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ORIGINAL: Real0ne
One of the the best ways to begin to understand the scope of the.......,well if not fraud, negligence, very likely criminal negligence, by the trustees chartered to ensure quality in the performance of their duties may be to begin here. Physics engineering and science is the direction to gain a better understanding of what went on rather than any political backbiting shit hole merry-go-round certain people want to drag this into.

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I've hesitated to air my opinions on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks because they go against popular opinion and may unintentionally upset even those close to me, the people I really care about. Unfortunately, just as anything on my mind shows on my face, I do have to let this out.

The sneak attacks of September 11, 2001 were the most savage and most cowardly act that I have ever seen in my life and the same probably holds true for most. But the mind-blowing magnitude of the incompetence of U.S. leadership in response to the attacks has rendered the losses of the victims in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, United Airlines Flight 93, American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and the subsequent sacrifices of all the military a waste.

George. W. Bush's inexplicable decision to ignore military intelligence from around the world (even some supplied by America's opponents) still baffles me to this day. The U.S. could have led the world into Afghanistan to eliminate the threat of Al-Qaeda in much the same manner that we led the world in removing Iraq from Kuwait. Instead, he chose to invade Iraq against all recommendations, even knowing that Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. Further, he did so also knowing that the U.S. would be doing so almost alone, certainly without U.N. support. Later he ordered the invasion of Afghanistan. It's common military wisdom that "only a fool fights a war on two fronts."

Some of the fallout from these disastrous actions include the the financial crisis we are in now. My viewpoint may be skewed by being a blue collar man and not a Wall Street tycoon, but it looked to me like the bills started to come due for the war in Iraq and, when the U.S. couldn't pay those bills, the entire financial system came grinding to a near halt, taking much of the world with it. Whether or not that's an accurate estimation is debatable. What is not debatable is that George W. Bush's foolishness cause the U.S. to nearly abdicate its role as a leader in world affairs. Prior to the War on Terror, "when the U.S. spoke, people listened," to paraphrase an old commercial. Now, most countries seem to treat the U.S. like the doddering old uncle who used to be something back when photographs were still only black and white. And, yes, Osama bin Laden is dead and his body is fish food, but Al-Qaeda is alive and well as the news continues to report.

One of the bitterest ironies to me is that 9/11 potentially could have been completely averted years before. President Clinton tried to get a legal declaration of war against Al-Qaeda following the 1998 bombings of several overseas embassies. Congress fought him on that declaration, choosing instead to spend $60 million to focus on a 20 year old land deal called Whitewater, irrelevant firings in the White House travel office, and finally determining that Clinton was getting a little side action from an intern. Many of those who wanted Clinton out of office were the same who bemoaned the lost days of JFK's Camelot. Well, the conveniently forgot that Camelot included the king chasing everything in a skirt. But it was "wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more" in 1963 and "Crucify him!" 35 years later.