Not enough words can express my emotions which followed...

So you weren't paying attention any better 11 years ago than you are today?

If you had been paying attention, you would have re-called the first attack (truck bomb) on the World Trade Center that killed 6 and injured 1,000, the Kobar Towers with 19 killed and 372 wounded, the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Tanzania - 225 dead and over 4,000 wounded, the Cole attack .... as well as another 15 terrorist attacks between 1993 and 2000.

Then you can throw in Mogadishu, where al Qaeda played a role in the deaths of another American soldiers and Delta .... after which bin Laden remarked that America was nothing but a paper tiger.

And what the dem president do during this time to combat the terror threat that culminated in 9/11?

Gave some great, tough minded speeches after each attack ...

Anything else?

Oh that's right .... you wouldn't know ...

(Btw Betty - Answer ... nada.)

Grow up, bob...today's not the day for that.

Bob you really are a sick SOB stating this sh!!!t today!

For the record, Bob, Bush I was president when the 1993 bombing was planned (Clinton was barely in office when it occurred).

Reagan allowed all those Marines die in the Beirut bombing.

Bush II is 100% responsible for 9-11!

there...now if only you, Bob, were working on the 98th floor of Tower 2, we wouldn't have read your crap.

pat...see post #1.2 above...today's not the day for this discussion.

All of you...knock it off!!!

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

Bob you really are a sick SOB stating this sh!!!t today!

Bob lots of number is an A-S-S-H-O-L-E everday!

But he really out did himself this morning!

Bob is so consumed by hatred, he couldn't find it in his shriveled ♥ to be civil on a day of remembrance!

I won't condone Bob but when you actually go back and read 95% of what you write, then perhaps your statement will hold water.

Da Noid

pat...see post #1.2 above...today's not the day for this discussion.

perhaps not in this thread I will give you that. Yes never forget that blind hatred for another culture would create a fervor to drive people to fly planes into buildings and kill other people who merely living their lives.

Thanks Noid

bob-

This is a day of remembrance and solemnity, not politics. But here's a little history.

No President has been pro terror. No President has been prepared for the random acts of terror, from the revolution to today as they read the names of the WTC dead.

The idea of trying to pin the blame for acts of madness on our Presidents or our government is asinine on most any day, but is almost akin to spitting on the flag. Today is is a day for patriotism and prayer.

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On February 26, 1993—thirty-six days after Clinton took office terrorists who the CIA would later reveal were working under the direction of Osama bin Laden detonated a timed car bomb in the parking garage below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City

All men were tried and convicted for the bombing and other terrorists activities.^[38]

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In his 1995 State of the Union address, Clinton proposed "comprehensive legislation to strengthen our hand in combating terrorists, whether they strike at home or abroad."^[39] He sent legislation to Congress to extend federal criminal jurisdiction, make it easier to deport terrorists, and act against terrorist fund-raising.^[40] Following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Clinton amended that legislation to increase wiretap and electronic surveillance authority for the FBI, require explosives to be equipped with traceable taggants, and appropriate more funds to the FBI, CIA, and local police.^[41]

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In 1996, the CIA established a special unit of officers to analyze intelligence received about bin Laden and plan operations against him, coined the "Bin Laden Issue Station". It was this unit that first realized bin Laden was more than just a terrorist financier, but a leader of a global network with operations based in Afghanistan.

