If Obama was in charge on 9/11

[rightwinger]

In all seriousness if it were up to him alone we wouldn't have done anything.

"I said very early on, as a Senator and continue to believe, as a presidential candidate and now as president, that we can absorb a terrorist attack. We will do everything we can to prevent it. but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever, that ever took place on our soil, we absorbed it, and we are stronger. This is a strong, powerful country that we live in, and our people are incredibly resilient." - B. H. Obama

The Plum Line - Full context of Obama's "absorb a terrorist attack" quote undercuts conservative criticism

so you think the guy who had bin laden killed when baby bush didn't "spend much time thinking about him" would have done nothing?

i suspect he would have done what was necessary instead of committing us to a war that lasted more than a decade and sucked up an awful lot of our wealth... maybe irrevocably.

Obama is on record saying if there was another 911-style attack we would be able to absorb it and move on. So if an attack happened today he said he wouldn't do anything, what makes you think would have done something in 2001?

And don't talk to me about how supportive he was on the war in Afghanistan. He wanted to prove he wasn't going to be a weak president so he supported the war, did the serge as president, and subsequently never spoke about Afghanistan ever again. He never believed in that war.

Interesting....you wouldn't happen to have a link on that would ya?

 

[Rocko]

so you think the guy who had bin laden killed when baby bush didn't "spend much time thinking about him" would have done nothing?

i suspect he would have done what was necessary instead of committing us to a war that lasted more than a decade and sucked up an awful lot of our wealth... maybe irrevocably.

Obama is on record saying if there was another 911-style attack we would be able to absorb it and move on. So if an attack happened today he said he wouldn't do anything, what makes you think would have done something in 2001?

And don't talk to me about how supportive he was on the war in Afghanistan. He wanted to prove he wasn't going to be a weak president so he supported the war, did the serge as president, and subsequently never spoke about Afghanistan ever again. He never believed in that war.

Interesting....you wouldn't happen to have a link on that would ya?

Post 151

 

[Harry Dresden]

Obama is on record saying if there was another 911-style attack we would be able to absorb it and move on. So if an attack happened today he said he wouldn't do anything, what makes you think would have done something in 2001?

And don't talk to me about how supportive he was on the war in Afghanistan. He wanted to prove he wasn't going to be a weak president so he supported the war, did the serge as president, and subsequently never spoke about Afghanistan ever again. He never believed in that war.

Interesting....you wouldn't happen to have a link on that would ya?

Post 151

i dont see how you are saying that says he would not retaliate....i think he is saying this Country is strong enough to survive if we are hit again....we did after 9/11 in spite of how Bush handled it.....i cant see how if there is another 9/11,how ANYONE who is President at the time would just shrug it off and just shake a fist and say...."why i oughta"....they would have to respond with some kind of force....

 

[Rocko]

Interesting....you wouldn't happen to have a link on that would ya?

Post 151

i dont see how you are saying that says he would not retaliate....i think he is saying this Country is strong enough to survive if we are hit again....we did after 9/11 in spite of how Bush handled it.....i cant see how if there is another 9/11,how ANYONE who is President at the time would just shrug it off and just shake a fist and say...."why i oughta"....they would have to respond with some kind of force....

He made the distinction between a terrorist attack like 911 and a nuclear attack. Why? He was obviously saying we need to take action on the nuclear attack and we can just absorb the terrorist attack.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Post 151

i dont see how you are saying that says he would not retaliate....i think he is saying this Country is strong enough to survive if we are hit again....we did after 9/11 in spite of how Bush handled it.....i cant see how if there is another 9/11,how ANYONE who is President at the time would just shrug it off and just shake a fist and say...."why i oughta"....they would have to respond with some kind of force....

He made the distinction between a terrorist attack like 911 and a nuclear attack. Why? He was obviously saying we need to take action on the nuclear attack and we can just absorb the terrorist attack.

like i said....i think he would have to respond with force after another major attack.....i cant see how he or anyone else can not respond.... the Country would demand they do something....

