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SecularMotion

(7,981 posts)
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 10:34 AM Oct 2015

Trump Is Right About 9/11

Donald Trump utters plenty of ugly untruths: that undocumented Mexican immigrants are “rapists,” that Syrian refugees are committing “all sorts of attacks” in Germany and represent a “Trojan Horse” for ISIS. But he tells ugly truths too: that “when you give [politicians money], they do whatever the hell you want them to do.” And that “the Middle East would be safer” if Saddam Hussein and Muammer Qaddafi were still in power.

His latest ugly truth came during a Bloomberg TV interview last Friday, when he said George W. Bush deserves responsibility for the fact that “the World Trade Center came down during his time.” Politicians and journalists erupted in indignation. Jeb Bush called Trump’s comments “pathetic.” Ben Carson dubbed them “ridiculous.”

Former Bush flack Ari Fleischer called Trump a 9/11 “truther.” Even Stephanie Ruhle, the Bloomberg anchor who asked the question, cried, “Hold on, you can’t blame George Bush for that.”

Oh yes, you can. There’s no way of knowing for sure if Bush could have stopped the September 11 attacks. But that’s not the right question. The right question is: Did Bush do everything he could reasonably have to stop them, given what he knew at the time? And he didn’t. It’s not even close.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/did-george-w-bush-do-all-he-could-to-prevent-911/411175/
42 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Trump Is Right About 9/11 (Original Post) SecularMotion Oct 2015 OP
Let me be the first to K & R! n/t wildbilln864 Oct 2015 #1
Trump is right about this patsimp Oct 2015 #2
"My brother kept us safe" napkinz Oct 2015 #3
Trump will be even higher geek75 Oct 2015 #6
Bush did keep any American's safe because of 911 and Catrina lewebley3 Oct 2015 #21
Wut? hifiguy Oct 2015 #22
Maher & Matthews Tear Into Jeb: "How Can He Get Away with Saying W Kept Us Safe?!" napkinz Oct 2015 #4
Why give him credit? geek75 Oct 2015 #5
Because the Bushies are even bigger P'sOS. Gidney N Cloyd Oct 2015 #8
Exactly what I was thinking. eom SusanaMontana41 Oct 2015 #39
Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then. DinahMoeHum Oct 2015 #17
To quote JEB! HenryWallace Oct 2015 #20
I don't even get why anyone questions what Trump said malaise Oct 2015 #7
Not to mention that the Pentagon was left unprotected thesquanderer Oct 2015 #9
Bush didn't take the threat seriously until it was too late. Theres no way around that. phleshdef Oct 2015 #10
Absolutely libodem Oct 2015 #11
I hope the GOP picks Jeb for their candidate... C Moon Oct 2015 #12
As the GOP reminds us, Clinton was actually the President on 911 Babel_17 Oct 2015 #13
Yep, I've heard this bullshit before as well davidpdx Oct 2015 #32
And there were briefings prior to Bush's inauguration Babel_17 Oct 2015 #37
It's better for Dems that Trump says this about Bush/Sept 11. No Vested Interest Oct 2015 #14
Pataki just blamed Bill Clinton for 9/11 on MSNBC! napkinz Oct 2015 #15
Yep, I saw that too. nt ChisolmTrailDem Oct 2015 #18
heck, might as well blame Al Gore while they're at it ... napkinz Oct 2015 #42
I think Trump just tells the truth as he sees it. CJCRANE Oct 2015 #16
People like it. It's refreshing. 840high Oct 2015 #25
except Skittles Oct 2015 #27
Very true. I'll say Sanders 840high Oct 2015 #28
A bit like my post... fadedrose Oct 2015 #19
Trump is right. N/T deathrind Oct 2015 #23
Trump is so right. dirtydickcheney Oct 2015 #24
YES HE IS Skittles Oct 2015 #26
It's Fashionable Among Republicans to Blame Bill Clinton for 9/11 AnnieBW Oct 2015 #29
Even a broken clock is right twice a day...once if it's a digital clock. InAbLuEsTaTe Oct 2015 #30
And what about the Anthrax Attacks that he didnt keep us safe from?? SoCalDemGrrl Oct 2015 #31
What did Bush do about national security and the threat of terrorism keithbvadu2 Oct 2015 #33
Yep! Little Star Oct 2015 #34
His criticism of Bush/Cheney was right, but is gasbag blowhard claim that "they'd never get in if catbyte Oct 2015 #35
Factor in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) (1992-2000) and it signatories.... usaf-vet Oct 2015 #36
YES YES YES SusanaMontana41 Oct 2015 #41
I sometimes wonder... ejbr Oct 2015 #38
Trump is right. No question about it. SusanaMontana41 Oct 2015 #40

patsimp

(915 posts)
2. Trump is right about this
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 10:38 AM
Oct 2015

Trump does speak some truths that will make him more popular than people expect in a general election.

having said that - I hate Trump and think he would be a dangerous leader on the world stage.

Gidney N Cloyd

(19,817 posts)
8. Because the Bushies are even bigger P'sOS.
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 11:00 AM
Oct 2015

And it's fun watching the repubs have to fend off the truth from inside (sort of) their own ranks.

thesquanderer

(11,970 posts)
9. Not to mention that the Pentagon was left unprotected
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:00 PM
Oct 2015

even 30+ minutes AFTER he knew we were under attack.

Great article, though.

