Did the Bush Administration drop the ball with 9/11?

[Modbert]

I've heard it many times in my time here at USMB, that George W. Bush dropped the ball when it came to 9/11 information. That he had no idea that Al Qaeda was going to attack, and that the document dated from August 27, 2001 was not specific enough.

Well, I had to dig around tonight to help a friend with a project. And I came across these two articles, and I was wondering what your thoughts on this were USMB.

U.S. planned for attack on al-Qaida - Security- msnbc.com

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2002 - President Bush was expected to sign detailed plans for a worldwide war against al-Qaida two days before Sept. 11 but did not have the chance before the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, U.S. and foreign sources told NBC News.

The document, a formal National Security Presidential Directive, amounted to a “game plan to remove al-Qaida from the face of the earth,” one of the sources told NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski.

Officials did not believe that Bush had had the opportunity to closely review the document in the two days between its submission and the Sept. 11 attacks. But it had been submitted to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and the officials said Bush knew about it and had been expected to sign it.

The couching of the plans as a formal security directive is significant, Miklaszewski reported, because it indicates that the United States intended a full-scale assault on al-Qaida even if the Sept. 11 attacks had not occurred.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | US 'planned attack on Taleban'

A former Pakistani diplomat has told the BBC that the US was planning military action against Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban even before last week's attacks.

Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.

Mr Naik told the BBC that at the meeting the US representatives told him that unless Bin Laden was handed over swiftly America would take military action to kill or capture both Bin Laden and the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar.

He was told that Uzbekistan would also participate in the operation and that 17,000 Russian troops were on standby.

He said that he was in no doubt that after the World Trade Center bombings this pre-existing US plan had been built upon and would be implemented within two or three weeks.

And he said it was doubtful that Washington would drop its plan even if Bin Laden were to be surrendered immediately by the Taleban.

Note: This is not a 9/11 Conspiracy Theory Thread or Promoter of it.

 

[Luissa]

I think organizations like the FBI and CIA dropped the ball.
But like anything else, it is easy to play the blame game after events like this.

 

[Modbert]

I think organizations like the FBI and CIA dropped the ball.
But like anything else, it is easy to play the blame game after events like this.

I just find it interesting that they had planned to attack Al Qaeda before 9/11. I mean you always hear how it was a surprise attack on the U.S. While it was for us citizens, it just doesn't seem to be so for the government if they saw the Taliban and such to be a threat to the level where declaration of war was necessary.

 

[Luissa]

I have also heard the theory, the CIA wanted to get into Afganistan for the heroine.

 

[Modbert]

I have also heard the theory, the CIA wanted to get into Afganistan for the heroine.

Haven't heard that one.

Though I know that the Taliban had the amount of heroin being made in Afghanistan at record lows because they despised the stuff. After we came in, it's being produced at record highs now.

 

[Luissa]

I have also heard the theory, the CIA wanted to get into Afganistan for the heroine.

Haven't heard that one.

Though I know that the Taliban had the amount of heroin being made in Afghanistan at record lows because they despised the stuff. After we came in, it's being produced at record highs now.

I heard it on some far left wing documentary.
I think it was just a bonus to them, when they decided to invade.

And as for the production, I have also heard that was kind of a false statement. For one when we invaded it was harvest time, with sells being down before due to it not being harvest season.

 

[California Girl]

I think organizations like the FBI and CIA dropped the ball.
But like anything else, it is easy to play the blame game after events like this.

It is incredibly easy for people to throw criticism around about responsibility. The fact is that, as you say, it is a whole different ball game when you're the one of the government agencies responsible. They were - and continue to be - overwhelmed with information that needs to be analysed and considered. I think, considering the amount of shit these people have to take, they are unsung heroes. We rarely hear about all the successes they have - sadly, we are all painfully aware of the shit that slips through.

There are thousands of Americans who work tirelessly to protect us - and, for the most part - their hard work and dedication goes unrecognized. And worse, they are publicly blamed by a bunch of assclowns in DC.

 

[RadiomanATL]

I think there is a difference between:

a) These guys are a threat to global stability and security. We need to analyze their operations, study their weaknesses, obtain executive and congressional approval for and funding of possible covert military actions against them. Then we need to come up with specific and actionable intelligence, formulate tactical operations without losing the strategic focus....

and

b) HOLY GODDAMN FUCKING SHIT!! Look what the fucking hell they just did! We gotta go GET those fuckers!