 

[Rocko]

i dont see how you are saying that says he would not retaliate....i think he is saying this Country is strong enough to survive if we are hit again....we did after 9/11 in spite of how Bush handled it.....i cant see how if there is another 9/11,how ANYONE who is President at the time would just shrug it off and just shake a fist and say...."why i oughta"....they would have to respond with some kind of force....

He made the distinction between a terrorist attack like 911 and a nuclear attack. Why? He was obviously saying we need to take action on the nuclear attack and we can just absorb the terrorist attack.

like i said....i think he would have to respond with force after another major attack.....i cant see how he or anyone else can not respond.... the Country would demand they do something....

That's true. No telling if he would be willing to pay the political price for inaction. I do believe if it was up to him and there were no repercussions politically then he wouldn't act.

 

[hipeter924]

Issue a harshly worded condemnation and threaten sanctions on the opium trade.
Praise the 19 hijackers for bravely protesting failed republican foreign policy.
Call upon the UN to sing Kumbaya and demand an end to Israeli Apartied.
Demand Al-Queda lay down it's soviet arms in exchange for better NATO weapons.
Ban Airplanes from being flown by unlicensed pilots, and regulate the manufacture of new ones.
Send the EPA to Kabul and test water quality.
Lob some bombs into AFG arbitrarily and declare victory.
Send in a small force to to defeat the National Alliance so the Taliban might arrest OBL.
Send in a small force to coordinate airstrikes to help the National Alliance unseat the Taliban.
The same thing Bush did.

None of the above.

 

[JimH52]

You are a hopeless Hack.

The one thing he would not have done was invade the wrong country and send nearly a Billion Dollars on an illegal and ill advised war.

 

[eagle7_31]

The war for women.

Iraqi women used to be able to walk down the street looking like this:

and this:

Now they need to be escorted by a male relative or they can be raped and they need to dress like this:

And ignorant right wingers who believe the earth is 6,000 years old and science is a faith, believe that because women put up a purple finger they are now "free". Right wingers sit in front of the Internet. They could find out all about Iraq but won't be cause they can't face their horrible fuck up that ruined a country. Remember, the Iraqi's never asked to be liberated. And if right wingers really cared, then where are the more than a million Christians who fled Iraq? They didn't come here. The reason right wingers kept them from coming here is because it would have been an admission of FAILURE.

Another legend in their own mind heard from. Science is a faith? What part of your backside did you pull that nonsense from?

 

[AmericanFirst]

You are a hopeless Hack.

The one thing he would not have done was invade the wrong country and send nearly a Billion Dollars on an illegal and ill advised war.

At least Bush got rid of a despot. Obamashitforbrains let four Americans die at the hands of al queda and ignored it. Bush was better at everything over shit for brains in office now.

 

[AmericanFirst]

The war for women.

Iraqi women used to be able to walk down the street looking like this:

and this:

Now they need to be escorted by a male relative or they can be raped and they need to dress like this:

And ignorant right wingers who believe the earth is 6,000 years old and science is a faith, believe that because women put up a purple finger they are now "free". Right wingers sit in front of the Internet. They could find out all about Iraq but won't be cause they can't face their horrible fuck up that ruined a country. Remember, the Iraqi's never asked to be liberated. And if right wingers really cared, then where are the more than a million Christians who fled Iraq? They didn't come here. The reason right wingers kept them from coming here is because it would have been an admission of FAILURE.

Another legend in their own mind heard from. Science is a faith? What part of your backside did you pull that nonsense from?

Couldn't be his brain, his head is still stuck up his arse.

 

[eagle7_31]

You are a hopeless Hack.

The one thing he would not have done was invade the wrong country and send nearly a Billion Dollars on an illegal and ill advised war.

At least Bush got rid of a despot. Obamashitforbrains let four Americans die at the hands of al queda and ignored it. Bush was better at everything over shit for brains in office now.

