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"Why America Slept" Before Sept. 11

(Wall Street Journal) James Woolsey - Why does the U.S., after it wins a war, habitually assume that the world has been permanently repaired? In Why America Slept, Gerald Posner offers a mosaic with regard to "how" America ignored the threats to it. A few examples: Congress makes it illegal to deny visas to members of terrorist groups. Sixteen boxes of plans for Islamist terror taken from Rabbi Meir Kahane's assassin in 1990 sit unopened in New York City Police Department custody for years. Law-enforcement authorities conclude promptly that a lone, deranged individual is responsible for any given terrorist act even if substantial leads point toward backing from the Middle East. The CIA and FBI fail to talk to one another; both fail to talk to the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the State Department. Arabic documents are mistranslated by the few overworked linguists, substantially delaying investigations. Politically correct guidelines keep the CIA and FBI from recruiting terrorist informants. In such a way did America sleep. Posner's final chapter is a stunning picture of the interrogation of one of al-Qaeda's senior members, who supposedly told his interrogators in spring 2002 that certain Saudi princes aided bin Laden and had advanced knowledge of a 9/11 attack. Three of the princes named in this interrogation, it is said, died soon after the man's testimony was made known to the Saudi regime.
2003-10-24 00:00:00
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