(CBS) For the first time, the chairman of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is saying publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented, reports CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston.

"This is a very, very important part of history and we've got to tell it right," said Thomas Kean.

"As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," he said. "This was not something that had to happen."

Appointed by the Bush administration, Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, is now pointing fingers inside the administration and laying blame.

"There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed. They simply failed," Kean said.

To find out who failed and why, the commission has navigated a political landmine, threatening a subpoena to gain access to the president's top-secret daily briefs. Those documents may shed light on one of the most controversial assertions of the Bush administration – that there was never any thought given to the idea that terrorists might fly an airplane into a building.

"I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile," said national security adviser Condoleeza Rice on May 16, 2002.

"How is it possible we have a national security advisor coming out and saying we had no idea they could use planes as weapons when we had FBI records from 1991 stating that this is a possibility," said Kristen Breitweiser, one of four New Jersey widows who lobbied Congress and the president to appoint the commission.

The widows want to know why various government agencies didn't connect the dots before Sept. 11, such as warnings from FBI offices in Minnesota and Arizona about suspicious student pilots.

"If you were to tell me that two years after the murder of my husband that we wouldn't have one question answered, I wouldn't believe it," Breitweiser said.

Kean admits the commission also has more questions than answers.

Asked whether we should at least know if people sitting in the decision-making spots on that critical day are still in those positions, Kean said, "Yes, the answer is yes. And we will."

Kean promises major revelations in public testimony beginning next month from top officials in the FBI, CIA, Defense Department, National Security Agency and, maybe, President Bush and former President Clinton.


© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
9/11 Chair: Attck was preventable (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml)

There were definitely a lot of clues. And some people need to explain why they chose to ignore big clues, like the info from Minnesota. But to take a bunch of clues that something big was going to happen sometime in some form and piece that together into "some terrorists are going to fly planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center on 9/11/01" is a lot harder than people think. Just because it's obvious now doesn't mean it was obvious then.

So far the media is trying to ignore this issue as they are afraid it will be embarrassing to the administration. Most wingers are spinning with the 'ABC' defense -- 'Always Blame Clinton'.

That's fine and dandy but there's no stopping this one. The commission will be releasing more data in a month and probably will subpoena both Clinton and GW. My prediction is that the Big Dawg will gladly testify and GW will claim Executive Privilege to get out of it. Guess that says it all.

The timing is also very courious. Did the administration know this was coming and produced Saddam to push it off the front page and missed by a couple of days? Drat ... hate when that happens.
Another thought came to mind concerning the outing of Valerie Plame the cia agent. Don't suppose the spooks are now pissed and talking their heads off do ya?

Oh and for those that say Tenet will get the blame, not going to happen, at least not in it's entirety. He simply knows too much for anyone to mess with him. He already fell on his sword once and isn't about to do it again.

Should be interesting.

Dop

You actually believe that klinton is going to waltz into the commission & talk about 9/11 when the brunt of the planning took place during his administration? That sorry fu**er can't even tell the truth about smoking pot, let alone something this serious. Talk about someone dodging a bullet! It's klinton's klan of presidential appointees that should have first connected the dots. Yes, GW was already in office, 9/11 took place under his administration, so he & his will be harshly judged by those unwilling to examine the very recent past. GW had not been in office a full 9 months when all this happened. Had klinton been on top of things, more action would have taken place long before GW took office.

You're entitled to your opinion on this es (or is that little e :D -- just kiddin') and for sure Clinton (spelled with a 'C') needs to answer a few questions and that's eactly what I hope will happen. We need to find out what happened at least for the families and friends of the unfortunate 3000 victims.

Now, your guy doesn't get a pass on this. Not hardly. His watch needs to 'splain a few things also. Like why did the phoenix memo get shoved aside? Why did norad not respond? Why did he sit in a fl school for 30 minutes after being told of the attacks? Why did they totally ignore the information Clinton *DID* pass to them regarding the impending dangers of OBL? Why did Ashcroft start flying private planes a full month before? Why was OBL's family flown out of the country by the US when every other plane was grounded? Why did they totally disregard the Hart-Rudman commission?

And the biggies .... just how stupid do they think people are that they claim the attacks were in the planning for 5 years at a cost of millions indicating it was professionally done and that's how they got through our defenses. They left nothing to chance. Then they piece it all together with all 19 names in a few hours including the passports of the key players in the rubble which even the black boxes didn't survive and cars parked in airport lots with all the plans and goodies and stuff sitting right on the seats for the taking. Geeesh ... they really think people are going to believe this crap?

I've got more but won't bore you with them. I just want the answers so it doesn't happen again and I don't care who is involved. To me it's not about politics.

Dop

This horse has been killed a few times now. Trying to blame anyone for not noticing how some guys got on a plane with box cutters is ridiculus. There were a million and one ways to sneak things onto planes. Heck, even after 9/11, a guy got on a plane with explosives in his shoes!! If people want to sneak weapons onto a plane, they will eventually succeed. To me, it is more remarkable that it hadn't happened before, or hasn't happened again. I bet that there will be another plane taken though. Although I also bet that it will take more than box cutters to do it this time.