Bush's mistake was with the occupation, trying to turn Iraq into something its not. After deposing Saddam, Bush should have left the Iraq military in charge with financial and tech support. Elements in Iraq who are anti Iran should have been left in charge.

 

[AmericanFirst]

You are a hopeless Hack.

The one thing he would not have done was invade the wrong country and send nearly a Billion Dollars on an illegal and ill advised war.

At least Bush got rid of a despot. Obamashitforbrains let four Americans die at the hands of al queda and ignored it. Bush was better at everything over shit for brains in office now.

Bush's mistake was with the occupation, trying to turn Iraq into something its not. After deposing Saddam, Bush should have left the Iraq military in charge with financial and tech support. Elements in Iraq who are anti Iran should have been left in charge.

Iraq was far from ready to take over themselves.

 

[KissMy]

MAY 1998: Clinton appoints “counter-terrorism czar” Richard Clarke. After bin Laden’s fatwa, Clinton appoints Richard Clarke to head a cross-agency Counter-terrorism Security Group, and gives him a seat at the Cabinet-level Principals Committee. [9/11 Commission Report]

JUNE 8, 1998: Grand Jury indicts Bin Laden. He’s charged with “conspiracy to attack defense utilities of the United States.” [PBS]

AUGUST 12, 1998: Two simultaneous explosions at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. [PBS]

AUGUST 20, 1998: Clinton orders missile attack in Sudan, narrowly misses Bin Laden. “The most dramatic attempt to kill bin Laden occurred in August 1998, when Clinton ordered a Tomahawk cruise missile attack on bin Laden’s suspected training camps in Afghanistan in response to the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Clinton approved the cruise missile attack recommended by his advisers, and on Aug. 20, 1998, 66 cruise missiles rained down on the training camps. An additional 13 missiles were fired at a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan that the Clinton administration believed was a chemical weapons factory associated with bin Laden.” [Washington Post]

SEPTEMBER 1998: CIA beings secret effort with Pakistani intelligence to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The CIA trained and equipped 60 comandos from the Pakistani intelligence agency. [Washington Post]

NOVEMBER 1998: Clinton authorizes covert action against Bin Laden and al Qaeda. In addition to a secret “finding” to authorize covert action, Clinton signed three highly classified Memoranda of Notification expanding the available tools. Clinton authorized killing instead of capturing bin Laden, then added several of al Qaeda’s senior lieutenants, and finally approved the shooting down of private civilian aircraft on which they flew. The Clinton administration ordered the Navy to maintain two Los-Angeles class attack submarines on permanent station in the nearest available waters, enabling the U.S. military to place Tomahawk cruise missiles on any target in Afghanistan within about six hours of receiving the order. [Washington Post]

OCTOBER 12, 1999: Joint effort with Pakistani government to capture Bin Laden aborted with the overthrow of then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. [Washington Post]

JANUARY 2000: Mihdhar and Hazmi both traveled to Los Angeles and then moved to San Diego, where they associated with a subject of an FBI investigation and also lived with a long-time FBI asset. Intelligence information developed by the CIA had already revealed that Mihdhar was a suspected al Qaeda operative. [Justice.gov]

MARCH 5, 2000: CIA Bangkok Station reported to CIA that terrorist Mihdhar and Hazmi had arrived in Los Angeles. The CIA monitored a meeting of top Al Qaeda operatives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and then followed Khalid Al Mihdhar and Nawaf Al HazmiKhalid into the USA where they became lead hijackers of Flight 77. George Tenet, Cofer Black, Richard Blee & 48 other CIA officers all knew that the 9/11 hijacking al Qaeda terrorists were in the USA & where they were staying. [Justice.gov]

OCTOBER 12, 2000: U.S.S. Cole bombed.

