in today. There are a lot nations that could use regime change. And it is the people of those nations to fight for their rights, not us.

Israel is the problem with the middle east. because of them, we have put thousands of troops in the region, all for their independence. This isn't our war to fight. I'd tell the terrorists we're sorry(I would have told them this before 9/11 and taken the troops out but this topic is about after 9/11 so I'll pretend I'd let something like this happen...the war going on)...for fighting the war against their culture, within their own boundaries.

Is this funny? Not really. This is serious stuff that has given America a bad rap in the world, as well as a ballooned pentagon budget, and a war where 9/11 was just one battle.

I can respect people's rights to govern their own lands. I'd say the taleban can control their country with no interference from me, and I can govern my country with no interference from them and we shall live in peace.

Every administration since FDR hasn't respected any nations rights to govern themselves. I'd give those rights back to the those people as long as they aren't starting international wars(pre-emptive strikes). Those who do start a pre-emptive strike(CoughAmericacough)...I'd deal with through the UN.

Will people suffer under these regimes? Sure they will, but it is their lack of will to fight for a better country for themselves. They get what they deserve. If a life with a dictator as their leader makes them happy, then who are we be to intervene?

Patrick Henry was a great man. He was right on this issue as were our forefathers who have given us the constitutional right to create our own government shall this one fail. We'd have to defend it ourselves...costing many lives...but damn it, any other action simply states that we're happy with our current administration.

So I'm
Pro civil war.
Anti pre-emptive international war.
Pro UN war combatting pre-emptive international war.
And saddened a resolution wasn't given to attack America for its pre-emptive war on Iraq.

Anti-American? Maybe...but the war on Iraq was wrong, did violate Article II of the UN charter, wasn't given the go ahead by the UN, and therefore was ILLEGAL.

We were no different than Adolf Hitler. And you wonder why the world hates us? We promote war and not peace.

my reaching out to the terrorists leaders would be a bridge to ease our differences and promote peace within our cultures.

[Arkady]

81. Re:"I would have listened to the "terrorists" demands."

I fear that this approach would only have led to more attacks against us. I lived through 9/11 (dodging falling debris, watching people on fire jump out of the towers etc.) and I believe that any concessions to people who are willing to do something like that only encourages MORE attacks, because they'd see us as weak and want to extract more concessions through violence. What you're proposing is very close to pre-WWII American isolationism combines with Chamberlainesque appeasement. we saw the result of that in the 230's-40's

I really don't see any way to deal with terrorism other than actively fighting it.

A question for you- what if the conditions of the terrorists ending their attacks include that the US convert to Islam, that we replace our Democratic system with Sharia law and that we impose Taliban-style rules on the women in the US? Would you be willing to accept those conditions to stop the attacks?

[ErasureAcer]

82. They wouldn't ask that...

for I'd be preaching the right to self rule(which is already in the UN). We have the right to run our government anyway we want it, as long as it doesn't affect the rest of the world. Technically, if we have a big cloud of smog originating from the US and it is spreading around the world...people could attack us for spreading that smog onto their homeland. Same goes with our troops. If our troops are spread to other countries and those countries don't want them there...people have the right to speak and attack. Governments aren't the only way of communication. People should, first and always, have the right to speak first and act according to their beliefs. The "terrorists" had the right to fight a battle on 9/11 because they felt America had started a war of cultures. If someone tried to kill your culture? What would you do? Assimilalte? Of course not.

Now, in these talks we would have found a truce on the issues...and they wouldn't have broken the UN founding principle of self-rule. The United States would actually agree to this and we would stop our dictatorship on the mideast and the rest of the world.

You just can't see 9/11 from America's viewpoint. You have to see it from the otherside too, to see the whole story.

[pink_poodle]

51. Well, a lot of people and even the media said....................

that 9/11 was like a Hollywood production, a Hollywood script. I also think the events that day played out like an American script. I just don't see how a bunch of Arabs masterminded by a guy in a cave could have organized these events with such efficiency. I just can't be convinced. I say it was an inside job. It was. It reeks of it.

[Trad Bass]

56. So Arabs are dumb?

Clarify your statement.

Trad

[pink_poodle]

58. Don't even go there. Trust me on this one.....................

I do not have a "thing" against anyone. No. Arabs are not dumb. But if you actually think about 9/11 for even a moment, you begin to realize the magnitude of the preparations involved, and you just see that it takes inside help. Your gov't. has been telling the world that these people took orders from OBL, who was working from a cave in a mountain, and I am telling you right now, that about the only people who believe this are living within the USA - the rest of the world thinks it's a crock.

