The Moment That Changed America Forever: August 6, 2001

AndyA

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Mon Sep-11-06 09:49 AM
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The Moment That Changed America Forever: August 6, 2001

It was on this date that the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) included a memo titled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In U.S."

Forget everything previous to this. Forget about Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, and any other missed opportunity to capture and deal with Osama Bin Laden and terrorists around the world and here at home. The PDB of August 6, 2001 was the defining moment in time. If someone had taken a snapshot of that moment, we could say this is where the Path to 9/11 really began.

At that moment, George W. Bush, the President of the United States of America, Dick Cheney, the Vice President, Condolezza Rice, and all other people of power and influence in the American Government were put on notice. At that moment, they became aware of the potential of America itself being a target of a terrorist attack.

It would seem that all other business of the day would have paled in comparison to this memo, regardless of what it was. This was the specific moment in time when every decision made influenced the outcome of what eventually happened on September 11, 2001.

At that moment in time, President Bush could have made this a top priority. He could have assigned people to specifically deal with the issue, make recommendations, and put every man, woman, and child in America on notice that terrorists were determined to strike us here.

And perhaps that would have been enough. Perhaps someone in Boston would have looked at the men who were accused of crashing planes into the World Trade Center Towers as suspicious. There are reports that had people been more vigilant that morning, some of the terrorists may have not been given permission to board. Did any of the terrorists act suspicious? Did anyone in the airport notice anything that would have raised red flags had they been put on notice just a month earlier that terrorists were determined to strike us here at home?

We will never know, because that memo was largely ignored by this Administration. Bush went about his vacation in August as planned. Life in America was unchanged. And unknown to the victims, they were spending their last days with their loved ones.

You can try to place blame where you see fit, but it is this moment in time - a snapshot - that could have changed everything had it been handled differently. And Osama Bin Laden is still loose, 5 years later. Had the Bush Administration not been so dead set on invading Iraq that they outsourced the capture of Bin Laden at Tora Bora, we would have had him.

The first World Trade Center attack happened barely one month after Bill Clinton took office, and the perpetrators were captured in short order. The second World Trade Center attack happened after George Bush was in office for almost 8 months. The mastermind behind that attack is still on the loose, 5 years later, growing his group of American haters, and plotting his next attack.

Given these facts, you tell me who is responsible for 9/11.