Were We Truly Ignorant To The Methods Of The 9/11 Terrorists?
The Bush Administration can't be excused for ignorance of the threat, or of its novel nature.
Or can they?
This is the job of Congress. To find out. What did they know, and, going forward from that analysis, how did operations fail in regards to what indeed "was known"?
It's becoming increasingly troublesome to conclude that the Administration knew nothing of suicidal airliner attacks. Too many warnings were coming through from various intelligence agencies worldwide, and the potential for such an attack had to at least have been known. If not, this should merit its own investigation.
And, since the failure was so spectacular, it's hard to argue that it should be left "in house" as an executive managerial matter. Clearly, part of the problem could be ideological blinders or prejudice that hinders a proper risk analysis and strategy implementation.
So the need for an outside party. The Congress.
Bush should testify for as long as it takes in order to assure that we can fully appraise our state of vulnerability pre-9/11, in terms of information and operations, and going forward beyond 9/11.
Anything less threatens the existence and well-being of Americans against terrorism.