Who Let Terrorists Attack America?
democrats.com
"I don't believe any longer that it's a matter of connecting the dots. I think they had a veritable blueprint and we want to know why they didn't act on it." - Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), 6/6/02
"Of course President Bush knew about the impending attacks on America. He did nothing to warn the American people because he needed this war on terrorism. His daddy had Saddam and he needed Osama. His presidency was going nowhere. He wasn't elected by the American people, but placed into the Oval Office by the conservative supreme court. The economy was sliding into the usual Republican pits and he needed something on which to hang his presidency... This guy is a joke. What is sleazy and contemptible is the President of the United States not telling the American people what he knows for political gain." - Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Butler, who was suspended after publishing this letter in the Monterey Herald on 5/26/02.
What Did They Know, and
Why Did They Fail to Protect America?
September 11, 2001 was the worst terrorist attack in American history, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. The first duty of our President is to defend and protect America. But in the weeks leading up to September 11, George W. Bush and his top officials failed to take numerous precautions that could have stopped 911. And on 911 itself, Bush failed to respond in real time to the unfolding events. FBI Director Robert Mueller has received most of the blame for the failures of the Bush administration, but Mueller had just started on the job and in no way bears the most responsibility. Democrats.com has created an organizational chart showing the responsibility of all key officials, from George Bush on down. Harry Truman said, "The Buck Stops Here." But Bush will do anything to avoid responsibility - that's why our new site is called "BuckStopsThere.com" - spread the word!
Click here to sign our petition to Investigate and Impeach Bush for Failing to Act on 911 Warnings.
Click here to make a contribution to support our efforts to hold responsible those who failed to prevent 911.
911 Responsibility Chart
Indicates Severity of Failure to take Responsibility
and Likelihood of Future 911-like Failures
SEVERE
Avoids All Responsibility
HIGH
Avoids Most Responsibility
ELEVATED
"Mistakes Were Made"
GUARDED
Takes Some Responsibility
LOW
Takes Full Responsibility
DEAD
George H.W. Bush George Bush(Commander in Chief) Carlyle Group
Dick Cheney(VP)
Donald Rumsfeld(DoD) George Tenet(CIA) Condoleezza Rice (NSC) John Ashcroft(DoJ) Norm Mineta (DoT)
Gen. Richard Myers (Chair, Joint Chiefs) ? (CIA Analysis Chief) Richard Clarke (NSC Terrorism Czar) Robert Mueller (FBI)
Louis Freeh(FBI < 6/01)
Jane Garvey (FAA)
Gen. Ralph Eberhardt (NORAD) Gen. Michael Hayden (National Security Ageny) David Frasca(FBI Osama Bin Laden) Michael Canavan(FAA Security)
Gen. Larry Arnold(First Air Force) William Black (NSA Deputy Dir.) ? (FBI Radical Fundamentalist Unit)
Col. Robert Marr(Northeast Air Defense) John O'Neill (FBI NYC)
George W. Bush (Commander-in-Chief)
On January 31, 2001, the bipartisan Hart-Rudman Commission issued its final report, urging significantly greater attention to terrorist attacks on the US. Bush ignored the report. In early May, Bush actually blocked Senate hearings on the Hart-Rudman report by announcing plans for a brand new commission led by Dick Cheney - which never met before 911.
Early in 2001, George W. Bush reversed President Clinton's policy of isolating the Taliban and using military and covert forces to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. Instead, Bush put the interests of oil companies (including Enron) ahead of America's national security by starting negotations with the Taliban for the construction of a gas pipeline into Pakistan.
FBI agent John O'Neill, the lead investigator of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda (see below) believed Al Qaeda's roots were in Saudi Arabia. But to protect his Saudi friends, George W. Bush blocked any investigations in Saudi Arabia.
On August 6, 2001 Bush was briefed by the CIA about possible Al Qaeda attacks inside the US. Bush ordered no special precautions, and spent the rest of August on vacation.
On September 11, 2001 Bush saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center at 8:46 (he said so twice since 911). Nevertheless, at 9:00 he entered a classroom to read a children's story. He was informed immediately after the second plane hit at 9:03. Nevertheless, he continued listening to the story for 25 more minutes, until 9:30, while thousands were engulfed in flames and two more hijacked planes headed towards Washington.
Once airborne, Bush ordered the shooting down of the heroes on Flight 93 in a phone conversation with Dick Cheney. (Bush was photographed giving the order to Cheney; the Republican Party is selling that photo for $150.)