[Trad Bass]

59. There WAS inside help

Atta and Co were let into this country. Terror sympathizers have been arrested in NY, WA and elsewhere.

Trad

[jmags]

62. Are you capable in explaining your thoughts

any more indepth than these brief, vague, one-sentence snippets you have provided so far?

What would you have done differently? What do you feel was justifiable, what do you feel unthinkable? What do you think of the many well-written posts on this thread that you have ignored, in favor of giving one of those short little brainless replies?

[Trad Bass]

63. That fact is/was

that 9-11 wasn't preventable. The hijackers were in country under the radar.

Trad

[jmags]

66. I see.

There's nothing more to it than that. Just "9.11 wasn't preventable".

You don't think you could indulge me and actually explain why it "wasn't preventable" beyond the brilliant "the hijackers were under the radar." You are talking to some intelligent people over here. So you better bring a little more to the table than this regurgitated bullshit.

[aquart]

79. Not really, sweetie. There was a huge sweep of innocent people.

Where are the prosecutions for terror?

[Yupster]

70. Nice thing about being a terrorist

you're not on a timeclock.

You can wait years between your big hits and can take years to set them up.

And they're working on their next one right now. Maybe it will be taking kids hostage in a daycare and shooting them one at a time. Maybe they'll poison a town's water supply.

There's no rush. They can take years to get just the right plan perfect.

[leftofthedial]

55. almost the opposite of what he did

I would not have read the damned story about the damned goat for 45 minutes

I would not have run away and tried to hide for several hours

I would have immediately mobilized all emergency aid at my disposal (instead of leaving that up to the mayor of NY)

I would have pursued the hijackers (if there were hijackers) through every criminal justice means available instead of playing "war"

I would not have stonewalled and blocked 9-11 investigation

I would not have suspended huge swaths of the Bill of Rights

I would not have used 9-11 for my own political purposes

The list could go on indefinitely

[jfkennedy]

60. It would be way different

First of all I would close the airline industry down until all planes are secure with secure doors.

I would not use the Israeli security system as a model because we are not Israel.

I would fire all CIA employees.

I would have a media black out that would probably last to this day.

I would not allow any planes to fly as well until we adopted a triple security check, Which is that the passengers get scanned 4 or 5 times by different departments of the government.

I would close down the borders for all Imports.

I would instead of going to Asia for a war send the troops to Canada and Mexico borders to keep out the Taliban.

I would threaten to start a War with England, that is where they (the Taliban )really organize but not really go to war.

I might just go to war with Saudi Arabia

I would cut the military by 95% they are simply not trained to deal with modern day conflicts; as well a large army is an easy target.

After I closed down the CIA I would work with work with countries that have experience with fighting the Taliban such as India, and I would give them billions within the first week of 9/11.

I would probably outlaw all International trading.

I would disarm all Nuclear, chemical, and Biological weapons, and destroy all stockpiles of them so the government would have a clear focus of what their job was.

I would let the United States Army replace the CIA as a spy agency.

I would change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of Non-Violence.

I would outlaw the death penalty for PR reasons.

I would give massive amounts of welfare to the poor in the US and abroad.

I would forgive all overseas debt as well as all our citizens debts.

I would cut all tax for citizens, and only tax Republican owned corporations.

I would let all our citizens get free health care.

And then with the 2 or 3 trillion that Bush looted from the government I would have used to build a new transportation system, that would not include cars. Most would be by train, and trolly.It is just to dangerous to have cars and trucks coming into major cities.

I would not allow any air travel overseas, only by boat, or by space.

I would build up the space program like Kennedy did to make things interesting and even have communities of people living up in space.

I would probably give Texas to Mexico, and give each Republican from Texas a million dollars to get out of the USA, and become Mexican citizens.

[Dem2dend]

64. Hmmm

When the first tower was hit there was mass confusion. Originally they thought it was a small plane. It wasn't until the second tower was hit that it became clear what was going on, at that point the plane that hit the Pentagon was on it's way.

