Both the President and Joint Chiefs of Staff receive DAILY briefings from the CIA. With warnings of a major AlQaida attack pouring in from foreign intelligence services, including one from Russia stating "in the strongest terms" that an attack was imminent and that airliners would be used (Isveztia, Sept 13), it is beyond what I can believe that this subject was dealt with only once and in a general way during Presidential briefings and discussions.
We are being lied to.
Of course America's security agencies knew about Al Quaida - Osama ben laden was OFFERED to Clinton for capture years before 2001 - but that offer was not acted upon.
Why was that?
Answer: Clinton cared nothing about Protecting American interests and Americans from terrorist attacks. He viewed the American Presidency as his own "party time".
He was too busy with Monica, with spending millions to go after one Eric Rudolph in the NC mountains - remember that?, too busy using America's police agencies AGAINST HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES INSTEAD OF AGAINST AMERICA'S ENEMIES to do anything about OBL.
President Bush, in contrast, comes in and immediately starts the huge job of reforming all the agencies that Clinton had decimated. The terrorists know their time is short. They act.
Either lack of cooperation between FBI and CIA or a purposeful ignoring of the FBI memo about the terrorists in flight training - keeps that information from the President.
Even had he had it - THE PRESIDENT CANNOT GO AND ARREST PEOPLE - HE HAS TO TRUST THAT PEOPLE IN SECURITY AGENCIES KNOW THEIR JOBS AND ARE DOING THEM WELL!
This president was preparing to do what Clinton had left undone for all his years in power - go after America's enemies with force.
Nine months was not enough time to do what needed to be done to get us ready for war with the terrorists - and OBL and other enemies of this country knew that - which is, IMHO, why they acted when they did. They knew their time was short now that a real defender of America was in office.