Could `second-guessers' have prevented 9/11?
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Dennis Byrne. Dennis Byrne is a Chicago-area writer and public affairs consultant
Published March 29, 2004
If the "government" knew that the terrorists planned to fly planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, would today's critics of past actions have ordered all flights grounded that day and the World Trade Center evacuated? If the "government" had implemented such unprecedented action, thereby preventing the attacks, would todays second-guessers have said back then that the failure of anything to happen was proof that our president was not just stupid and a cowboy, but also delusional? And if those measures had only postponed the attack until, say, 10/11, would today's carpers, in President Bush's shoes, have had the courage to impose another round of tough security measures for that day? And again and again, until the measures failed, which was the only way to prove that the measures were needed?
How many of the critics who say that President Bush is being too aggressive today are simultaneously accusing him of not being aggressive enough before 9/11? How many of those who insist that President Clinton didn't do enough would have been the first to accuse him, if he had been more aggressive, of trying to "wag the dog" to deflect attention from his impeachment?
Sure, government failed. But how could it have succeeded? All the yapping that we hear today about violations of our civil liberties, the "reckless cowboy" Bush and American jingoism are nothing to the hysterics that we would have heard if government had imposed the steps necessary to stop the original 9/11. Especially when those steps were based on nothing more than the conclusions of government intelligence services. If Democrats are to make the Bush "failures" a part of their campaign, then they and their presumptive nominee, Sen. John Kerry, must explain what they would have done to stop the terrorists.
Yet scapegoating continues in high gear. For the past week, Americans have been subjected to politics, journalism and punditry at its worst and most simple-minded. Gnarling partisans and a media either unwilling or incapable of asking the right questions have all positioned themselves on top of Mt. Know-it-all, as if being able to pin blame on someone really answers the most important questions. As we glare at each other across the political chasm, we have removed our focus from defeating our common enemy. Just as the enemy would plan it.
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E-mail: dbyrne1942@earthlink.net