Hindsight is 20/20 (Canfield's is 50/50)

The planes all took off within an hour of each other, this was well planned out. I'm sure Clinton & Bush* each got regular warnings of possible scenarios involving terrorism, you can't shut the country down. I think we're giving Bush* and Co too much credit for knowing what was going on.
We were all taken by surprise. I think there is more information that we could have stopped Pearl Harbor than there is that we could have stopped 9/11

[IndianaGreen]

65. I would have used the same response Israel used for the Munich Massacre

Israel kept it low key. Israel did not invade another country and bomb its cities and villages killing thousands of innocent civilians. Israel did not engage in mass genocide, as America has in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Israel's response to the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre was to form small teams and send them around the world to hunt down the people directly responsible for the murder of the Israeli athletes.

[Gore1FL]

68. Like this

Pre -9/11

Listened to FBI and CIA repoirts rather than cutting Brush.

Implemented the Gore and/or Hart Rudman recomendations.

Consider NAtional defense more inportant than UNOCAL and ENRON pipelines through Afghanistan

Maintained or increased Clinton's anti-terror efforts

9/11

Cancelled photo op at school (he knew about the 1st WTC plane priro to leaving the hotel)

Returned to Washington.

Instead of having Karen Hughes tell the nation the president was OK, tell the Nation that we were OK. He should have been on the airwaves immediately -- not wait until the evening.

post 9/11

Concentrated on ridding the world of Al Qeada and avoided:
Intervention in the Afghanistan Civil war (short of protecting US troops from Taliban interference)

Concentrated on ridding the world of Al Qeada and avoided unrelated attacks on Iraq that did little more than make the world less safe.

Concentrated on ridding the world of Al Qeada, rather than using their existence as a reason for bizzare domestic policies resulting in the erosion of Constitutional guarentees.

Concentrated on ridding the World of Al Qeada rather than pissing off or friends and allies.

Concentrated on ridding the world of Al Qeada rather than trying to disassemble the UN.

Concentrated on ridding the world of Al Qeada rather than using them for political popularity.

[Gore1FL]

69. And one more thing

how about giving the evidence against bin Laden toi Afghanistan in order to secure their willing extradition of bin Laden.

[proud patriot]

71. I would of GOT ON TV and LED the Nation

Gullioni did that though .

[JackSwift]

72. Here's the list

1. Would not have called off dogs on Bin Ladin earlier in the year.
2. Would have asked Congress to approve more anti-terrorism as Clinton had.
3. When it happened, I would have flown to ground zero immediately, having it secured on the way.
4. I would have launched an exhaustive commission to study the failure while still on flight to NY (no. 3 above), not two years later. All statements would be under oath.
5. Had F****** Bumbling Idiots cease chasing pot growers, prostitutes, gamblers, petty mobsters, etc. to focus exclusively on terrorism.
6. Instituted El Al airlines type security for all jet travel, and hired new federal workers to do the work so there was more than one line at the airport.
7. Hired thousands of new Arabic speaking intelligence analysts.
8. Demanded that the Saudis clean house the way only the Saudis know how (although it appears they did quite a bit of it.)
9. Asked every world leader, even Hussein, Assad and Quadiffi for help.
10. Not pissed off the Germans and French who have a lot of experience handling terrorist cells.
11. Visited Afghanistan (yes, I would have launched the war there.)
12. Not invaded Iraq.
13. Not passed the Patriot Act in its present form, but would have passed an act to hold terrorists indefinitely -- suspending writ of habeus corpus through specified constitutional procedure.
14. Started hiring foreign spies -- traitors to their own country even.

That would have been on the list before I cleared Florida's air space.

[JackRiddler]

73. "Children, sometimes the President is a very busy man..."

"A matter of great importance to our country has come up and we must leave the school right away to handle it. Thank you!"

That's all Bush would have had to say to the children, and then he could have left the school. Anyone serious would naturally and immediately think of it.

Duh!!!

But that's assuming he's even in the classroom at 9:05.

The real question concerns 8:50: the moment when they are leaving the nearby hotel and getting into their limos. At that point, an ABC reporter asks: "Do you know what's going on in New York?" Rove says: "Yes." And away they go!

Why do they drive to the school, knowing that New York was attacked? No excuses - it was a known attack. That AA11 was a hijacking was known as of 8:20. That a second hijacking was underway was known by the time of the first crash at 8:46. At that point the FAA had set up an open line to the Pentagon, NORAD and the Secret Service. So no one can simply say Bush thought it was just "a lousy pilot" - as in the outrageous cover story he has used at least twice in public. His entourage would have known!

