Bush at Fault

The 9/11 Commission has released its first comprehensive report on the September 11th attacks in the United States. It's unclear whether they will produce another report assessing whether the US has since taken positive or negative steps to combat terrorism. Such a discussion might include looking at whether invading Iraq was justified or a good idea--a political hot potato that Bush certainly wouldn't want discussed by an independent commission just before presidential elections.

Let's not forget that the Bush administration was against the 9/11 Commission from even being created. Journalist Alison Mitchell of the New York Times (5/20/2002) wrote, "Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he would advise President Bush not to turn over to Congress the August intelligence briefing that warned that terrorists were interested in hijacking airplanes, and he insisted that the investigation into Sept. 11 should be handled by the Congressional intelligence committees, not an independent commission."

Some said--and say--that Bush is not at fault for 9/11. He wasn't in office long enough to have done anything, the argument goes.

I suggest you read the independent commission report for yourself. Not all 500 pages if you don't have the time, but Chapter 8, in particular, which talks about how Bush had 40 references to Bin Laden in his Presidential Daily Briefings over several months (the media generally reported on just one).

Still don't think Bush could have done anything? Read the chapter, then decide.