Posted on 07/21/2004 6:42:53 PM PDT by vrwc1
WASHINGTON - The Sept. 11 commission's final report concludes the hijackers exploited "deep institutional failings within our government" over a long period but does not blame President Bush (news - web sites) or former President Clinton (news - web sites) for the mistakes, according to administration officials familiar with the findings.
The report, being released Thursday, describes the patience and determination of the hijackers and said they explored weaknesses in airline and border procedures, even taking test flights to see when cockpit doors were open.
White House officials and congressional leaders were briefed on the report's findings, and Bush is to receive a copy of the 575-page report on Thursday.
"It does not place blame on particular individuals or particular incidents, but in fact it identifies institutional failings that have grown up over time about the way our government is organized," one official said.
It concludes that Bush and Clinton took the threat of al-Qaida seriously and were "genuinely concerned about the danger posed by al-Qaida," the official said. It finds that neither president was to blame for failing to stop the attacks, which were the culmination of years of planning.
Less than four months before the presidential election, the commission's work already has ignited partisan debate over whether Bush took sufficient steps to deal with terrorism in the first year of his administration.
As expected, the report will call for creating a Cabinet-level national director of intelligence with authority over the CIA, FBI and other agencies. The White House administration is reserving judgment on that recommendation, and officials doubt it could be approved by Congress this year.
Four administration officials briefed reporters on the content of the report on condition of anonymity because it has not been publicly released.
"Rather than finding that there was a failure at the presidential level, what they find though is that there are failings and that there were deep institutional failings within our government," an official said. "And that's what they really examine at some length over a long period of time — that there were a variety of factors spanning many years and many administrations that contributed to a failure to share information amongst agencies for both legal and policy reasons."
In particular, the official said, the commission found the FBI was not set up to collect intelligence domestically, in part because of civil liberties concerns.
LOL!! Downloaded and zipping across the net!
The report won't be released until some time tomorrow.
We can't continue to live with these people. This country is due to split within a 100 years.
No question on who has control. Not because bill/hill are the best, they are just all they've got.
If JFnK is elected, I am convinced that thousands more Americans will die at the hands of the terrorists. I don't have much sympathy for the people that vote for him. They should know better than to support such a man.
Unfortunately, if they get their man in, they will take many of us down with them.
No mass graves found in Serbia - good...We have found WMDs in Iraq; just not stockpiles that would fill all 5 rings and the courtyard of the Pentagon (and even then, the Loony Left would say that Bush planted it).
No mass stockpiles of WMD found in Iraq - bad...
100 years? It's far, far closer to 10 (30 on the outside).
Thanks, Allan!
""It does not place blame on particular individuals or particular incidents, but in fact it identifies institutional failings that have grown up over time about the way our government is organized," one official said."
I disagree with the findings based on this statement. I blame Al Queada and Osama Bin Laden.
Could the government have done more to prevent 9/11/01? Yes, but that is not the same as placing blame. The blame goes to the terrorists, not the politicians and government workers.
"Nobody should be blamed or fired. Only an idiot would not agree that it was indeed institutional failings that led to 9/11 and our entire society was lax and spoiled. Unfortunately we didn't need this phoney 9/11 commission to tell us what we already knew."
Gee, are you trying to suggest that 9/11 was caused by terrorists?
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