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9 11 Synthetic Terror Made in USA - Amazon Noir

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Page 36<br />

9/<strong>11</strong> <strong>Synthetic</strong> <strong>Terror</strong>: <strong>Made</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>USA</strong> war be<strong>in</strong>g fought aga<strong>in</strong>st real and<br />

formidable enemies, why was it not possible now? Pro-Bush spokesmen were<br />

forced <strong>in</strong>to such contortions as argu<strong>in</strong>g that the current situation was<br />

<strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itely more dangerous than any moment of World War II, or of the<br />

Cold War. For those who remembered the Cuban missile crisis, when one<br />

hundred million Americans might have died <strong>in</strong> the first hour of a nuclear<br />

exchange, these notions were patently absurd. Alarmed by the threat of a<br />

rapid and credible <strong>in</strong>vestigation be<strong>in</strong>g raised by the agitation of<br />

Torricelli and a small group of like-m<strong>in</strong>ded senators, Bush took the<br />

highly unusual step of ask<strong>in</strong>g House and Senate leaders to limit the<br />

<strong>in</strong>quiry to the House and Senate <strong>in</strong>telligence committees, whose<br />

proceed<strong>in</strong>gs are generally secret. Senate Democratic leaders wanted a<br />

broader <strong>in</strong>vestigation, <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g some committees that would be free to<br />

air their f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs. But even the Democrats had already narrowed the<br />

focus to <strong>in</strong>telligence failures preced<strong>in</strong>g the terrorist attacks. In<br />

rul<strong>in</strong>g out any serious probes, Bush attempted to wrap himself <strong>in</strong> the<br />

banner of military necessity <strong>in</strong> the prosecution of his alleged war on<br />

terror; a senior adm<strong>in</strong>istration official said, "The president th<strong>in</strong>ks<br />

it's important for Congress to review events <strong>in</strong> a way that does not<br />

unduly burden the defense and <strong>in</strong>telligence communities as they are still<br />

charged with fight<strong>in</strong>g a war." Bush made this request of Senate Majority<br />

Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD) dur<strong>in</strong>g a breakfast meet<strong>in</strong>g with<br />

congressional leaders. Daschle told reporters that Cheney had "expressed<br />

the concern that a review of what happened on September <strong>11</strong> would take<br />

resources and personnel away from the effort <strong>in</strong> the war on terrorism."<br />

Daschle said he agreed with the demand by Bush and Cheney to "to limit<br />

the scope and the overall review of what happened." In other words, the<br />

supposed opposition was agree<strong>in</strong>g that there was no need to prove the US<br />

government's official version of events. What were they hid<strong>in</strong>g? ("Bush<br />

Seeks To Restrict Hill 9/<strong>11</strong> Probes, Intelligence Panels' Secrecy Is<br />

Favored," Wash<strong>in</strong>gton Post, January 30, 2002) The milquetoast Daschle was<br />

a poor substitute for a real opposition leader. His capitulation on the<br />

board of <strong>in</strong>quiry issue set the tone for a series of Democratic Party<br />

surrenders that lasted for the duration of 2002, and which <strong>in</strong>cluded<br />

abdicat<strong>in</strong>g to Bush the constitutional monopoly of the Congress on the<br />

power to declare war. And what happened to Torricelli? He was owed much<br />

by his party. As head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,<br />

he was often given credit for the 2000 election victories that brought<br />

Senate Democrats from 45 seats to 50. Soon after that, he became the<br />

target of corruption charges regard<strong>in</strong>g his campaign f<strong>in</strong>ances and gifts<br />

he had allegedly accepted. For years, he had been profiled as a severe<br />

critic of the <strong>in</strong>telligence agencies. In January 2002, Torricelli<br />

supporters hailed US Attorney Mary Jo White's decision not to pursue<br />

prosecution of Torricelli for accept<strong>in</strong>g illegal gifts as a v<strong>in</strong>dication.<br />

But even on that occasion, the New York Times kept up the pressure for<br />

Torricelli to be skewered, argu<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> an editorial that "the allegations<br />

aga<strong>in</strong>st Mr. Torricelli are serious and cry out for prompt <strong>in</strong>vestigation<br />

and resolution <strong>in</strong> a manner worthy of

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