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Return to Article: 9/11 commission scolds government over attacks, calls for major reforms

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  In response to the question "Why do they single out "Islamist terrorists" and ignore the others?"

  The answer is because it those terrorists who highjacked the planes and murdered 3,000 on 9/11.

  If the cuban/catholic/etc. terrorists you refer to commit mass murder in the US they will also be singled out.

  GovExec.com reader Posted August 12, 2004 12:49 PM
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  As a survivor of 9/11 at the World Trade Center, and a student of history, I ask why the government (TSA & CBP) is screening all passengers the way it does, when it has been proven that those who attacked us were male Middle Eastern Islamic extremists, between the ages of approximately 20 and 50? The threat doesn't come from babies, or old men (including Congressmen, and Medal of Honor winners), or blonde women from Scandinavia. Enough of this politically correct nonsense! Let's focus on the current, ongoing threat. Profiling has been unfairly maligned. It remains a legitimate law enforcement tool. If a bank is robbed by a white male with red hair, police will look for a white male with red hair. The same should apply to Middle Eastern terrorists. We know who attacked us on 9/11, at the WTC in 1993, at the Khobar Towers, the African embassies, the USS Cole, etc. Also remember who was caught entering the U.S. with explosives (the "Millenium plot" in Dec., 1999) to blow up LAX. Let's not be afraid to do what has to be done - our national security and the safety of millions of Americans is at stake, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.! Singling out people who meet a terrorist profile is a minor inconvenience to those who meet that profile, compared to the cost of not doing so to our nation as a whole!

  GovExec.com reader Posted August 5, 2004 11:23 AM
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  Why do they single out "Islamist terrorists" and ignore the others? Castro is not Islamist, and what about the Catholics in the former Yugoslavia? The Turks terrorize the Kurds but I guess the Turks are Islamists so maybe that does not count. The commission documents that this is a crusade of Christians against Islamists and that is totally un-American!

  tax payer Posted July 27, 2004 10:51 AM
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  For some time I have discerned that the CIA and FBI were not doing as well a job as they could have been doing especially for homeland security. It is utterly irresponsible that 19 or 20 persons could have been taking lessons to fly airplanes, admitting that they did not want to know how to land them and then get away with hijacking 4 airplanes and doing what they had done on 9/11/2001. The information was available to stop this well in advance. The final report says that no one individual is responsible. Policy was errant. Now they want to add another level of beauracracy. This is utterly ludicrous, ridiculous. We need better coordination, cooperation at the lower levels of FBI, CIA any other security organization, the Pentagon. These must share data, information, and plans. We do not need higher levels of persons to have to report to. We need proper decisions made at the levels to be able to respond. Where the rubber hits the road is where we must become secure. We need performance based results. We do not need additionsl permission levels. Those responsible for doing the work must be held accountable and be given the decentralized opportunity to make decisions based on the facts available to them. Oversight must be at the working levels. We do not need more administrators.

  David H. lewis Posted July 23, 2004 12:02 PM
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  These are my thoughts, not to be confused with any government policy or law.

  The Commission report is based on the reality of post 9/11. It has not addressed in any significant way, the political realities of pre-9/11. For instance, post 9/11 there have been discussions and laws, rules and regulations that would have been unthinkable and are being debated still. Personal liberties and freedom from government intrusion into the lives and reading habits of citizens are areas that only as recently as the late 20th century were being reaffirmed as sancrosant but are once again being challenged. Air carriers have long resisted attempts to require additional safety and security features. Less government, less fee generation, and less intrusion in business were in line with the benefits of the new world order. The assassination of foreigners is another area that was circumscribed by law.

  Americans are a peculiar crowd who demand to be free to do as they please and at minimal cost yet expect their government to protect them from every calamity including their own stupidity. No amount of foresight will change that. Citizens will not be led but they will blame anyone but themselves when the unthinkable happens.

  Neither the commission nor the public is willing to give voice to these realities and that is why Pearl Harbors and 9/11s are inevitable in the world.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 23, 2004 8:36 AM