NOVEMBER 2000: Sandy Berger tells his successor Condoleezza Rice “she’d be spending more time on terrorism and al Qaeda than any other issue.” [CNN]

LATE DECEMBER 2000: FBI & CIA source linked Hazmi and Mihdhar to the mastermind of the USS Cole attack. [Justice.gov]

JANUARY 25, 2001: Clarke memo to Bush Admin "Policy Initiative The Al-Qaeda Network" Attached was Clinton's comprehensive strategy to destroy Al Qaeda. Clarke wrote "Al Qaeda is not some narrow, little terrorist issue that needs to be included in broader regional policy." Al Qaeda is a large powerful network that comprehensive multi-regional policy must focus on & plan around. Key decisions must be made now concerning covert aid to keep the Northern Alliance alive when fighting began again in Afghanistan in the spring, and covert aid to the Uzbeks. Decisions should be made soon on messages to the Taliban and Pakistan over the al Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan, on possible new money for CIA operations, and on "when and how to respond to the attack on the USS Cole." Al Qaeda affects our policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Africa, Central Asia, Morocco, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Islam, Muslim World. The strength of the Al Qaeda Network destabilizes & limits the support from friendly Arab regimes. We would make a major error if we underestimate the challenge Al Qaeda poses. [Clarke Memo 1/25/2001]

JANUARY 2001: Condoleezza Rice demotes terrorism czar Richard Clarke out of Cabinet access. [9/11 Commission Report]

JANUARY 2001: During Bush’s first week in office, Richard Clarke requests cabinet level meeting on al Qaeda and Bin Laden. His request was denied. He did not get it - or permission to brief the president directly on the threat - for nearly eight months. [Washington Post]

JANUARY 29, 2001: 9 days after Bush was inaugurated Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil reports that “going after Saddam Huissein was Topic A.” [CBS News]

FEBRUARY 2001: CIA and FBI finally certify that al Qaeda was responsible for Cole Bombings. [Bill Clinton, Fox News]

MARCH 2001: “Federal Aviation officials reviewed dozens of intelligence reports that warned about Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, some of which specifically discussed airline hijackings and suicide operations"...“Federal Aviation Administration, despite being focused on risks of hijackings overseas, warned airports in the spring of 2001 that if ‘the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable.’ "

The FAA had indeed considered the possibility that terrorists would hijack a plane and use it as a weapon. The FAA distributed a CD-ROM presentation to airlines and airports that "cited the possibility of a suicide hijacking" Aviation officials amassed so much information about the growing threat posed by terrorists that they conducted classified briefings for security officials at 19 of the nation's busiest airports to warn of the threat posed in particular by Mr. bin Laden, the report said." [NYT]

APRIL 2001: Bush administration finally has deputy-level cabinet meeting on al Qeada. Clarke writes, the meeting “did not go well.” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, scowled and asked, “why we are beginning by talking about this one man, bin Laden.” When Clarke told him no foe but al Qaeda “poses an immediate and serious threat to the United States,” Wolfowitz said that "Iraqi terrorism posed at least as much of a danger." FBI and CIA representatives backed Clarke in saying they had no such evidence. [Washington Post]

MAY 1, 2001: The CIA Tenet & Black report to the White House stated “a group presently in the United States” was planning a terrorist operation. They asked for CIA authority to attack Al Qaeda & Bin Laden but Bush would not grant it. [NYT, CBS 60 Minutes & Tenet's Book]

JUNE 22, 2001: The presidents daily brief reported that Qaeda strikes could be “imminent” although intelligence suggested the time frame was flexible. Neoconservative leaders at Pentagon were warning the White House that the C.I.A. had been fooled; Bin Laden was merely pretending to be planning an attack to distract the administration from Saddam Hussein, who is a greater threat. Intelligence officials protested that the idea of Bin Laden, an Islamic fundamentalist, conspiring with Mr. Hussein, an Iraqi secularist, was ridiculous, but the neoconservatives’ suspicions were nevertheless carrying the day. [NYT]