Bush then flew to Louisiana and Nebraska, claiming Air Force One was threatened, which was a lie.
Even now, Bush claims nothing could have been done to stop the 911 attack. But many actions could have been taken, including: (1) canvassing flight schools for suspicious students present and past, (2) conducting a nation-wide manhunt for the two known terrorists who were already in the country, (3) double-checking passenger lists against terrorist suspects, (4) upgrading airport passenger screening, (5) hardening cockpit doors, (6) putting air marshals on more flights, (7) giving pilots stun guns or handguns (8) patrolling the skies with fighter jets.
Dick Cheney (Vice President)
Cheney was present at nearly all of Bush's intelligence briefings from the start of the administration.
Cheney was responsible for blocking Senate hearings on the Hart-Rudman report by having Bush announce plans for a brand new commission led by Cheney - which never met before 911.
On September 11, 2001, Cheney was in charge of the government and was therefore directly responsible for the administration's far-too-slow response to the unfolding crisis. What was Cheney doing?
At around 10:00 am, Cheney ordered the shooting down of Flight 93 over Pennsylvania three times, with a jet in pursuit. The Bush administration claims the Flight 93 simply crashed, but engine parts and other crash debris were found miles away on a windless day - strong evidence that the jet shot off the engine with a missile. When will Cheney tell the truth about shooting down the plane with the 911 heroes?
Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense)
Rumsfeld killed a request to shift $800 million from missile defense to counter-terrorism
Rumsfeld ordered the grounding of the innovative Predator drone sent up by President Clinton to track and possibly kill Osama bin Laden
On the morning of 9/11, only 14 jets were on alert at seven locations in the US, despite weeks of warnings about an attack on the US and fears of a hijacking. Why didn't Rumsfeld put the Air Force on a higher state of alert?
George Tenet (CIA Director)
As CIA director, Tenet was responsible for collecting all intelligence overseas about Al Qaeda, and for briefing the President each day on that information.
Tenet received numerous warnings from CIA offices as well as foreign intelligence services. What did he do with these warnings?
Condoleezza Rice (National Security Advisor)
Rice was in charge of national security from the start of the Bush administration until the present day. Every failure by officials above and below her is her primary responsibility
Before 911, Rice convened nearly 100 meetings of the National Security Council's "principals committee," but terrorism was only discussed at 2 of those meetings
John Ashcroft (Attorney General)
Ashcroft's predecessor, Janet Reno, made fighting terrorism a top priority. Ashcroft changed the Justice Department's priorities to reflect his religious-right agenda: fighting gun control, abortion, state laws permitting assisted suicide or medical marijuana and going after hookers and their clients. (Al Hunt, Wall Street Journal)
On July 26, 2001, cbsnews.com reported that Ashcroft had stopped flying on commercial airlines... The FBI did advise Ashcroft to stay off commercial aircraft. The rest of us just had to take our chances... Ashcroft demonstrated an amazing lack of curiosity when asked if he knew anything about the threat. 'Frankly, I don't,' he told reporters. So our nation's chief law enforcement officer was told that flying commercial was hazardous to his health, and yet he appeared not to care what the threat was, who made it, how, or why? (Harley Sorensen, San Francisco Chronicle)
On September 10, 2001 Ashcroft opposed F.B.I. requests for $58 million for 149 new counterterrorism field agents, 200 intelligence analysts and 54 additional translators. Ashcroft proposed a $65 million cut to a program that gives state and local counterterrorism grants for equipment, including radios and decontamination suits and training to localities for counterterrorism preparedness.
Immediately after September 11, Ashcroft pushed the USA Patriot Act through Congress, which was a direct assault on American freedom. Ashcroft insisted that unconstitutional police powers were needed to prevent terrorism; over time, it became clear that the Justice Department had all the powers it needed to stop 911, but lacked the intelligence to use them.
Gen. Richard Myers (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Right after 9/11, Myers was caught in a lie when he claimed that no orders were given re: launching aircraft until AFTER the Pentagon was hit, "We did scramble fighter aircraft, AWACs, radar aircraft and tanker aircraft to begin to establish orbits in case other aircraft showed up in the FAA system that were hijacked..That order, to the best of my knowledge, was after the Pentagon was struck." However, Marine Corps Maj. Mike Snyder of NORAD told a Boston Globe reporter that the command had been told about the hijacking 10 minutes before the first plane hit the first World Trade Center tower. Snyder said the fighters remained on the ground until after the Pentagon was hit, even though "fighters routinely intercept aircraft."
