Loose ends in the 9/11 Commission Report

[Vladimir]

Hindsight is 20/20 my friend, so there were no mistakes.

To be pedantic no mistakes were made on 9/11, unfortunately almost everything went according to plan. On the report itself; I think it is pretty damn good. This won't satisfy people's bloodlust but as far as one of these bipartisan, blue ribbon, old white guy conventions go it was pretty good. More mistakes were made before and after Pearl Harbor than 9/11. I say that the lack of blame gives it more credibility.

The attack was unprecedented and in an era which was said to have witnessed "the end of history." Some are too shocked to believe it and if they don't have God to blame a large conspiracy will do. A large, seemingly omnipotent earthly power works too.

Judging by how quickly we knew the details of the attack we know that the system did work; the problem was the system itself. If terrorism is a law enforcement matter then the system was successful. Once the crime was committed we were able to determine those who were involved. The problem was national, both institutional and cultural.

If blame must be placed it would rest mostly on actions conducted during the Clinton administration. This isn't to blame that administration for the attacks as they were operating in the accepted paradigm. I find it amusing that similar attention isn't paid to the '93 WTC bombing which could have caused a far greater number of casualties then 9-11. Was the Bush administration to blame? Yes in a way. Attacks against American symbols abroad were growing in scale and we had largely withdrawn from the world again. To me and many others the signs were clear as to where they would strike if they could. But our oceans will protect us, right?

The mistake that was made was to think that everyone wants what we want, peace and prosperity.