9-11 Quotes
People at both ends of this polarized issue had deep suspicions of people at the other pole.
The Bush administration were busy making their appointments and setting some domestic priorities. In 4 months 9-11 would make them wish that they had taken these warnings more seriously. See {637530}.
This was the day after the Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 9-11. Perle, a leading neoconservative advisor and guru, from that day on advocated for the invasion of Iraq. The irony was that at that time, Iraq had never attacked an American, anywhere in the world. Also, there was no Al Qaeda presence in Iraq. Many believe that the neocon main reason to invade Iraq was a regime change and democratization that would, they believed, be a catalyst for democracy throughout the Middle East. The supposed role in 9-11 and the WMD were for them just excuses to initiate military action, so they, the Vice President, and others who agreed with their objective did not question very seriously the so called intelligence about Iraq.
Many New Yorkers and others felt that since the attack on the World Trade Center was made in the name of Islam, the mosque and commuity center should be built in another location further from Ground Zero. Ellison was debating someone who argued that the Mosque should not be built so that sensitivity can be shown for those New Yorkers who lost relatives and friends in the attack of September 11. Rather than insist on their Constitutional rights, the Muslim leadership of the project, moved the location somewhat further away from Ground Zero.
Nagin was being aggressively questioned about why New Orleans was not rebuilt from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. He gave as an example the fact that the World Trade Center site in New York had not even started with any rehabilitation. The politics of rebuilding after a catastrophe have become very complicated regardless of the location. Many in New York found the wording “hole in the ground” insensitive as 2,000 people had died on the site. The reality is that both rebuilding efforts were severely hampered by political issues: In the case of New York, the kind of memorial that would be appropriate for “hallowed ground.” In New Orleans, the issues of rebuilding in risky area vs more protection was debated as well as the racial effect where New Orleans had been a majority Black city before but depending on how it was rebuilt might not be after.
Agree had resigned from the CIA in protest to its political positions. He gave this speech shortly after the 9-11 attack. While many disagree with his analysis that the CIA needed a new world-scale enemy, they acknowledge that he accurately warned of and predicted the entanglement of the War on Terror and the long time America would be involved. See {632812} for his prediction about the erosion of American Civil Rights.
The “Principals Committee” is the senior interagency forum for consideration of policy issues affecting national security. It includes the National Security Director (Chair), the CIA Director, the Secretary of Defense and his Deputy, the Secretary of State and his Deputy, the Chairman of the Jount Chief’s of Staff, The Special Representative to the United Nations and other staff as invited. Clarke was almost always invited to these meeting when terrorism was discussed but he did not have a vote. This is a very important quotation for several reasons. First, it shows the influence that the Defense Department and CIA leaders had with President Bush before the 9-11 attack. It also illustrates dramatically how reluctant our military and CIA were to use drones. It was President Obama who overruled them and changed America policy to use Drones to protect American interests. It also indicates how there was a split regarding the perception of the danger of Al Qaeda and bin Laden with Clark and some of the other Principals placing more value on a military strike than the military and covert action leaders. This is not uncommon despite the fact that public perception is that it is always the military leaders who are the hawks. Also, it illustrates the problem of allowing the military point of view to always prevail in national policy making involving use of force. See {639322}.
