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9/11 Report: "Bush Short On Intelligence"
The long anticipated report places the blame squarely on a lack of intelligence in the White House
The special report detailing the security lapses that occurred on September 11th have finally been released this week. The 900 page report, less 28 pages that were "classified" so as not to insult the Saudi government, confirmed what many in Washington have assumed for the past two years. The report stated, in no uncertain terms, that the events of September 11th could have been avoided if President Bush had been blessed with greater intelligence. The FBI and CIA were implicated, as was the National Security Agency, but the main focus was on the level of intelligence in the White House itself. The report concluded that the President's intelligence simply must improve if he is going to protect the country. "We're just going to have to get smarter," said new press secretary Scott McCellan. "The intelligence in the White House is going to have to reach a new level, and that's going to be tough." Some defenders of the Bush administration point out that the intelligence failure was systemic, involving a large number of agencies and individuals. They claim it is unfair to blame President Bush for such a large intelligence failure. "Intelligence is what it is," said presidential contender Howard Dean, "you either have it or you don't. Clearly, this White House comes up a little short in that department." Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), another presidential hopeful, promised a "vast improvement in the level of intelligence in the White House" if he is elected in 2004. Other critics of the Bush administration pointed out that the President's month long vacation in August of 2001 at his ranch in Crawford, Texas contributed to the intelligence failure. "What's he doing down there anyway? The man was elected to be President, not to go off riding donkeys on a dude ranch," said Rep. Charles Rangel (D- N.Y.) adding, "Especially not when his intelligence is so shaky."
"Something went dreadfully wrong on 9/11," said Lieberman, "and the President's intelligence was clearly at the center of the problem. As a country, we have to be deeply concerned about whether there's enough intelligence in the Oval Office." The White House is expected to strongly fight the formation of the committee Lieberman has proposed. "The President doesn't think a committee is necessary. He believes his intelligence is 'darn good' to use his words," said press secretary McClellan, adding "and how much better can darn good intelligence get?" |
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) has proposed a bipartisan
committee to study the President's intelligence and to make
recommendations on how it could be improved.