TailOverTeaKettle.com

So the 9/11 Commission has finished the second day of public testimony from key administration officials. And the centerpiece, according to the media, was the testimony of Richard Clarke. One can argue that both days were really about Richard Clarke, because the parties involved had to start by reacting to Clarke’s 60 Minutes accusations from his new book.

Clarke started the day by serving up some lobs for the headline writers to use:

Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And I failed you. We tried hard. But that doesn’t matter, because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness.

I’ve said before that I believe that the hearings should be held behind closed doors, not to hide information, but rather to keep this from becoming a platform for sound bites and strange testimony. We shouldn’t have to worry about it possibly being perverted into a book promotion opportunity. Someone could ask Mr. Clarke why he repeatedly stated the opposite position he now seems to take (Transcript: Clarke Praises Bush Team in ‘02). Is he an opportunist, a liar, a misunderstood genius, or someone who will say whatever he thinks you want to hear? (And where have we seen that lately).

This should not be about trying to assign blame, either to the 8 months of the Bush Administration prior to 9/11 or the 8 years of the Clinton Administration prior to Bush. It’s not a singular action that ‘allowed’ 9/11 to occur. It’s about intelligence, how it’s gathered, analyzed, and acted upon. It’s about how we react to more than just isolated instances, but no one can ignore that our reaction to the USS Cole, Embassy Bombings, and the first World Trade Center bombing must have provided encouragement. The international reaction to events of this type has to be considered, including how we effectively deal with state-sponsored terrorism. Revisionist history is trying, right before our eyes, to rewrite the role of Iraq to somehow twist this into an empire-building exercise. But Iraq, like Afganistan before it, served notice to states. Is this the end - certainly not - but it’s not time to lose our nerve.

So this Commission can help. Maybe not help the families of the victims of that day. Maybe not help a particular political candidate get their next slogan for a campaign commercial. Certainly shouldn’t be helping a mid-level administrator from getting rich on a book deal, even if they have to make things up. But it should help us understand our current environment, our failings leading up to that day, and appropriate ways to act in this new world.

Days like 9/11 do not just happen and then go away. They are not just ‘footnotes in history.’ They have to be chased away.