A few days before Kwanzaa, the chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States was asked by reporters whether September 11 could have been prevented. Chairman Thomas Kean replied, "It probably could have been, in any number of ways" and "was not something that had to happen."
Kean's conclusion was immediately challenged by White House spokesman Scott McClellan:
"There is nothing that we have seen that leads us to believe that September 11 could have been prevented."
You're probably wondering what Kean and McClellan mean when they say September 11 could – or could not – have been prevented. Well, here's a clue. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice declared way back on May 16, 2002: "I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile."
So, apparently Kean's commission will report in May that we could have prevented Mohammed Atta and his gang from using hijacked airplanes as missiles.
Kean's commission will hold a hearing this month on the immediate response to the September 11 hijackings by those responsible – then and now – for the safety and security of the U.S. commercial aviation system. They will also hold hearings on extant visa, immigration and foreign-visitor policies.
In February, Kean will hear from the Justice Department, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and state and local officials with respect to intelligence collection inside the United States and relevant law enforcement.
In March, Kean will hear from senior officials at the Pentagon, CIA, State Department, Treasury Department and on the National Security Council staff about what they knew and when they knew it.
Finally, in April, Kean's commission will hold hearings to tell us the story – as authoritatively as possible – of what actually happened on September 11.
Now, Kean's National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States – which is scheduled to submit its final report on May 27, 2004 – should not be confused with the National Commission on Terrorism.
That commission – which was chaired by Ambassador Paul Bremer – submitted its final report way back on June 7, 2000.
Here are the Bremer Commission's principal findings:
- Priority one is to prevent terrorist attacks. U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement communities must use the full scope of their authority to collect intelligence regarding terrorist plans and methods.
- U.S. policies must firmly target all states that support terrorists.
- Private sources of financial and logistical support for terrorists must be subjected to the full force and sweep of U.S. and international laws.
- A terrorist attack involving a biological agent, deadly chemicals, or nuclear or radiological material, even if it succeeds only partially, could profoundly affect the entire nation. The government must do more to prepare for such an event.
- The president and Congress should reform the system for reviewing and funding departmental counterterrorism programs to ensure that the activities and programs of various agencies are part of a comprehensive plan.
Now comes Kean to say, "I don't like to argue with the White House, but I think ... if some of those hijackers had been kept off some of those planes, then they wouldn't have been able to do what they did. If some of those people had been kept out of the country, they wouldn't have been able to do what they did."
Worse, despite the biggest reorganization of the federal government since the end of World War II – and the expenditure so far of $19 billion on homeland security – Chairman Kean does not believe the country is safe from a repetition of the September 11th attacks.
Of course, Atta could have been prevented from hijacking U.S. jetliners and using them as "missiles," and we can easily prevent terrorists ever doing that again. How? Install a sturdy door between the airliner cockpit and the rest of the airliner that cannot be opened from either side by anyone for any reason when the aircraft's engines are running.
The reason Atta was able to use our airliners as missiles on September 11 was that our government had ordered all U.S. flight crews to offer no resistance to hijackers. They were ordered by our government to do exactly what the hijackers instructed them to do – including letting them into the cockpit – even if the hijackers appeared to be armed only with box-cutters or fingernail files.
Could Atta have been thwarted? You bet your life, Condoleezza. And ours.