Bill Moyers Journal: And now, a few words from our producers...

Below are a few comments from 9/11: FOR THE RECORD producers Sherry Jones and Bill Moyers and reporter Andrew Meier which were originally published 9.10.2004 alongside the premiere of the film. Please share your thoughts below.

CIRCLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
By Andrew Meier, Sherry Jones and Bill Moyers

It has taken three years for the details of the terrorist plot of 9/11 to emerge. The fateful turns that led to the attacks have finally entered the public discourse. Their lessons, however, have yet to be learned.
The first lesson is that the highest officials in government did not want us to know the truth.

They already had the story they wanted Americans to believe: Nearly 3,000 people had died, we were assured, because the terrorists turned our liberties against us, had brazenly exploited our open society. According to this official view, the atrocities were inevitable, the plot so diabolical and its execution so precise that only a superhero could have prevented it.

It sounded right. For the American people, the terror seemed to have fallen out of that near-perfect September sky, out of the clear blue.

We now know otherwise. The report of the 9/11 Commission lays the story bare in exhaustive, forensic detail, and on page 265 concludes that the terrorists “exploited deep institutional failings within our government.”

That is not the whole truth. What are institutions if not the lengthened influence of individuals? “The system failed” is the catchphrase now in vogue in Washington. Critics and fans alike of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush still rely on this hollow analysis. But “the system” is no mindless mechanism operating independently of the men and women individuals with names, power, and obligations who are charged with making it work. Before “the system” can fail, they must fail.

The Commissioners avoided blaming any government officials, past or present, for the failure to prevent the attacks. They maintain that their job was not to assign individual blame, but provide the most complete and frank account of the decisive events surrounding the attack. To that end, they succeeded. But to stop there is to stop short. Read the final report of the Commission carefully — connect the dots — and a fuller pattern emerges: Key government officials failed the system, and they failed the American people.

Judges and social workers talk of the “circle of accountability.” The 9/11 Commission was indeed an historic undertaking. Yet in spreading the blame as broadly as it possibly could, the Commissioners, rather than enlarging that circle, have all but closed it. Americans deserve better than to allow accountability to be passed off as a mere abstraction; they should know where the buck stops. The nearly 3,000 men and women who died on 9/11 deserve better, too. It will not bring them back to hold accountable the particular officials in high office who could have acted and did not. But it will assure that they did not die in vain.

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Comments

That URL (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5197) is not mine, but one that just posted big thing about Sibel Edmonds, purporting that she's now willing to name names. Sounds like grandstanding to me, but maybe, since she was on your show, you could find out if it's for real? Thanks.

Posted by: perplexed | October 29, 2007 7:42 PM

If a SINGLE EXPLOSION could bring a building STRAIGHT DOWN... like on 911... then demo companies would be using that technique to bring down all buildings. They could save money using a single explosion, right? Reason with your brain, not their lies.

Posted by: crimson | October 1, 2007 1:21 PM

Bill i look forward to your reporting on this story if you have guts enough to do it. Jesse Adam Macbeth (b. Jesse Adam Al-Zaid,[1] in 1984) falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger and veteran of the Iraq War. You love to investagate. let see what you do with this story. Although i already know what you will do. Look the other way and be dishonest with your career.

Posted by: david | September 28, 2007 9:46 PM

Ken, I think you hit the nail on the head. And in addition to whatever is in those 28 pages, which people can read about here: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=ackermanjudis080103 Consider all of this evidence implicating the Saudis: http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com I don' buy into most of the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, since they seem both extreme and unfounded to me. But what is crystal clear is that: 1. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the engine which is driving the ideology of global jihadism, of which Al Qaeda is only a part; and 2. The Bush administration is actively using the power of the Presidency to cover that fact up. Nothing demonstrates the second point like those 28 pages.

Posted by: Bill in Chicago | September 28, 2007 6:30 PM

What about the 28 pages that were redacted to "avoid embarrassing" the Saudis ? When our government hides information like this, I have to assume there's a conspiracy. What am I supposed to do ? Trust them ?

Posted by: Ken Green | September 28, 2007 5:56 PM

Like many others, I am disappointed and rather surprised this is not available on this site. I am not able to watch the show live, and depend on it being available here. I would not question your integrity. Some have reported the program is very 'vanilla' and essentially follows the established story line. It makes me wonder if much of what you wanted to report is 'on the cutting room floor'? Maybe we shall learn the answer from your memoirs.

Posted by: Steve McPherson | September 24, 2007 10:25 PM

GOOD EVIDENCE and NONSENSE Yes, there was complicity. But most of the links listed by the posters promote websites mixing truth and nonsense. The plane crashes at the Pentagon and World Trade Center were not faked - this hoax has been debunked by countless people, including 9/11 "truth" activists. http://www.oilempire.us/pentagon-truth.html shows that the best writers and investigators in the 9/11 "truth" movement long ago dismissed the "faked plane crashes" as nonsense. It is disinformation that distracts from very solid evidence such as suppressed warnings from US allies and the "plane into building" exercise in Virginia during 9/11. The core of the case of complicity has nothing to do with the WTC collapses. Fantastical claims about demolition which lack solid evidence are beloved by the media - since it allows them to avoid asking questions about who was really Commander in Chief when Bush read to second graders? It would be nice to see Paul Thompson or John Judge invited onto PBS to talk about these issues, since they've done incredible research on the timelines of 9/11. But it would be very surprising to see that happen. (David Ray Griffin, on the other hand, is a theologian not skilled at investigative...

