[LANMaster]

Like him or not, Bill O'Reilly has hit the nail on the head about the 9-11 Commission report and the war in Iraq.


The Truth About 9/11 and the War in Iraq
Friday, July 23, 2004
By Bill O'Reilly

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight.

The truth about 9/11 and the war in Iraq, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." In just a few moments, we'll talk with the two men in charge of the commission, but here are the report highlights:

• Presidents Clinton and Bush were not guilty of anything but failing to perceive the extent of the Al Qaeda threat.

• The CIA and FBI were incapable of stopping the attack because of chaos inside those agencies.

• The CIA didn't have good enough intelligence on the ground.

• And the FBI big shots didn't listen to their field agents.

Saddam did have a relationship with Bin Laden, but did not assist him in the 9/11 attack. Those are the headlines. And the committee recommends a new terror czar, approved by the Senate and reporting directly to the president, and much more intense high tech surveillance of U.S. ports of entry and terror suspects.

Now ideologues on both sides will spin the report. But "Talking points" believes it should be left alone.

Very simply, the commission did an excellent job. Page 66 of the 567-page report caught my eye. And it says, "In July [1998], an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with bin Laden...Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and bin Laden — or his aides may have occurred in 1999 during a period of some reported strains with the Taliban. According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered bin Laden a safe haven in Iraq. But to date, we have seen no evidence that these or earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship, nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with Al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States."

So put yourself in President Bush's position. According to the Senate investigation, Lord Butler's British investigation and Vladimir Putin, the intelligence assessments on Iraqi WMDs all said Saddam had them. That, of course, turned to be faulty, at least for now.

But Bush and Blair were told the WMDs were inside Iraq. They were also being told that Saddam had a relationship with bin Laden. Do the math. Would you, as president, let that scenario play out while the U.N. dithered around?

What if Saddam Hussein did have anthrax, gave it to Al Qaeda, and a month later San Francisco was attacked? What if President Bush had ignored the intel and a disaster took place? Well, you know the answer. Mr. Bush would have been driven from office and gone down in history as a villain.

Any fair-minded person knows that the president had to act. The remaining legitimate questions concerned the timing and the planning of the Iraq action.

So there you have it — truth is always a good thing.

And that's "The Memo."

[Ciberblade]

[Pacalis]

LAN ; O'Reilly's opinion is the kind of thinking that led to 9/11. No one is to blame ???? Everyone is to blame, Clinton & his Administration, Bush & his Administration, the C.I.A., F.B.I. , everyone. And untill "everyone" realizes this , it is going to happen again. It's time to stop shifting the blame and time to start working together , no more of this little kid s#*t. This country has to learn to work together, and that includes working WITH the rest of the world.
JMO.

[LANMaster]

This is not about shifting blame.
Clinton didn't cause 9-11 any more or less than Bush did.

Both administrations failed in one gigantic point. Both failed to recognize the seriousness of the threat threat of Al Qaeda.

Using your own logic, I can assume that you approve of the war in Iraq, since the credible evidence at the time strongly pointed to a significant threat from Iraq against Americans world-wide, not to mention our strong ally, Israel.

9-11 certainly woke up a sleeping nation, and I will even admit to the likelihood that 9-11 made America a bit trigger-happy.

I'm all about working together. But carefully look at some of the replies I will get to this post from others here at TSG. Understand who's playing the blame game, and who wants to prevent another 9-11.

Respects.

[Stoner]

O'Reilly Hey isn't he that talking head for the neocon's on FOX?? _

Now there a 'no spin' source __

[angelize56]

LAN: You love to keep that one foot in the grave! I could have told you the repsonses you'd get and from whom before they posted!

Besides...we all know the report was doctored!

[plschwartz]

LAN
you said:
"Clinton didn't cause 9-11 any more or less than Bush did."

What you mean I trust is that the 9/11 commis chose not to lay blame on Clinton or Bush.

Remember that Clinton did stop the millenium LAX bombing chiefly through te work of that jock padding Sandy Berger

[Ari]

Originally Posted by LANMaster

Any fair-minded person knows that the president had to act. The remaining legitimate questions concerned the timing and the planning of the Iraq action.

So there you have it — truth is always a good thing.

And that's "The Memo."

The problem is finding any fair-minded people

[Pacalis]

Lan ; I was commenting on O'Reilly's comments that no one was responsible. That , in my opinion is wrong. No ; I do not believe we should be in Iraq. I believe we should be after Bin Ladin & al Qaeda. I also think that the Saudi's need a harder look at. Iraq was in no position to harm us, didn't we just destroy them a few years ago? Saddam had enough problems keeping himself in power as it was. What I do think is that, We should show those two Airplanes going into the WTC everyday, we should also be shown the names and pictures and country of origin of the people who flew those planes. We are only making future terrorist as our policy now stands. I'm not pro left or right. But I am for working together with the rest of this world to stop the terrorism by ALL countries, Israel included. And then if it does come to a war , then you fight to the fullest extent of your capabilities.
You also have my respect, sir.

[LANMaster]

O'Reilly didn't say that nobody was responsible.

How about Iran, and Syria, and Jordan, and Egypt, and Yemen?

I fully agree with the rest of your post.

Is that Bogart in your avatar?

[LANMaster]

Originally Posted by plschwartz

LAN
you said:
"Clinton didn't cause 9-11 any more or less than Bush did."

What you mean I trust is that the 9/11 commis chose not to lay blame on Clinton or Bush.

Remember that Clinton did stop the millenium LAX bombing chiefly through te work of that jock padding Sandy Berger

The commish layed blame on both Administrations for not perceiving the threat of Al Qaeda and allowing for the breakdown between intelligence agencies. I'm not going to get into how and when I feel the intel breakdowns occurred, but I will say that much more should have been done, than was done. Who knows how many attacks have been thwarted in one form or another since 9-11. I would guess quite a few. But that is just mt opinion.

[Ciberblade]

Americans, no, the world, needs to understand one very simple point...
It can always happen again!
regardless of precautions.

[Pacalis]

• Presidents Clinton and Bush were not guilty of anything but failing to perceive the extent of the Al Qaeda threat.

Excuse #1

• The CIA and FBI were incapable of stopping the attack because of chaos inside those agencies.

Excuse #2

• The CIA didn't have good enough intelligence on the ground.

Excuse #3

• And the FBI big shots didn't listen to their field agents

Excuse #4

Is it not these peoples jobs to stop these things from happening? If I were this incompetent at my place of employment, I would not be there.
And , in my Post , I did say "ALL COUNTRIES" ! None to be excluded .
And yes it is.

[plschwartz]

Originally Posted by LANMaster

The commish layed blame on both Administrations for not perceiving the threat of Al Qaeda and allowing for the breakdown between intelligence agencies. I'm not going to get into how and when I feel the intel breakdowns occurred, but I will say that much more should have been done, than was done. Who knows how many attacks have been thwarted in one form or another since 9-11. I would guess quite a few. But that is just mt opinion.

Who knows how many attacks have been thwarted in one form or another since 9-11
I am sure we will find out say about Oct 30

[Infidel_Kastro]

Funny,
I blame Osama Bin Laden, but thats my opinion.