In his testimony before Congress, Donald Rumsfeld noted that “there have been many books written about threats and attacks that were not anticipated.” He mentioned At Dawn We Slept, The Day the Admirals Slept Late, While England Slept. . . how about that classic from the ’90s, While the President Slept Around?
The Bush administration gave its “strong support” to an independent commission to examine intelligence failures before 9/11. They should have announced that decision on 9/12/01. Al-Qaeda was not an unknown organization. It had attacked the U.S.S. Cole in Yemeni waters, and bombed two embassies in Africa. It left its tentacle prints on the bombing of the Khobar barracks in Saudi Arabia, the first attack on the World Trade lowers in 1993, and a foiled plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport during millennium celebrations. As late as the summer of 2001, the FBI swept up Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker, but could not inspect his laptop. Like all bureaucracies, the CIA and the FBI have been covering their tracks and protecting their own; the Bush administration unwisely extended its protective cone of loyalty to them. Heads must roll, before more Americans are blown to bits.
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