Obviously, plan A was in the works, and then plan B had to take effect.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

You can tell that Bush knew how fucked our National Security apparatus was because he "asked" that the Clinton team carry over. After West Nile, 93 WTC, Murray Building, Cole, Embassies, TWA800, Bush knew it was a question of when and not if we were going to get hit again so he gave the Clinton Team a choice: stay and we fight together or leave us with this pile of crap and we;ll be sure to let everybody know how many times you screwed the pooch

 

[California Girl]

You can tell that Bush knew how fucked our National Security apparatus was because he "asked" that the Clinton team carry over. After West Nile, 93 WTC, Murray Building, Cole, Embassies, TWA800, Bush knew it was a question of when and not if we were going to get hit again so he gave the Clinton Team a choice: stay and we fight together or leave us with this pile of crap and we;ll be sure to let everybody know how many times you screwed the pooch

Personally, I think we should be above partisan sniping about our national security.

 

[BrianH]

​

I think organizations like the FBI and CIA dropped the ball.
But like anything else, it is easy to play the blame game after events like this.

I just find it interesting that they had planned to attack Al Qaeda before 9/11. I mean you always hear how it was a surprise attack on the U.S. While it was for us citizens, it just doesn't seem to be so for the government if they saw the Taliban and such to be a threat to the level where declaration of war was necessary.

The thing is, we were already at war with Al Qaeda. We'd been attacked numerous times already (all the work of Al Qaeda) Clinton and his administration had the opportunity to annihalate Osama before Bush was even a key player. They even had Osama on camera from pretador drones. All Clinton had to do was give the order to get rid of him.
This article says that Clinton treated Osama as more of a law enforcement problem. I'm not placing all the blame on Clinton, however, key opportunities were dismissed.
Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities - Nightly News- msnbc.com

 

[CrusaderFrank]

You can tell that Bush knew how fucked our National Security apparatus was because he "asked" that the Clinton team carry over. After West Nile, 93 WTC, Murray Building, Cole, Embassies, TWA800, Bush knew it was a question of when and not if we were going to get hit again so he gave the Clinton Team a choice: stay and we fight together or leave us with this pile of crap and we;ll be sure to let everybody know how many times you screwed the pooch

Personally, I think we should be above partisan sniping about our national security.

Bush and Cheney might have been the only ones to realize how close the WTC93 attack came to killing 30,000 Americans outright.

 

[rdean]

I think it's a mistake to point to one particular event and say "Bush dropped the ball".

Much better would be to try to figure out where Bush DIDN'T drop the ball.

Let's see, Bush was successful at, ummm......

Well, if you're going to go there, it's only fair to point out that as a hole, the Republican Party hasn't been very successful at anything "good". By "good", I mean something that helps more than rich people and Bin Laden.

 

[xotoxi]

I've heard it many times in my time here at USMB, that George W. Bush dropped the ball when it came to 9/11 information. That he had no idea that Al Qaeda was going to attack, and that the document dated from August 27, 2001 was not specific enough.

Well, I had to dig around tonight to help a friend with a project. And I came across these two articles, and I was wondering what your thoughts on this were USMB.

U.S. planned for attack on al-Qaida - Security- msnbc.com

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2002 - President Bush was expected to sign detailed plans for a worldwide war against al-Qaida two days before Sept. 11 but did not have the chance before the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, U.S. and foreign sources told NBC News.

The document, a formal National Security Presidential Directive, amounted to a “game plan to remove al-Qaida from the face of the earth,” one of the sources told NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski.

Officials did not believe that Bush had had the opportunity to closely review the document in the two days between its submission and the Sept. 11 attacks. But it had been submitted to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and the officials said Bush knew about it and had been expected to sign it.

The couching of the plans as a formal security directive is significant, Miklaszewski reported, because it indicates that the United States intended a full-scale assault on al-Qaida even if the Sept. 11 attacks had not occurred.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | US 'planned attack on Taleban'

A former Pakistani diplomat has told the BBC that the US was planning military action against Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban even before last week's attacks.

Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.

Mr Naik told the BBC that at the meeting the US representatives told him that unless Bin Laden was handed over swiftly America would take military action to kill or capture both Bin Laden and the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar.

He was told that Uzbekistan would also participate in the operation and that 17,000 Russian troops were on standby.

He said that he was in no doubt that after the World Trade Center bombings this pre-existing US plan had been built upon and would be implemented within two or three weeks.

And he said it was doubtful that Washington would drop its plan even if Bin Laden were to be surrendered immediately by the Taleban.

Note: This is not a 9/11 Conspiracy Theory Thread or Promoter of it.

Dogbert...I have two words for you:

HAM SAMMICH

Get me one!

 

[Zona]

Blah blah blah, it was all worth it, they found those WMD's.