Richard Clarke (National Security Council Terrorism Czar)
Clarke was in charge of all counter-terrorism efforts. He was directly responsible for coordinating all of the other agencies.
On July 5, 2001, Clarke convened a top-level meeting to warn FBI, FAA and INS officials to be on the highest alert because "something really spectacular" would happen soon. After issuing that warning, what exactly did Clarke do for the next two months?
Robert Mueller (FBI Director)
Mueller had just started as FBI Director on September 11, 2001. But after the attacks, Mueller insisted the FBI had no warnings of the attack. That was a lie, which Minneapolis agent Coleen Rowley did her best to correct.
After the disclosure of the Minneapolis and Phoenix memos in May 2002, Mueller finally admitted that the FBI had numerous warnings which it failed to act upon.
Louis Freeh (FBI Director until shortly before 911)
During his 8 years as FBI Director, Louis Freeh spent most of his time helping Congressional Republicans conduct witch hunts against President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno.
Nearly all of the FBI's failures happened while Freeh was in charge of the FBI, including the blocking of the Minneapolis request for a search warrant for Moussaiou's computer, and the blocking of the Phoenix request for a nationwide canvass of flight schools.
Ralph Eberhardt/Larry Arnold/Robert Marr (NORAD)
When notified of the AA11 hijacking at 8:38, jets were scrambled from Otis AFB in Cape Cod (102nd Fighter Wing) at 8:44, 15 minutes flying time from AA11. Jets were not scrambled from bases much closer, including Westfield MA (104 FW), So. Burlington VT (158 FW), or Syracuse NY (174 FW). Planes from these bases could have intercepted AA11 before it hit the World Trade Center. What were Eberhardt, Arnold, and Marr doing?
When notified of the UA175 hijacking at 8:43, jets should have been scrambled throughout the Northeast. NORAD did not scramble planes to protect Washington DC until 9:24. And the planes they scrambed were from Langley AFB, 15 minutes from DC - when there were 2 fighter wings at Andrews AFB, only 2 minutes from DC. What were Eberhardt, Arnold, and Marr doing?
Lt. Gen Michael Hayden/William Black (National Security Agency)
Hayden ignored conversations that the NSA intercepted between Mohamed Atta, the lead 911 hijacker, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 911 commander who was a known Al Qaeda leader - and is on the FBI's Most Wanted List, with a $25 million reward.
Shortly before 911, Hayden ignored multiple phone calls that the NSA intercepted from Abu Zubaida, bin Laden's chief of operations, to the United States.
On 909, Hayden ignored a conversation that the NSA intercepted between Osama Bin Laden and his adoptive mother, Al Kalifa bin Laden, in which he said "'In two days you're going to hear big news, and you're not going to hear from me for a while."
Dave Frasca (FBI Osama Bin Laden Unit)
Frasca was the recipient of both the Minneapolis memo seeking search warrants for Zacarias Moussaoui's computer, and the Phoenix memo seeking a nationwide canvass of flight schools for suspicious Arab students. Frasca blocked both efforts. Why?
Michael Canavan (FAA Director of Security)
As Director of Security, Canavan was responsible for all security at airports and aboard airplanes.
Despite weeks of warnings prior to 911, Canavan did nothing to improve airport security or to harden airplanes against hijackings.
In July 2001, the FAA revoked a 40-year-old rule allowing airline pilots to carry guns
At 8:25, the Logan (Boston) Airport flight controller handling American Airlines Flight 11 notified other FAA offices that a hijacking was in progress. NORAD was not notified until 8:38 - 13 crucial minutes were lost. What was Canavan doing?
John O'Neill (FBI New York City)
O'Neill led the investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. He was obsessed with the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden, and tried everything possible to track him down.
O'Neill wanted to trace Al Qaeda's funding sources back to Saudi Arabia, but he was blocked by the Bush administration.
O'Neill quit in frustration in August 2001, and accepted the job as head of security at the World Trade Center. He died trying to help rescue victims on September 11.
George Herbert Walker Bush (former President)
Spent the night of 9-10-01 in the White House; may have attended Carlyle Group meeting on 911 (see below).
Carlyle Group
On the morning of 911, James Baker, Frank Carlucci, and representatives of the bin Laden family met at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. |