C Moon

(12,208 posts)
12. I hope the GOP picks Jeb for their candidate...
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:11 PM
Oct 2015

'Cuz I don't think Jeb stands a chance to win: He's coming off like a shadow of his brother, and it feels like it's 2000 all over again. I can see Cheney and Rove drooling in the background.

Babel_17

(5,400 posts)
13. As the GOP reminds us, Clinton was actually the President on 911
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:45 PM
Oct 2015

Given that 911 is actually a cascade of unfolding events, the most important of which happened prior to 2001, it's essentially a lie to assert to that Bush was President on 911. The full hand off of responsibility happened sometime later.

I'd rather not use a sarcasm tag. But here it is.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
32. Yep, I've heard this bullshit before as well
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 03:20 AM
Oct 2015

The Republicans can't accept the fact that they controlled the country for a full 7 1/2 months before 9/11 making them responsible making it the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor nearly six decades earlier.

Babel_17

(5,400 posts)
37. And there were briefings prior to Bush's inauguration
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 10:32 AM
Oct 2015

It's not like Bush walked into a ghost town and had to uncover diaries and newspapers to figure out what was what. His nerds got briefed by Clinton's nerds, and the career nerds just kept working away. Clinton's nerds, sorry, Clinton's experts highlighted areas of major concern. Among them, the reports saying something was brewing that could lead to a major act of terrorism.

Bush's people, and the career experts, built on that intelligence and it eventually was presented to the top of Bush's administration, and Bush himself. And there was that guy running down the halls with his "hair on fire" that should have been listened to.


Throughout that summer, we now well know, Tenet, Richard Clarke, and several other officials were running around with their "hair on fire," warning that al-Qaida was about to unleash a monumental attack. On Aug. 6, Bush was given the now-famous President's Daily Brief (by one of Tenet's underlings), warning that this attack might take place "inside the United States." For the previous few years—as Philip Zelikow, the commission's staff director, revealed this morning—the CIA had issued several warnings that terrorists might fly commercial airplanes into buildings or cities.

And now, we learn today, at this peak moment, Tenet hears about Moussaoui. Someone might have added 2 + 2 + 2 and possibly busted up the conspiracy. But the president was down on the ranch, taking it easy. Tenet wasn't with him. Tenet never talked with him. Rice—as she has testified—wasn't with Bush, either. He was on his own and, willfully, out of touch.

A USA Today story, written right before Bush took off, reported that the vacation—scheduled to last from Aug. 3 to Sept. 3—would tie one of Richard Nixon's as the longest that any president had ever taken. A week before he left, Bush made a videotaped message for the Boy Scouts of America. On the tape, he said, "I'll be going to my ranch in Crawford, where I'll work and take a little time off. I think it is so important for the president to spend some time away from Washington, in the heartland of America."


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2004/04/the_outoftowner.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke

In Frank Herbert's Dune series of books, there's a scene in one of them (God Emperor of Dune) where the ruler of the universe reveals that he saves his greatest punishment for historians who deliberately attempt to falsify the historical record. They're rendered permanently unconscious and then they're place upon the collection of their books, then burned alive.

"They were destroyed because they lied pretentiously."

No Vested Interest

(5,163 posts)
14. It's better for Dems that Trump says this about Bush/Sept 11.
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 02:01 PM
Oct 2015

Dems get clobbered in the media for bringing it up, but
when Trump speaks it, those sympathetic to him and/or Republicans have to pause
and at least listen and decide whether they want to give it credibility or not.

And Jeb!, who wanted to be his own man, is put in the position of defending GWB, whether Jeb! wants to or not.

(I like using the "!" with Jeb's name because I heard him on Colbert saying it shows excitement!
Sure it does, Jeb!, sure it does.

CJCRANE

(18,184 posts)
16. I think Trump just tells the truth as he sees it.
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 02:21 PM
Oct 2015

He doesn't do talking points, he just says what he thinks.

fadedrose

(10,044 posts)
19. A bit like my post...
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 02:25 PM
Oct 2015

"Any Joe Biden Campaign People here?"

Bush should have known something - Condoleeza had a message about a possible attack...

AnnieBW

(10,409 posts)
29. It's Fashionable Among Republicans to Blame Bill Clinton for 9/11
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 11:03 PM
Oct 2015

After all, he was President until January 2001. The plot probably didn't even start moving until after that.

SoCalDemGrrl

(839 posts)
31. And what about the Anthrax Attacks that he didnt keep us safe from??
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 01:42 AM
Oct 2015

Remember the nationwide fear we all experienced due to the anthrax attacks that occurred during Bush's presidency?? We didn't get mail for weeks, people died.

Oh yeah sure Bush kept us safe... dream on.......

keithbvadu2

(36,640 posts)
33. What did Bush do about national security and the threat of terrorism
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 06:23 AM
Oct 2015

prior to 9-11 other than ignore them?

catbyte

(34,326 posts)
35. His criticism of Bush/Cheney was right, but is gasbag blowhard claim that "they'd never get in if
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 08:56 AM
Oct 2015
I were President" is just another empty braggarty boast. "My administration is gona be AWESOME--YUUUUUUUUUUUGE!"

Those hijackers weren't "Immigrants", were they? I thought they ll had short term student visas. So he's gonna keep foreign students out too?

Jackass.

usaf-vet

(6,161 posts)
36. Factor in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) (1992-2000) and it signatories....
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 09:52 AM
Oct 2015

... and the statement in the document about the need for a "New Pearl Harbor". One does have to ask what this all means in light of what did and didn't happen leading up to 9/11.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

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