MAY 29, 2001: Four Bin Laden followers found guilty of murder at trial. Four followers of Osama bin Laden are found guilty of charges stemming from the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, and Wadih El Hage are convicted of charges including murder, conspiracy and perjury after a nine-week federal trial during which prosecutors called over 90 witnesses, including al Qaeda informants and survivors of the bombings. Owhali and Mohamed face the death penalty at their sentencing, while Odeh and El Hage face life in prison. [PBS]

JUNE 29, 2001: Bush receives Presidential Daiy Brief entitled “The U.S. is not the target of a disinformation campaign by Usama Bin Laden” the document recited much of the evidence, including an interview that month with a Middle Eastern journalist in which Bin Laden aides warned of a coming attack, as well as competitive pressures that the terrorist leader was feeling, given the number of Islamists being recruited for the separatist Russian region of Chechnya. [NYT]

JUNE 2001: Bush give speech to NATO allies on top five defense issues, and the “only reference to extremists was in Macedonia.” [Washington Post]

JULY 9, 2001: The C.I.A. repeated the warnings in the briefs that followed June 29 2001. Operatives connected to Bin Laden, expected the planned near-term attacks to have “dramatic consequences,” including major casualties... Yet, the White House failed to take significant action. Officials at the Counter-terrorism Center of the C.I.A. grew apoplectic. On July 9, at a meeting of the counter-terrorism group, one official suggested that the staff put in for a transfer so that somebody else would be responsible when the attack took place, two people who were there told me in interviews. The suggestion was batted down, they said, because there would be no time to train anyone else. [NYT]

JULY 10, 2001: Cofer Black and George Tenet met with Condoleezza Rice to inform her about communications intercepts and other top-secret intelligence showing the increasing likelihood that al-Qaeda would soon attack the United States. They asked for CIA authority to attack Al Qaeda & Bin Laden but Bush would not grant it. Rice listened but was unconvinced, having other priorities on which to focus. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld questioned the information suggesting it was a deception meant to gauge the U.S. response. [Washington Post, CBS 60 Minutes & Tenet's Book]

AUGUST 6, 2001: Bush receives Presidential Daiy Brief entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike U.S.” FBI information indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York. [National Archive]

SEPTEMBER 4, 2001: 8 months after Clarke demands Comprehensive Strategy to Fight Al-Qaeda, Bush finally holds the principals meeting to concoct an Al Qaeda strategy.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2001: Russian President Putin calls President Bush & says he is worried that Al Qaeda has just started it's international plot for a major attack.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: Al-Qaeda attacks reach the USA. Prior to this attack Bush knew Who, What, Where. When, Why & How the attack would happen. Bush thought Bin Laden was bluffing to distract him from Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

 

[rdean]

like i said Dean you have your head so far up the Democrats collective asses you cant even answer a rhetorical question.....the reason?....because you will not say...."yea i would have questioned him and would have been against him on that".....thats all you had to say....like i have said.....you cannot and will not, question something the Democrats do or say,even if you are against it....you just cant do it....what i said in my previous post stands...

You don't seem to want to question Republicans. And they have so much more material to work with. The GOP actually want to screw over veterans, the middle class and minorities. Democrats don't.

You don't seem to want to question Republicans

then you dont pay attention do ya?.....i have many posts in here saying Republicans are assholes,many of me saying that especially of the Far Right......i have also been called a "lefturd" by a few Righties here and have been negged by them.....i have been on the opposing side in threads on Unions,health care,and Med.Pot and a few other things.....have you ever opposed the Lefties here on ANYTHING?...

The GOP actually want to screw over veterans

unlike you i have said that both sides have done a half-assed job taken care of these people....unless its election time,then it seems they all care.....you are way to controlled to even hint that the Democrats are not any better.....

Democrats don't.

is that what they told you?....did you question that?....well i sure as hell did,out here Gov Brown's first budget did every thing that you claimed the Democrats dont do.....when i posted that....at your and Luddies request....you guys left the thread.....i wonder why?....even with his latest budget the Handicapped and Elders will still be hurting....i know hard to believe.....i was shocked too....

