9/11 Panel Looks at Military (Pentagon failure to confront Al Qaeda)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-military16apr16,1,6636839,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

While missteps by the CIA and FBI have come under harsh public scrutiny by a commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, the independent panel is quietly amassing evidence of a decade of failures by a third institution: the Pentagon.

The nation's military has so far largely escaped criticism for its counterterrorism performance in the years leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

But sources familiar with the commission's inner workings say the panel increasingly believes the Pentagon failed to adequately respond to the growing military threat of Al Qaeda. They said Pentagon ineffectiveness in both the Clinton and Bush administrations was as much to blame for permitting the Sept. 11 attacks as inept law enforcement and intelligence efforts, a conclusion shared by many current and former U.S. officials and counterterrorism experts.

When the commission releases it findings in late July, it is expected to conclude that both administrations failed on a wide array of military fronts, not just in the use of conventional force but in the sharing of intelligence and creation of special operations and technology to respond to the new threat posed by stateless terrorism.

<snip>

In private, the commission also is raising questions about the Defense Department's apparent lack of readiness on Sept. 11 to protect Americans from a military-style attack on the homeland.

[aquart]

1. Really wish they'd ask those private questions in public.

I know I am.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

2. Bigger DoD budget than the next, what, 15?20? countries combined.

And the Republicans will say "See? Throwing money at the problem doesn't work."

Meaning we might as well starve health, education, housing, environment programs because money just isn't the answer.

Of course!

[Old and In the Way]

3. $400BB/year and only 14 planes to cover the US on 9/11.

Yes, I'd say they have their priorities wrong. And what does the top military guy get for letting 9/11 happen on his watch? The top JCS slot, of course. We are so screwed.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. It looks like they may address failure to protect on 9/11 --

I hope so!

"On that day, a hijacked commercial jetliner was able to crash into the Pentagon building, despite months of elevated indications of an Al Qaeda attack and long-standing criticism that the military lacked a domestic security plan, the sources said."