TELL ME AGAIN THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY WARNINGS ABOUT THE 9/11 ATTACKS

For the past 3 1/2 years the American public has been told over and over and over and over and over that the governmental agencies and officials responsible for protecting the public and possibly preventing the 9/11 attack on our country had "no idea that terrorists were planning an attack or would ever use airplanes as weapons against us". Well, according to a previously 'undisclosed' report by the 9/11 Commission that was released today, that is just not the truth...what a shocker!

The report by the Sept. 11 Commission that investigated the suicide airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon detailed 52 warnings given to FAA leaders from April to Sept. 10, 2001, about the radical Islamic terrorist group and its leader, Osama bin Laden. The commission report, written last August, said five security warnings mentioned al-Qaida's training for hijackings and two reports concerned suicide operations not connected to aviation. However, none of the warnings "pinpointed" what would happen Sept. 11. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency received intelligence from other agencies, which it passed on to airlines and airports. Adding this information to the previously reported intelligence obtained from the FBI, CIA, and other internal government documents that have 'dripped' out over the past 3 years, and it has become even more clear to me that the 9/11 attack on the U.S. was very preventable and was only able to occur because of a terrible failure on our governments part to follow-up and synchronize the information that they did have.

According to the report:

-Aviation officials were "lulled into a false sense of security" and "intelligence that indicated a real and growing threat leading up to Sept. ll did not stimulate significant increases in security procedures."

-Of the FAA's 105 daily intelligence summaries between April 1, 2001 and Sept. 10, 2001, 52 mentioned Osama bin Laden, al Qaida, or both, "mostly in regard to overseas threats."

-It notes that the FAA didn't expand the use of in-flight air marshals or tighten airport screening for weapons. It said FAA officials were more concerned with reducing airline congestion, lessening delays and easing air carriers' financial problems than thwarting a terrorist attack.

-A proposed rule to improve passenger screening and other security measures ordered by Congress in 1996 had been held up by the Office of Management and Budget and was still not in effect when the attacks occurred, according to the FAA.

-Information in this report was available to members of the Sept. 11 commission when they issued their public report last summer. That report itself contained criticisms of FAA operations.

Seems clear to me that this previously undisclosed information was kept from the American public until after the elections for political purposes and not to protect government sources or investigations. The next time Condi Rice or one of the other Bush Administration mouthpieces says that we couldn't have prevented the 9/11 attacks and that we didn't know that Al Qaida was planning to strike in the U.S., know for certain that it is propaganda meant to deflect responsibility and perpetuate a lie.