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Yes we can question whether our government did everything in their power to stop 9/11, those are valid questions.

But it’s a whole other kettle of fish to suggest that our government was complicit in the attacks.

"Yes we can question whether our government did everything in their power to stop 9/11, those are valid questions.

But it’s a whole other kettle of fish to suggest that our government was complicit in the attacks."

BINGO.

The government did everything in its power (as least with the power the Clintoons let the IC have, remember the Gorlick Memo Wall!) to stop terrorist attacks. Unfortunately the government was looking for the attack to occur overseas, like the Cole & the attack on the embassy in Kenya. The 9/11 terrorists took advantage of gaping security holes that have been in place for some time.
A couple of examples:

1. The moron Bush appointed to head INS who apparently thought that a national border was nothing more then a line drawn on a map, of no more consequence then a county boundary. (Note I am somewhat Pro-Bush, but I admit mostly because the alternatives were far worse!)

2. The terrorists exploited our naivety and stupidity regarding student visas.

3. The exploited the fact that we have this huge ponderous timid IC & DOD bureaucracy. (Now the individual soldier, sailors & marines and IC field officials are NOT timid by any means! However every step they take every thought they make is dragged down by what HQ & DC might think!. The fact that they can do anything and get it done is a testament to their patriotism and perseverance in the face of ever growing bureaucratic stupidity. Remember the Massoud’s question “Are then any men in Washington?”)
Actually I could go on.

Think about it !
Even with what I think was a cautious but at least proactive response by Bush, we have a suceeding administration talking about criminalizing the actions that mid-level functionaries took. We already have had several court martial of military guys, where the grounds for court martial were so weak they almost collapsed immediately.
Do you think any of this encourages proactive strong responses by low to high level USG functionaries in the IC, DOD or federal law enforcement?
Oh yes we have done this before, where we asked our Intel & spec ops guys to do things then after its done a new administration then turns on them and calls them criminals.
So please spare me the conspiracy claims!
Much of this we do to ourselves because of the fools we have allowed in power over the last 25 to 30 years. These fools then turn around and make the policy that the professionals have to live with and to try and make work while doing their agency's mission.
It's not 24 or NCIS I hate those shows, if people actually knew how difficult it was to actually do these jobs and still not violate all the regulations people would be appalled. Heck if 24 or NCIS actually showed their heroes realistically it would be bad TV but educational particularly for those who form their opinions from TV.

My rant is done!