Rumsfeld Says Early Strikes Wouldn't Have Stopped 9 / 11

[Eye and Monkey]

By REUTERS
Published: March 23, 2004
Filed at 9:19 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even if the United States had killed or captured al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it would not have prevented the hijacked plane attacks on America, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday.

He and other top officials of the Bush and Clinton administrations told the national commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks that eliminating bin Laden, invading Afghanistan or bombing al Qaeda training camps in the months leading up to the attacks would not have prevented them.

``Even if bin Laden had been captured or killed in the weeks before 9/11, no one I know believes it would have prevented 9/11,'' Rumsfeld told the commission at a hearing.

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Than why go after him now?

Does anything these people say make sense anymore?

[Enraged_Ape]

20. Oh, now quit asking obvious questions!

The media won't, so don't you start!

[niceypoo]

21. He is trying to cover his ass

He is implying that "It doesnt matter if we went after him or not because it wouldnt have changed anything"

[whistle]

2. That lying bastard...

...Let's get Rumsfeld in front of the 9-11 committee and cut him a new anus! He looked pretty foolish on Sunday's Meet the Press. This committee will serve him his testicles for lunch. The prick ordered all forces to stand-down on 9-11 till it was all over. Did you hear that George Tenet that morning upon hearing about WTC attack said over brunch that he hoped it was not the al quieda guys in flight schools that did it. Geeze, they all knew. Impeach them. :nuke:

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

3. Probably not, no.

But that doesn't mean you couldn't have stopped them some other way.

Twisting the opposition's statements into something similar but more easily refuted is one of Rummy's favorite arguing tricks. Let's see if anyone falls for it this time.

[Rex]

4. So it was going to happen no matter what? BULLSHIT!

-Al Gore would not have been dealing with the Taliban. No threats of "carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs" from Al. The Taliban might not have sponsored OBL if Gore was President.

-Al Gore would have listened to outgoing President Bill Clinton about the threat of global terrorism, all material would have been looked at and reviewed by Al.

-Al Gore had no dealings with the Saudis, had no grudge against Saddam, would have probably pulled out all military presence in SA. Didn't seek to control the worlds oil pipelines.

In short, Al Gore would have prevented 911 simply because nothing would have led up to the actual event. There would have been no Phoenix memo because the U.S. wouldn't have been trying to strong-arm ME countries into making deals with Enron and other energy conglomerates.

[osaMABUSh]

5. That's beautiful but no way this message could ever get out there

or understood by the sheeple.

[notadmblnd]

27. well of course it was...

they were there to make sure it happened. See Rumsfiend doesn't lie, he just doesn't tell the entire truth.

[jus_the_facts]

6. O'course not....because then * couldn't have HIT THE TRIFECTA!

:eyes:

[leesa]

7. O course invading Afghanistan wouldn't have stopped terrorism strikes

invading and bombing ANY country will produce more "terrorism" attacks. Any child could figure that out.

[Eye and Monkey]

10. So-called "adults" figured that invasion would produce "dancing".

I believe "dancing in the streets" was the phrase used to predict the results of bombing and invasion.

[truthspeaker]

8. then how about armoring cockpit doors?

and beefing up airport security, like Clinton tried to do?

[DemBones DemBones]

11. Or warning the public, letting us in on the 'chatter'

They wouldn't do that because it could hurt the airline's profits. . . So look what happened to the airline's profits after four planes with passengers aboard were incinerated. And the public got to pay to keep the airlines afloat, despite the fact that the airlines had a warning and could have taken precautions. . . So the public loses all around and every which way.

[truth2power]

16. "And the public got to pay to keep the airlines afloat."

Another instance, BTW, where the corporations believe in "free market capitalism" until they're ready to go belly up. Then they believe in socialism. Bastards! And, yes, the public loses out either way.

The stupid sheeple, of course, CAN'T CONNECT THE DOTS!! (Sorry to shout). :mad:

[truthisfreedom]

9. why is it that this administration insists on asserting as FACT that 9-11

was unavoidable? how do they know this? because they CAUSED IT? that's really the only way to know... every time i hear them claim it was impossible to avoid, i get a chill.

[dbt]

12. I second that!

"No way the attacks could have been avoided" = LIHOP.

:scared:
dbt

[truth2power]

17. They knew....

and they did nothing.

Hell is too good for these creatures!

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

13. Classic Strawman

Quick show of hands -- who was blaming the Bush Administration for not going to war sooner?

