Posted on 03/29/2004 9:58:17 AM PST by quidnunc
Through all of last week's finger-pointing over how "government" failed to prevent 9/11, there was little credible discussion about what would actually have stopped the attacks.
If the diplomatic and military actions by both the Bush and Clinton administrations were insufficient, as the commission studying the terrorist attacks concluded, then what would have been sufficient? If Richard Clarke, the fatuous opportunist and former anti-terrorist czar, was so certain that everyone else (except himself, that is) blew it, then what was his plan? When infrequently asked, his answers were incoherent, incomplete, impractical or evasive.
For the sake of ending this national circus, let's assume that the administrations knew that Arab terrorists were planning to fly airliners into high-visibility targets. So just what would the second-guessers have done if they were in George Bush's or Bill Clinton's shoes? Would they have instituted the same airport security and military measures that we have today, such as stopping everyone with a one-way ticket, checking people's shoes and committing other invasions of "privacy"? In the summer of massive airport delays, would they have faced the heat for causing even longer lines and greater waits? Or would they, like they do today, have ridiculed, criticized or even condemned the measures?
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