Ah, heck -- if they want to settle things once and for all, why don't they just blame me - the American citizen?
Even
I knew about the threat of hijackers when I was teenager. Whenever I'd hear the word "terrorist" in the 80's, I'd think about the news footage of the hijacker (Libyan? Lebanese? can't remember), sticking his head out of the cockpit window, waving his gun, while the plane was sitting on the runway.
9/11 was not the FIRST time we were attacked, but it was certainly the most severe. And it's not the first time we'd heard of planes being used as weapons (remember Kamikaze fighters?). It wasn't even the first time I'd ever heard about the Taliban. In my sociology class, we had been talking about the Christian missionaries being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan. My instructor said that different cultures have different rules and that the girls should have known not to go and try to preach Christianity in a country that is ruled by radical Muslim extremists because there is no freedom of religion there.
I'm sure our intelligence guys were trying everything possible to figure out what they were hearing and reading in those days, weeks, and years pre-9/11. I'm certain they had been following this stuff for years and trying desperately to understand who was doing what and planning what. But IMO, I believe that NO one knew the exact details of
when and where, except for those who were carrying out and/or supporting the attacks. If anyone DID know, I'm sure they would have done everything in their power to warn us and stop them.
However, we ALL knew they were capable of attacking us because they've done it before. So if anyone wants to know who had knowledge about the possibility of attacks, they can come talk to me. Leave W and his crew alone to do what they do best.
