Gravity of the threat not understood by leaders

WASHINGTON – The United States government could not protect its citizens from the September 11 terrorist attacks because it failed to appreciate the threat posed by al Qaeda operatives who exploited those lapses to carry out the deadliest assault ever on American soil, the chairman of the Sept 11 commission said yesterday.

In issuing the panel’s 567-page final report, commission chairman Tom Kean said none of the government’s efforts to thwart a known threat from al Qaeda had “disturbed or even delayed” Osama bin Laden’s plot. “(They) penetrated the defences of the most powerful nation in the world,” Kean said.”They inflicted unbearable trauma on our people, and at the same time they turned international order upside down.”The final report issued unanimously by the 10-member commission pointed to “deep institutional failings” and missed opportunities to thwart the hijackings carried out by al Qaeda operatives, which killed almost 3 000 people.As late as September 4 2001, a week before the suicide hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration had not decided whether Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda operation was a “big deal”.”The 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise.Islamist extremists had given plenty of warning that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers,” the report said.”The most important failure was one of imagination.We do not believe leaders understood the gravity of the threat,” the report said.”The terrorist danger from Bin Laden and al Qaeda was not a major topic for policy debate among the public, the media, or in the Congress.Indeed, it barely came up during the 2000 presidential campaign.”The commission recommended the creation of a new intelligence centre and high-level intelligence director to improve the nation’s ability to disrupt future terrorist attacks.The White House, which initially tried to block the establishment of the commission, has been awaiting the report nervously, hoping it would not interfere with President George W Bush’s campaign for re-election in November.In the face of intelligence warnings that were numerous but not specific, Attorney General John Ashcroft assumed the FBI was taking necessary action and never asked the agency what it was doing or gave it specific instructions.The report listed 10 missed opportunities by the CIA and the FBI, four in August 2001.Yet the report concludes that despite these opportunities, “we cannot know whether any single step or series of steps would have defeated” the 19 hijackers.The highly anticipated report provided new details on contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda, noting that Osama bin Laden began exploring a possible alliance in the early 1990s.The report, which is the culmination of a 20-month investigation into the plot, describes the meticulous planning of hijackers who sought to exploit weaknesses in airline and border procedures by taking test flights.A surveillance video that surfaced on Wednesday shows four of the hijackers passing through security gates at Washington Dulles International Airport shortly before boarding the plane they would crash into the Pentagon.In the video, the hijackers can be seen undergoing additional scrutiny after setting off metal detectors, then being permitted to continue to their gate.Bush, reacting swiftly to the report, called it “solid and sound” but did not discuss its findings.The report concluded there was no collaboration between Iraq and al Qaeda, one of Bush’ central arguments for launching an invasion of Iraq last year.Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who served both former President Bill Clinton and Bush and who testified before the commission, said the report left many questions unanswered.”The commission decided unanimity was more important than controversy.They did a very workman-like Washington report,” Clarke said.- Nampa-AP-Reuters”(They) penetrated the defences of the most powerful nation in the world,” Kean said.”They inflicted unbearable trauma on our people, and at the same time they turned international order upside down.”The final report issued unanimously by the 10-member commission pointed to “deep institutional failings” and missed opportunities to thwart the hijackings carried out by al Qaeda operatives, which killed almost 3 000 people.As late as September 4 2001, a week before the suicide hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration had not decided whether Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda operation was a “big deal”.”The 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise.Islamist extremists had given plenty of warning that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers,” the report said.”The most important failure was one of imagination.We do not believe leaders understood the gravity of the threat,” the report said.”The terrorist danger from Bin Laden and al Qaeda was not a major topic for policy debate among the public, the media, or in the Congress.Indeed, it barely came up during the 2000 presidential campaign.”The commission recommended the creation of a new intelligence centre and high-level intelligence director to improve the nation’s ability to disrupt future terrorist attacks.The White House, which initially tried to block the establishment of the commission, has been awaiting the report nervously, hoping it would not interfere with President George W Bush’s campaign for re-election in November.In the face of intelligence warnings that were numerous but not specific, Attorney General John Ashcroft assumed the FBI was taking necessary action and never asked the agency what it was doing or gave it specific instructions.The report listed 10 missed opportunities by the CIA and the FBI, four in August 2001.Yet the report concludes that despite these opportunities, “we cannot know whether any single step or series of steps would have defeated” the 19 hijackers.The highly anticipated report provided new details on contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda, noting that Osama bin Laden began exploring a possible alliance in the early 1990s.The report, which is the culmination of a 20-month investigation into the plot, describes the meticulous planning of hijackers who sought to exploit weaknesses in airline and border procedures by taking test flights.A surveillance video that surfaced on Wednesday shows four of the hijackers passing through security gates at Washington Dulles International Airport shortly before boarding the plane they would crash into the Pentagon.In the video, the hijackers can be seen undergoing additional scrutiny after setting off metal detectors, then being permitted to continue to their gate.Bush, reacting swiftly to the report, called it “solid and sound” but did not discuss its findings.The report concluded there was no collaboration between Iraq and al Qaeda, one of Bush’ central arguments for launching an invasion of Iraq last year.Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who served both former President Bill Clinton and Bush and who testified before the commission, said the report left many questions unanswered.”The commission decided unanimity was more important than controversy.They did a very workman-like Washington report,” Clarke said.- Nampa-AP-Reuters