Why do you care? Remember, Reagan simply released thousands of mentally ill people right out into the street.

GOP Gov Reagan kicked the mentally ill out into the street

Republicans will fuck people over and their excuse is "but Democrats do it". Clearly, they don't have any morals or ethics beyond what they imagine the Democrats have.

 

[Vigilante]

 

[KissMy]

Bush thought Bin Laden was bluffing to distract US from Iraq. His administration did nothing to Al Qaeda or Bin Laden prior to 9/11/2001. Then Bush let Bin Laden escape & said he didn't care about Bin Laden.

Obama has been kicking terrorist asses from day one just as he said he would.

Candidate Obama 2007 debate - “What I have said is we're going to encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.”

Obama has killed more Al Qaeda than Bush, & has done it with fewer civilian casualties.

 

[Claudette]

I just thank the Good Lord that asshole wasn't the POTUS on 9-11 and Bush was.

Bush was the right man in the right place at the right time.

As to what Obama would have done? Who knows.

Go on another apoloty tour??

Lob a few missles somewhere?

Got to the UN for sanctions against somebody?

Who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares? Just thank God he wasn't POTUS.

 

[hipeter924]

Bush thought Bin Laden was bluffing to distract US from Iraq. His administration did nothing to Al Qaeda or Bin Laden prior to 9/11/2001. Then Bush let Bin Laden escape & said he didn't care about Bin Laden.

Obama has been kicking terrorist asses from day one just as he said he would.

Candidate Obama 2007 debate - “What I have said is we're going to encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.”

Obama has killed more Al Qaeda than Bush, & has done it with fewer civilian casualties.

Bush invaded Iraq to take their oil, after Bush Sr his father had destroyed much of the civilian infrastructure, irradiated the country with depleted uranium shells, and left Saddam in power to genocide his people and terrorize them.

Bush Jr had no justification to invade Iraq, so he made up WMDs. Now hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians later, Iraq is struggling to defeat the terrorists Bush Jr created. Mission Accomplished if it was to destroy a sovereign nation and steal its oil, a failure if it wasn't.

 

[Harry Dresden]

You don't seem to want to question Republicans. And they have so much more material to work with. The GOP actually want to screw over veterans, the middle class and minorities. Democrats don't.

You don't seem to want to question Republicans

then you dont pay attention do ya?.....i have many posts in here saying Republicans are assholes,many of me saying that especially of the Far Right......i have also been called a "lefturd" by a few Righties here and have been negged by them.....i have been on the opposing side in threads on Unions,health care,and Med.Pot and a few other things.....have you ever opposed the Lefties here on ANYTHING?...

The GOP actually want to screw over veterans

unlike you i have said that both sides have done a half-assed job taken care of these people....unless its election time,then it seems they all care.....you are way to controlled to even hint that the Democrats are not any better.....

Democrats don't.

is that what they told you?....did you question that?....well i sure as hell did,out here Gov Brown's first budget did every thing that you claimed the Democrats dont do.....when i posted that....at your and Luddies request....you guys left the thread.....i wonder why?....even with his latest budget the Handicapped and Elders will still be hurting....i know hard to believe.....i was shocked too....

Why do you care? Remember, Reagan simply released thousands of mentally ill people right out into the street.

GOP Gov Reagan kicked the mentally ill out into the street

Republicans will fuck people over and their excuse is "but Democrats do it". Clearly, they don't have any morals or ethics beyond what they imagine the Democrats have.

what the fuck does that have to do with what i said?....you just dont like answering questions that are aimed at you do ya?.....your problem Dean is you feel if both Parties are doing the same fucking over of the people,the Democrats have a perfectly reasonable reason why they are doing it,but the Republicans are only doing to fuck people over,EVEN THOUGH,they may give the same reasons....its called an Obsession,its a mental disorder that can lead to more serious problems.....dishonesty is one.....