They could have driven elsewhere. No doubt they had a back-up location set up, like they do with any POTUS appearance.

That would have left the principal to tell the kids that Bush is not coming. Too bad, kids! (Anyone care to argue that this would have been too much trauma for them in comparison to the unfolding emergency?)

And then, not only to go ahead with the visit, but at 9:05 (the famous moment when Card whispers to Bush) not to leave the classrooom, but to stay in the school for another 25 minutes, and finally to make a LIVE appearance on TV at 9:31, with only 10 mins to go before the Pentagon is hit...

This is the smoking gun, people! (One of several, actually.) This is how Bush (and Rumsfeld, and Myers) create the impression they were caught by surprise, so that you have the option of thinking they are guilty only of a human-seeming incompetence and forgivable dithering.

But what they were doing was to make sure not to appear involved during the decisive stage of the attack. Only once it went ahead as planned - as they knew it was coming! - did they suddenly start running around and pretending they were doing something important. Only once it was too late.

Only then did they begin to make up fairy tales about Air Force One being compromised, "the next target," in an attempt to win sympathy for the Chimp.

The question of what one would have done in Bush's place is irrelevant once you see that 9/11 happened more or less as Bush and members of his crew expected. They knew and intended for it to happen. There is no "simpler" explanation for their behavior on the day.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Add:

-- the forewarnings from foreign intelligence agencies
-- the widespread rumors and informal warnings in advance, the warnings to high-ranking people like Willie Brown and 5 Pentagon generals not to fly on Sept. 11
-- the active preparation of this scenario by the Pentagon and CIA, the simulations of planes-into-buildings scenarios on Oct. 2000, May 2001 and (ahem) SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 (simulation at NRO at the same time as NORAD was holding its Vigilant Guardian READINESS EXERCISE!)
-- the insider trading speculating on the attack, with the authorities refusing to reveal who was involved
-- the PDB of Aug. 6, 2001 (CIA warning Bush of impending hijackings in the States) in combination with the Genoa incident (Bush and entourage spent the night on an aircraft carrier to avoid the possibility that Qaeda would hijack a plane and smack into his hotel, as the Italians had warned could happen).
-- the hence proven lies of Bush ("lousy pilot") and Rice (as in "no one could have imagined" there would be kamikaze attacks, as she said in the press con of May 16, 2002).

IS THIS NOT ENOUGH TO START ASKING THE QUESTIONS THAT UNRAVEL THE OFFICIAL STORY?!

[TheWatcher]

78. Why is anyone bothering with this?

This is a good subject, and I've seen plenty of intellingent discusiion in this thread, but I can't believe that no one has picked up the obvious baiting of the person who started the thread.

He has absolutely no intelligent or articulate answers, nor can he seem to engage in a detailed discussion of his viewpoints. This is clearly just another dimly lit bulb wanting to stir up trouble.

Go back to watching Fox News Trad. It's obvious the truth or articulate discussion isn't something you are interested in or capable of.

Go do some research in Google, and get back to us when you are ready to leave the bubble.

[linazelle]

83. Agree wholeheartedly...

This seems more like an attempt to gather arguments for refutation than an actual effort to get answers. Why do people fall so easily for this kind of thing?

<sigh: making fish gills impression with my hands>

[Catherine Vincent]

85. I agree.

And his post didn't have 5 sentences either.

[tedoll78]

76. ORDERED A SCRAMBLE.

Bush sat there for such a long time. Had he ordered a scramble to intercept the plane, lives could have been saved. We have fighter pilots on standby at all times for emergencies..

Bush blew it badly.

[shimmergal]

86. At least ordered a scramble for massive air cover for D.C.

As the head of government, his first question should have been,
"Are we under attack?" with an appropriate response as above. If he knew nothing about it in advance, that's the only logical reaction.
And yes, it should have been immediate; no wait for a story about a pet goat.

Of course, if the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was actually meant to hit the Capitol, it's understandable why he didn't. Wiping out Congress with one fell swoop would considerably hasten the total power takeover that the Bushies want.

[Dude_CalmDown]

84. -I would have at the very least tried to act surprised

-I would not have gone forth with the plans I already had to attack Afghanistan until there was at least some kind of investigation

-I would not have blocked every attempt at an investigation

-Began drinking heavily to try and deal with the guilt