*crickets chirping*

The point here is that the Bush Administration ignored credible warnings from the Clinton Administration, the Hart Commission, MI-5, the KGB, Mossad, the FBI and (for all I know) the League of Women Voters. The question is whether the Bush Administration was criminally negligent in not pursuing legitimate threat warnings.

Thanks for playing, Donald. Now return to your crypt until sunset.

[LeftHander]

14. They were going to go ahead with it anyway....

MIHOP....

To many necon policies were hanging in the balance. 911 was a must happen policy intititive.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. No way the attacks could have been avoided?

Especially when Rummie planned to sit on his ass that morning and made sure that SOP was NOT followed.

No one could avoid 9-11, when it was the people in charge of running this country that wanted 9-11 to happen.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

18. Rumsfeld also believes attacking Iraq will make the world safer

just as Israel's leaders believe assassinating others' leaders will make them safer.

According to the latest State Dept. memo, these actions are making us less safe. Makes sense to me.

[goclark]

28. Dean said the world is not safer

He was blasted by one and all.

Now that Saddam has been captured and put we know not where, is Spain safer? Are we safer - no!

[savistocate]

30. Testimony refreshing our memories

on the Timeline has greatly strengthened inescapable logic,
Iraq was not doing intl terror but USS Cole bombing just weeks before transition was carried out by Al Queda/bin Laden. CIA finally confirms it with certainty short time into Bush take-over. So how should any focus, time and resources go to target Iraq? The _"urgency" _ imminent risk all too apparent.

Yet the Smirkies expect us to believe we're safer by taking out Saddam--& even since search concludes no wmd their "stay on message" routine never lets up. They get their script down with a death grip. Jeezzsh..

[TahitiNut]

19. But Clinton/Gore didn't do enough????

How can anyone let these people get away with such duplicitous nonsense? At the same time they castigate Clinton/Gore for not doing enough to make everything easy for the Bush/Cheney vacation days, they claim there was nothing their administration could have done. That's absolute bullshit. How can they have it both ways?

This administration has run away like the moral cowards they are from every responsibility they would confer upon others. The ubiquitous presumption that they have some elitist "right" to inherit the benefits and profit from the labors of others, with no obligation whatsoever to invest their own labor, pervades their 'thinking.'

This autocratic entitlement attitude is appallingly detestable.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. An Open Admission of Helplessness?

So, there is no war on terror, since there is nothing we can do, right Donnie?

He said yesterday he was spending his time on developing a response plan. A RESPONSE PLAN!

In other words, they were not trying to PREVENT an attack, just figuring out how to retaliate when one did occur.

So, they are admitting they did NOTHING to prevent 9/11. Seems like a self-damning statement, to me.
The Professor

[LeftHander]

23. Ashcroft stopped flying commercial....Summer 2001

Because they knew it was coming...just not sure exactly when within 20-30 days...

And they cry..."We had no warning..." What liars!

[Hobarticus]

24. Bush wasn't interested in "swatting flies"...

he wanted 'big picture' solutions, while ignoring minor details like repeated specific warnings.

Come to think of it, that's pretty much his MO on everything.

Jackass.

[skypilot]

25. So it would seem to me...

...that the whole "Clinton had chances to take Bin Laden out" thing is now rendered moot. Rumsfeld will rue the day that he made the statement reported in this article.

[eridani]

26. Hey, Rummy! You have to tackle the quarterback---

--if you want to prevent touchdowns. And the running backs and recievers. You are right that tackling a cheerleader or the head of the alumni association fundraising board doesn't do the trick, but you damned well could have gone after the others.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

32. EIGHT YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY

now, off you go

[savistocate]

33. "that's what thiscommission is telling us"?

no one who has tuned in --listened could say that. Albright, Pickering, Berger testimony (if ones own memory fails) Transcripts available. Even to bringing intl terrorism current risk of highest priority to a speech in the U.N.

[daleo]

34. Clinton administration put the first WTC bombing perps behind bars

The LAX bombing was also foiled during his administration. That's just a couple of things they did. From all I have read, they were taking this threat very seriously indeed. Bush, on the other hand, took a long vacation and then invaded Iraq, once looking for OBL started to bore him.

[daleo]

35. I forgot to mention how much I hate Rumsfeld,

Since the original story was about him. That's all.

[Skittles]

31. WHO IS TALKING ABOUT F***ING WAR ??????????

HOW ABOUT WE JUST DIDN'T LET THOSE F***WITS HIJACK THOSE PLANES RUMMY YOU STUPID TRAITOROUS WARMONGING F*** ???????????????????