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In 1998, Clinton appointed Richard Clarke—who until then served in a drugs and counter-terrorism division of the CIA—to lead an interagency comprehensive counter-terrorism operation, the Counter-terrorism Security Group (CSG). The goal of the CSG was to "detect, deter, and defend against" terrorist attacks. Additionally, Clinton appointed Clarke to sit on the cabinet-level Principals Committee when it met on terrorism issues.^[38]

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On August 7, 1998, Bin Laden struck again, this time with simultaneous bombings on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (see above) The CIA, having confirmed bin Laden was behind the attack, informed Clinton that terrorist leaders were planning to meet at a camp near Khowst, to plan future attacks. According to Tenet, "several hundred," including bin Laden, would attend. On August 20, Clinton ordered the military to fire cruise missiles at Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sundan, where bin Laden was suspected of manufacturing biological weapons. While the military hit their targets, bin Laden was not killed. The CIA estimated that they had missed bin Laden by "a few hours."^[43]

At the time of the attacks, Clinton was embroiled in the Lewinsky scandal (see below). This led many Republicans in Congress to accuse the president of "wagging the dog"—launching a military attack simply to distract the public from his personal problems. Clinton and his principals, however, insist that the decision was made solely on the basis of national security.^[38]

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^{I know that you're simply a frustrated and angry person, spewing venom and bile without any concern for others, and that you are primarily just seeking some kind of validation for your warped worldview, But when you spit on the memory of the dead and denigrate the leaders who felt the pain of the nation and had the responsibility for protecting the innocent from the barbarians who seek to destroy our culture and everything we stand for, you disgrace yourself for all to see...}

For a little while, in the aftermath of the attack on 9/11/01, we were one nation. Sad that it took a tragedy, sadder that it didn't last.

Last year for the 10^th Anniversary of 9/11 I wrote this piece. I have added a couple of sentences about Afghanistan, yet left the rest intact as I originally wrote it.

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Reflections on the Aftermath of September 11, 2001

As we approach the 10^th anniversary, I think back to that awful day and what we lost then and during the ensuing ten years and sadly are still losing, vast amounts of treasure and most precious of all, lives of our citizens. Have we learned anything in the past 10 years, anything at all?

I remember that morning and as the enormity of the destruction sunk in, I remember thinking, our lives will never be the same again. Not knowing how change would happen, but certain it would.

We lost some of our freedoms, the carefree way we traveled, especially by air. We lost the openness we had toward strangers, our thoughts of others we don’t know have become suspicious, sometimes wary of their words and or their motives. We have to be very protective of our personal information and with whom we may share it

As a country we lost a lot, apart from the loss of life and treasure, we lost our way in who we used to be. It seems so sad because it could have been better. At first there was that feeling of togetherness, we clung to each other, in our shock, then, we will rebuild and be as strong if not stronger than ever. Other nations, felt our loss and our grief, standing with us, as we had, for so many of them in their hour of need.

Then we were told to go shopping, not to bother our pretty little heads, we will get through this, we will bring the terrorists to justice, we will hunt those that hurt us no matter what it takes. Not matter what it took, we were going to do it, whether the law said it was OK or not. It was stated, you are either with us or you are with the terrorists, no matter what it takes, my way or the highway.

Now, reading excerpts of VP Cheney’s memoir and watching his interviews, it comes back like a bad dream, the invasion of Iraq, for weapons of mass destruction, none were ever found. The loss of life, over four thousand American lives, countless hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Over a hundred thousand American service people injured there, many of them so seriously they will require ongoing health services for the rest of their lives. For all this and so much more, he has no regrets.

For the first term of the Bush administration, Cheney was, for all intents and purposes the President, he pushed for military action in Iraq. We will be greeted with flowers and cheers he said, as he bulled his agenda through because George Bush was never cut out to be president. Cheney had manipulated himself to be VP, and though his daddy had been President, GWB never had any experience other than the backslapping role of Governor of Texas, the best job in the world, he told Rick Perry his Lt. Governor.

We found that during this time, torture and abuse were done in the name of the People of the United States, the Constitution was trampled on, the moral high ground lost, perhaps forever and the country is now nearly bankrupt. Some even made political careers out of selling fear. We are still in Afghanistan, it is a so very complex situation, we are still losing our troops, Yes, the troops will be home in 2014 and that is good, however the extended cost from the war will be with us for a generation or two as we care for our wounded warriors. Presently the war costs us a billion dollars a week in treasure we now can ill afford, the extended costs of this war, the longest in American history will continue to be a drain on our economy for many years to come.