9/11 attack was preventable?????

You can bet your arse it was, Clinton had the SOB Osama and let him go. Yes 9/11 was preventable by the other prez.

Thomas Kean the *REPUBLICAN* chair of the 911 commission has business ties to Osama Bin Laden's brother in law.

It just keeps on getting better.

BWAhahahahahahahaha

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO212A.html

Dop

Yes, 9-11 was preventable, and I have 2 words for how- racial profiling. ultra tolerance allowed those 19 arab men with no baggage, paying cash for first class one way tickets to get on those planes. On september 11th, 2001, no one would dare question these men, or openly suspect them as terrorists. the ACLU and their leftist buddies made sure of that. Everyone was so gun shy about getting called a "racist" that they went against all common sense and overlooked what was obviously something that should have been at least looked into. But, making sure no one feels "different" or "uncomfortable" was the order of the day at that time. A lot of good that did us. That ultra tolerance ran all the way up to the white house itself. Even the FBI was afraid to single out an arab man. If anyone is at fault it is the politically correct assholes in our country, who demand people go against their very nature and instinct to make everyone feel good. Humans have gut feelings and instinct for a reason, to intimidate them with threats of labeling them as racist bigots into going against those instincts is dumb. I say screw you ACLU and you other PC bastards. lay off the rectal exam of the 85 year old white ladies with knitting needles and start searching that 20 something arab man with the big beard who walks on the plane unsearched. It really cant get simpler than that, yet the PC crap still forces us to do "random" searches of people who obviously are not terrorists.

Actually the problem is we are watching the wrong countries.

Most of the 19 perps were from Saudi Arabia and we are bombing the crap outta A-stan and iraq. Now wonder we can't stop terrorism. LMAO at these chickenhawks as they play war games that they *NEVER* participated in themselves.

Maybe someone should send the pentagon a new Rand-Mcnally for xmas with Saudi Arabis circled so they can find it.

ROTFLMAO BWAhahahahahahah ... Chickenhawks

Dop

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
Actually the problem is we are watching the wrong countries.

Most of the 19 perps were from Saudi Arabia and we are bombing the crap outta A-stan and iraq. Now wonder we can't stop terrorism. LMAO at these chickenhawks as they play war games that they *NEVER* participated in themselves.

Maybe someone should send the pentagon a new Rand-Mcnally for xmas with Saudi Arabis circled so they can find it.

ROTFLMAO BWAhahahahahahah ... Chickenhawks

Dop

SO are you saying you want to attack saudi arabia? Did you serve in the military? well if you said yes to the first and no to the second, which is what you are implying, then you are not only a chickenhawk, you are a hypocrit. If you are not saying we should attack saudi arabia, what the hell are you trying to say? or are you just flipping the bird to W again? Not everyone can make it in the military, you for example, would probably curl up into a little ball and scream human rights after the first 10 minutes at Benning. Besides, do you really want every person in power to be from the military? Think before you spout off stupid shit. You blurt out all the same old tired crap that we have heard since the 2000 election.

yeah, good idea... let's go after the one country in the middle east, minus israel(who has bigger fish), that supports us, allows us to base operations, etc. yeah, we can shut ourselves out of that region REAL quick: oh yeah, and strand all the troops in Iraq too.

there are just as many people in the US that really don't like the US government on a lot of the issues as there are in saudi arabia... the difference here is people can go to the presses, or vote for the changes they want. the members of the terrorist groups only have one way to make a statement in the US: kamikazee into a building. personally, i don't want to hear their crap. yet, the fact remains, unless the US removes itself as a target (you know, becoming a 2nd or third world country), terrorists will see the US as a great big X on the map, a chance to make a statement.

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
So far the media is trying to ignore this issue as they are afraid it will be embarrassing to the administration.

Oh yeah, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings are puppets of the Bush administration. Uh huh.

GW will claim Executive Privilege to get out of it. Guess that says it all.

He already granted them "unprecedented" access to his daily security briefings. Doesn't sound like the actions of someone that has something to hide.

The timing is also very courious. Did the administration know this was coming and produced Saddam to push it off the front page and missed by a couple of days? Drat ... hate when that happens.

Hey, I can make up stupid conspiracy theories too. I think Clinton knew the 9/11 attack was coming but let it happen but let it happen so that Bush would look bad. Prove me wrong.

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
Now, your guy doesn't get a pass on this. Not hardly. His watch needs to 'splain a few things also. Like why did the phoenix memo get shoved aside?
A darn good question. I suspect the answer lies in the PC issue Trav mentioned. Clinton and the Dems put all sorts of restrictions on the FBI and CIA. Wouldn't want to look un-PC, would we?

Why did norad not respond?

Norad did respond, you dolt. Somehow you're under the impression that fighter jets can teleport themselves whereever they need to be instantaneously. It takes time for even fast jets to get places.

Why did he sit in a fl school for 30 minutes after being told of the attacks?

