Four 9/11 Moms Watch Rumsfeld And Grumble

NY Observer ^ | 3/24/04

[an amused spectator]

Todd Beamer would have been guilty of multiple federal felonies on September 10, 2001.

[per loin]

I think that it is time to put these four moms on the stand and find out why they had their husbands working in a building that they knew was a target for terrorists. They all knew, or should have known, that the building had been attacked in the past. I'm sick of folks trying to make political hay out of 9/11.

[Fiddlstix]

BUMP

[agrace]

"He needs to answer to his actions on Sept. 11," said Ms. Kleinberg. "When was he aware that we were under attack? What did he do about it?"

Lady, by 905 am EVERYONE knew we were under attack. With regard to sitting in his Pentagon dining room, just where was he to go? He was already in the Pentagon! How much closer could he have been to his command center? And if I recall correctly, Rumsfeld was helping to pull people out of the burning Pentagon for a while that day.

That said, I can't even begin to imagine the horror their families have been through and I feel deeply for them. My own husband used to take the Path train into the WTC station every morning before changing jobs six months before the attacks, my grandfather worked in the Pentagon for a decade right before retirement and my dad used to make frequent overnight business trips to the USDA offices in the WTC, so that whole day for me was full of nausea and prayerful thanks.

And is this "article" an editorial or what?

[unixfox]

Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza

These names reek of true Americans. < /sarcasm >

[Let's Roll]

Didn't grumble at the disingenuous ramblings of Madame Halfbright though, did they?

It's embarrassing to think she represented this country around the world. BJ always surrounded himself with losers to make himself appear competent.

[MrB]

It seems that leftists have 3 modes in "handling" crisis:

1) Ignore it, sweep it under the rug, etc. E.G. Clinton foreign policy.

2) Hand wring. Worry about it, but don't do anything about it. State your concern for it and claim that that IS doing something about it.

3) Randomly "do something" - anything, just to be doing something.

[xsrdx]

Their unfortunate loss gives them no immunity from criticism nor does it give them more credibility as to what really happened and why.

The point of the inquiry SHOULD be to correct systemic faults - not assign blame.

To assume that attacks like SEP11 were somehow easily preventable - is the HEIGHT of ignorance and naivete.

Previous terrorist incidents were averted by PURE LUCK and some providence - the degree of security required to be totally "safe" from terrorism is COMPLETELY incompatible with American lifestyle expectations.

Intelligence and law enforcement is a guessing game; even Israel - with the most robust intelligence and security posture imaginable - is not immune to terrorist activity.

THE ONLY SOLUTION - one that these ladies apparently don't support - IS TO GO AFTER TERRORISTS BEFORE THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACT.

Would these four democrats have suppported pre-emptive strikes against Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq based on the evidence we had on September 10th?

[Stultis]

They were not especially impressed with his testimony. In Mr. Rumsfeld’s opening statement, he said he knew of no intelligence in the months leading up to Sept. 11 indicating that terrorists intended to hijack commercial airplanes and fly them into the Pentagon or the World Trade Center.

It was his worst moment at the mike. Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste ran through a list of at least a dozen cases of foiled plots using commercial airliners to attack key targets in the U.S. and elsewhere.

THIS IS FLAT OUT LIE!

ALL of Ben-Veniste's examples of using planes to attack other targets (as opposed to just blowing up the planes themselves) involved PRIVATE planes, e.g. packed with explosives. THIS WAS A DISTINCTION THAT RUMSFELD EXPLICITLY MADE BEFORE Ben-Veniste bloviated. I.e. Rumsfeld acknowledged that there was intelligence (and he was aware of it) that explosive laden private planes might be used, but that there was no intelligence he knew of hypothesizing the use of commercial jets to attack targets on the ground.

Rumsfeld was accurate, correct and not embarrassed in the perception of anyone paying close attention and able to comprehend clear English, which apparently does not include the spin-mad NY Observer.

[swarthyguy]

Brave Women.

If they hadn't pushed, we probably wouldn't even have the hearings we have today, ineffective and timid as they have been.

Reminds me of the Monty Python skit on the comfy chair; apart from Kerrey and Lehman, have you ever seen such a bunch of softballs tossed?

And the commission even agreed not to ask certain questions.

What a farce. And they barely touched on the Saudi thing.

Laughable if not so sad.

[jackibutterfly]

"I think that it is time to put these four moms on the stand and find out why they had their husbands working in a building that they knew was a target for terrorists. They all knew, or should have known, that the building had been attacked in the past. I'm sick of folks trying to make political hay out of 9/11."

ALSO, IF these women are Democrats AND voted that lame excuse of a president into office, they sure have some nerve trying to put the blame on Pres. Bush! They're just as culpable as Clinton! How DARE they! Clinton HAD 8 YEARS! Bush had about 7-1/2 MONTHS to put his office together, and couldn't even get his appointed staff in until months later because of the DemoncRATS voting fiasco! AND, even if they had known that the planes were being hijacked, who would have EVER dreamed that they'd be used to crash into buildings!!! Is THAT ever brought up? So, what was the Bush Admin. to do?

[Ranger]

I agree with you. An unpopular stand is sometimes the right stand to take. How many ways can two administrations and their menions say, "not my job man." Dept of Defense should be renamed Dept. of Denial. My confidence that such a straightforward act of terrorism will not be repeated has gone to zero.

[finnman69]

Kristen Breitweiser IS A PARTISAN BULLSH*TTER. She is out for blood. She lies when she say she wasnts America safer. Chris Matthews has a woody every time she comes on to slam Bush.

[swarthyguy]

Good to see someone more interested in the truth about 9.11 than CYA and crawdaddying as members of both admins covered each other's collective arses.

Certainly not much of profiles in courage at the hearing.

Now the thing is hopelessly mired in petty partisanship.

The 800 pound gorilla in 9.11 is the Saudi Role and the support of those Americans for whom the Saudi gravy train is more important than the lives of 3000+ individuals.