Expert: U.S. Knew al-Qaida Might Attack

[villager]

Expert: U.S. Knew al-Qaida Might Attack

By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The United States and the international community sat by for a decade as Afghanistan (news - web sites) became "a terrorist Disneyland" where attackers were trained and assaults were planned, a terrorism expert testified Wednesday.

Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at the Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, told an independent terrorism investigative commission here that U.S. leaders had to know their homeland would eventually be targeted.


"You knew the intention of al-Qaida was to kill American people where they could be found, but still you did not act, and you paid a very heavy price for it," said Gunaratna, the lead-off witness at a full-day hearing on terrorism, al-Qaida and the Muslim world.


The 10-member National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States has held previous hearings focusing on the events of Sept. 11, including how hijackers took control of four airplanes and why U.S. air defenses did not react more quickly.


The commission's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, said the commission must also take a broader look at the rise of terrorist groups.


"To defeat and destroy our enemy, we must understand more than the crimes it already committed," said Kean, a former governor of New Jersey. "We must understand what drives and motivates it, the source of its power, the resources at its command, its internal strengths and weaknesses."

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20030709/ap_on_go_co/sept_11_commission_26

[AnnabelLee]

1. I like the headline

but I'd also like to see an article detailing how Condi ignored Berger's dossier, the August briefing that specifically mentioned hijackings that was also ignored...there are any number of instances of incompetence & outright malfeasance that should be published, & with glaring headlines.

On edit: Don't forget to rate the article a "5"

[villager]

2. I agree, AnnabelLee...

...that we need a flood of articles about the specific intelligence the junta ignored. Hopefully this article -- and its headline -- is just the first of what will become a volley, a torrent, of "?W" articles in the formerly "free" press...

[rfranklin]

3. Yeah, Tom, let's diffuse the blame by talking about abstract ideas...

You freakin' numbskull! The crux of 9/11 is either Bush negligence or Bush cupability. There is no other question.

[damnraddem]

4. No need for conspiracy theories:

negligence is bad enough.

[matt819]

5. Watch this -- this guy has some credibility problems

There have been posts here before about this guy. While there might be some merit, you need to watch it. I'm not sure the search capacity here will pick up stuff about him, but I suspect a google search will.