I don't understand the relevance of this, but he sat there because he didn't know we were under attack until the second plane hit. If he ran out when the first plane hit, wouldn't you then claim that it was evidence that he was behind the attack and knew what was happening all along?

Why did they totally ignore the information Clinton *DID* pass to them regarding the impending dangers of OBL?

Why didn't Clinton do something about it if he knew it was coming? Why is that not an issue?????

Why did Ashcroft start flying private planes a full month before?

That's too stupid to even reply to. Are you implying that Ashcroft was planning on flying the planes into the tower himself?

And the biggies .... just how stupid do they think people are that they claim the attacks were in the planning for 5 years at a cost of millions indicating it was professionally done and that's how they got through our defenses.

Who's claiming that? They got through our defences because we don't defend the country from scheduled civilian commercial flights!!!!

They left nothing to chance. Then they piece it all together with all 19 names in a few hours including the passports of the key players in the rubble which even the black boxes didn't survive and cars parked in airport lots with all the plans and goodies and stuff sitting right on the seats for the taking. Geeesh ... they really think people are going to believe this crap?

They left nothing to chance? One of them got caught! Atta was bragging about something big was going to go down while drinking at a girly bar. This is leaving nothing to chance? Every single flight that leaves the gate in this country (and probably everywhere else for that matter) has a list of exactly who is and who is not on the plane. That's how they can come up with a list of who died right after planes with 400 people crash. That's how they know who's luggage to remove from the plane if someone doesn't board. This is well-known stuff. It's obvious to everyone but you. You remain purposefully ignorant of obvious facts so that you can pretend to be outraged. There's no way anyone is this stupid.

I just want the answers so it doesn't happen again and I don't care who is involved. To me it's not about politics.

Oh come on. It's not about politics? You have answers, you just don't want to hear them.

Lionel

What the heck is a 'dolt'? LMAO

Bush is on record not once but twice stating not only did he know about the 1st attack, he *SAW* a video of the 1st attack. Both of these statements came before the video of the 1st attack was known to exist. When asked how he could have possibly seen a video, he as usual hemmed and hawed and refused to answer. Since then it has been swept under the carpet. The interviews in which he made these claims are still out there -- google em.

Norad did not respond in their usual manner and when they did, the planes flew at 25% of their speed to the targets. BWAhahahahahah -- this is so obvious it hurts. You can read their own reports on the Norad website. Google for their reports around 9-18 and 9-19 and you should see full reports of 9/11.

Ashcroft stopped flying commerically a month before the 9/11 attacks and would only fly military or other government flights. He knew something was coming.

As far as your hangup with Clinton -- it didn't happen on his watch. It happened on Bush's watch; he let america down.

Sure thing Lionel -- two paper passports survived in immaculate condition and just happen to land right at the feet of our law enforcement people at the 9/11 site. BWAhahahahahaahhaah ........ ROTFLMAO

Dop

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
So far the media is trying to ignore this issue as they are afraid it will be embarrassing to the administration. Most wingers are spinning with the 'ABC' defense -- 'Always Blame Clinton'.

That's fine and dandy but there's no stopping this one. The commission will be releasing more data in a month and probably will subpoena both Clinton and GW. My prediction is that the Big Dawg will gladly testify and GW will claim Executive Privilege to get out of it. Guess that says it all.

The timing is also very courious. Did the administration know this was coming and produced Saddam to push it off the front page and missed by a couple of days? Drat ... hate when that happens.
Another thought came to mind concerning the outing of Valerie Plame the cia agent. Don't suppose the spooks are now pissed and talking their heads off do ya?

Oh and for those that say Tenet will get the blame, not going to happen, at least not in it's entirety. He simply knows too much for anyone to mess with him. He already fell on his sword once and isn't about to do it again.

Should be interesting.

Dop
Better keep your head down.

You've expressed too much logic, there......enough for the torch & pitchfork conservative-mob to insist you be burnt-at-the-stake (you know......due to your unpatriotic-act of recognizing the obvious).

Originally posted by es347fan
You actually believe that klinton is going to waltz into the commission & talk about 9/11 when the brunt of the planning took place during his administration?
Ah, yes!! All-of-a-sudden, the sitting-President (during the Clinton-years) is responsible for all world-affairs, during his terms!!!

Now.....wouldn't that also suggest that Lil' Dumbya is responsible for all suicide-bombings......in Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq????????????

Originally posted by Karankawa
I bet that there will be another plane taken though. Although I also bet that it will take more than box cutters to do it this time.

Lil' Dumbya already let one.....

...Get Away!! (http://www.rense.com/general38/confirms.htm)

Shaman, you are in dire need of a surgical procedure wherein a lexan window is affixed to your abdomen, allowing one & all to clearly observe when you've got your head firmly inserted in your rectum - as it has been since we've had the dubious pleasure of your postings.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

while it presents and interesting mental picture, i am actually more frightened of actually seeing his face... DID clinton have a disfigured twin brother?

Yeah, klinton had a disfugured twin...lookit hilary!

i try to avoid looking at hillary at all costs... the thought of her as our first female president makes me laugh and makes me scared.

really, could we put up with another clinton debochle in the white house?