Thoughts on September 11th - Eight Years Later

I. This man saved hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand lives:

The 16 minutes between plane strikes gave large numbers of people from the south tower time to flee, an opportunity that many took, survivors said, after being frightened by the sight of people falling from the north tower. In addition, the south tower, though hit second, collapsed first, just 57 minutes after being struck, before deterioration had spread as widely.

He, and others who jumped or fell from the north tower shocked people in the upper levels of the south tower to leave the building, or to move downward, on their way out, to levels low enough to get out before the south tower fell. Along with the emergency workers who died in the tragedy, they gave their lives for others, even if they weren't aware of this as they fell.

II. This man caused their deaths:

[A]n unnamed CIA briefer who flew to Bush's Texas ranch during the scary summer of 2001, amid a flurry of reports of a pending al-Qaeda attack, call[ed] the president's attention personally to the now-famous Aug. 6, 2001, memo titled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." Bush reportedly heard the briefer out and replied: "All right. You've covered your ass, now."

Bush did nothing. Neither he nor his high-level staff changed their work patterns, having learned this frightening information.

Less than two years earlier, when then-President Bill Clinton was apprised of information on the "Millenium Bombers," he mobilized task groups, got people reassigned to help them, and foiled what may have been a series of attacks as terrible as those launched eight years ago today.

Since then, right-wing attack groups have tried to paint Bill Clinton as the culprit responsible for the lapses that led to 9-11. The highly fictionalized account in the anti-Clinton screed, The Path to 9/11, not only attempted through brazen lies to misshape public opinion in that regard, it failed to mention any of the important lapses made during 2001 by the Bush administration, or Bush himself.

Today marks the exact number of days that Barack Obama has been president that had been the case for George W. Bush on this day in 2001. Back then the right, and much of America's traditional media, gave Bush a pass: He hadn't been in the White House for long; he inherited an intelligence mess from Clinton; "Nobody could have known....."

Yet today, not only is the same right-wing and traditional press blaming Obama for such things as last year's Wall Street meltdown, the sub-prime mess, the AIG bailout and the general malaise of our economy, they appear to be blaming Obama for our huge national debt, over 90% of which has been accumulated under past Republican presidents and/or congresses.

But now, Bill Clinton can relax. According to the far right, 9-11 wasn't Clinton's fault. It is Obama's. Here's right-wing columnist Ralph Peters:

Instead of confronting Saudi hate-mongers, our president bows down to the Saudi king. Instead of recognizing the Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi cult as the core of the problem, our president blames Israel. Instead of asking why Middle Eastern civilization has failed so abjectly, our president suggests that we're the failures.

So, somehow, Peters is claiming Obama is a special friend of the Saudi royalty? Uh, where were you when George W Bush was smooching and holding hands with them?

Progressive Alaska's post from September 11th, 2008.