Out of 9/11 has come the extreme partisanship we see today. The lack of courtesy and respect towards those who are different or do things differently, the lack of unity, the striving towards a common cause, we are all in this together, is no more. M Bin Laden is gone, yet we still fight his followers as we should and we seem to be doing it smarter than before with good results.

Bin Laden succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have known that the destruction he wrought that awful day, would balloon into a financial disaster too, aided by zealots and nincompoops who didn’t figure how to pay for the wars except put them on a credit card for future generations to pay, in addition, gave tax cuts to the rich to further dig the hole we fell into.

What should have united us, has divided us, and the unscrupulous have taken advantage of it all.

Last year for the 10^th Anniversary of 9/11 I wrote this piece. I have added a couple of sentences about Afghanistan, yet left the rest intact as I originally wrote it.

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This was deleted on First thoughts, well here it is again.

I will not be silenced..................Cowards

bob-180..... Your post was out of place, uncalled for and spoke volumes about you.

To Everyone Else

Let's always remember today and what we as a nation lost that day. The lives lost was horrendous. The men and women who died in the attacks - at the World Trade Center; the Pentagon; and in Pennsylvania - can never be forgotten. I'm sure the heartache for their families is as intense today as it was then. And, to the heroes who ran into harms way to try to save them, you will always be in our hearts.

But, I also remember the loss of a little bit of innocence that day. I think we all believed the US was not vulnerable to what the rest of the world has known. That belief was dashed and I'll never forget that - in a brief instant - we are all vulnerable.

I loved that we, as a nation, came together - albeit briefly. I remember the members of Congress standing on the step singing "God Bless America." Too bad those days appear to be in our past.

Let us NEVER forget!

Red, I'm old enough that I remember the Kennedy assassination. It is the sort of thing one never forgets. The melancholy of a nation and of the world is indescribable. In the late 60s I serve Uncle Sam in Turkey and every shop keeper had two pictures on his shop wall, Attaturk and JFK.

Rather than remembering the sad event those Turkish businessmen celebrated Kennedy's life and legacy considering him worthy to display next to the founder of modern Turkey.

Rather than remembering the horrors of 9/11 we should remember those we knew and loved who were lost in those tragic crashes. We should also be grateful for the first responders, many who came from as far away as San Francisco to lend a hand. A quick remembrance, as with any great event, is appropriate but we should not be seen crying in our beer but, having learned from the past, put in place protections that will prevent such a thing from ever happening again.

The incompetence of the Bush Administration, after warnings from the Clinton Administration that such a thing might occur added to the size and gravety of the event but, that too, is in the past. We must move forward keeping the victims of 9/11 in our hearts and minds but tucked away so as not to become something we are preoccupies with thus interrupting our forward progress.

Exactly Paul, while I remember Pearl Harbor Day, because my Dad was in the Navy and most of my uncles were in the Army or Airforce, you'd be suprised at the people who don't. Our generation will always remember this horrible act and I for one will be forever grateful that alquada is dwindling on a steady basis and their leader is dead.

Ursula, just reading your account gave me chills. I remember how tightly I hugged my family that evening when we were all home safely at dinner.

I've read some beautiful posts today, Seeking if you pop up, I really liked yours as well.

September 11th is a day none of us will ever forget.

JFK - Sadly, it appears that you missed the point of referring to today as a day of "Service and Remembrance". This day is all about ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things...like police and firefighters in NYC running INTO the World Trade Center when others ran out...like one of my fraternity brothers who carried a woman out to the street in New York and then ran BACK in because he said others needed help...like a group of 40 people on a plane over Pennsylvania who didn't go down without a fight and saved lives in Washington. All acted selflessly.

If you can't find some good deed to do for today that's a "you" problem" and not an "us" problem.

steve - your hatred is out of place. Go away!