Posted by: mark robinowitz | September 23, 2007 7:08 AM

Bill Moyers, I am so disappointed in you. You know better than to just take the official version and report it as fact. I can't believe you just replayed the official version, again, in 2007. The evidence is overwhelming: 9/11 was extensively planned, militarily executed (under the cover of doppelgänger exercises), and industrially covered-up—by elements in our government, with help from Marvin Bush, Larry Silverstein, and Pakistan’s ISI. The official story is completely implausible and scientifically impossible from a number of different standpoints. For example, an objective look at the evidence reveals beyond a reasonable doubt that the three “collapsed” World Trade Center buildings were brought down by controlled demolition, using thermate, and that our air defenses were actively disabled by Dick Cheney. (Note also that the demolition of WTC7 destroyed thousands of corruption cases, including on the seventy-billion-dollar Enron California electricity scandal.) What is also revealed is how controlled our corporate mass media is and the depth of the propaganda spewing from it. Pentagon war planners publicly admit that 90% of their battle plans are psychological, and the Bush Administration spent almost a billion dollars a year paying off reporters, TV stations, and newspapers. The effect has been horrific...

Posted by: Bret | September 22, 2007 8:33 PM

Hello Bill, How curious that this particular documentary is not available for post viewing. My immediate reaction was suspicion; however, in reading the messages from my fellow viewers it appears that I did not miss anything. In fact, I thank you for sparing me from the anger that I certainly would have felt realizing your betrayal of the truth behind 9-11. There is no event more sensitive to our government than the 9-11 tragedy. They have maximized it as their quintessential excuse for war yet cower from it when asked to help us understand how it came to be. Anyone having the courage to analyze the facts with an open mind will clearly see the deception behind our government’s pathetic and simple-minded conspiracy theory. The only question that remains for me is why? What was our government’s degree of complicity in this dastardly act of terrorism that killed nearly 3000 innocent citizens on American soil? I will not rest until 9-11 is redressed by our government. Our country needs to heal, denying the truth is tearing us apart. God bless us all.

Posted by: Charles Goyette | September 19, 2007 1:21 AM

About the 9/11 show: You didn't mention that the alleged Al Qaeda drug factory Clinton bombed in 1998 was actually a pharmaceutical factory.

Posted by: Corwin Haught | September 18, 2007 5:20 PM

I have little faith that anyone will read this comment - especially anyone from THE JOURNAL! BUT, here goes - I was SO disappointed in your re-showing of FOR THE RECORD - because you did not update it with newer facts! Just as you did not mention dennis Kucinich's HRes 333 on the impeachment journal. I just cannot believe that you, John Nichols and Bruce Fein were uninformed! In the same way, you MUST know of later and better facts about 911. WHY, WHY, WHY did you mislead? Sincerely, mary lasley

Posted by: mary lasley | September 18, 2007 4:27 PM

hey, mr. moyers and the journal folks. i am a huge advocate of your work and i appreciate your consideration of these un-addressed 9/11 issues. But you gotta post the show. please. whats the deal. who said you can't post it and why? im counting on yous guys. also, all these alleged wing-nuts below me who saw the show seem to think you laid-down on this issue and i gotta say i'm pretty bummed. i have opinions and theories and some facts about the actual occurances, but i give way to your expertise in the matters of journalism to get to the bottom of this malarky we are being fed by our government and the red media so that we, the masses, can make our informed decisions. i thank you again for your important work.

Posted by: chris gould | September 17, 2007 10:48 PM

Unfortunately..no video streaming loses credibility and viewership; we all can't be waiting by the tv for your excellent products

Posted by: christopher wentworth | September 17, 2007 10:01 PM

Mr. Moyers, Thank you for being one of the few American journalists left on the planet willing to even mention the disturbing questions that remain surrounding 9/11. I am an activist in the 9/11 truth movement in Denver, Colorado. I realize you are perhaps not informed in the specifics about demolitions, building 7, and the overwhelming amount of scientific & political information as well as personal testimony that has been gathering and ignored for years. The 9/11 truth movement is VALID, informed and needs more journalists of courage to step up to the patriotic plate and conduct the duty of the constitution's 4th estate. The 9/11 truth movement remains an elephant in the American room that virtually no one in mainstream media has had the courage to dignify. Last weeks program, though only a re-broadcast, still helps bring attention to the movement. Thank you for showing it. However, it is terribly out of date. The present efforts to suffocate, slander and discredit this movement parallel the propaganda campaigns of war's past; including vietnam, to which I know you retain a deep sense of personal and moral responsibility. I wish to implore you to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider having Dr. David...

Posted by: Chad M Jacobson | September 17, 2007 3:12 PM

"Looks like the drumbeat for a potential war with Iran may have already started...." My GOD, will the world ever learn to take the lessons of the past into the future. It seems that many forces, starting with the US’s change to preemptive foreign policy, to Iraq and Iran throwing down the gauntlet … now even France considering stepping on this band wagon. Where will this lead … WWIII? What a waist of the world’s energy, resources, and human life that would be. Will someone STOP THIS BUS! NOW!

Posted by: MLM | September 17, 2007 11:10 AM

Bill you used your time to re-impress the 9-11 whitewash commission's omissions and distortions of the truth. Why give credence to that which is far from reliable and believable inference? Bill are you just another Texan covering up for the Cheney Bush Crime Syndicate, via the controlled mass media? The 9-11 Commission run by a Bush employee and rabid Neo-Con: Philip Zelikow. Heck, Zelikow wanted to use the 1993 bombing of the WTC to start all out war in the Middle East. You chose to add credence to that circus of deceit. In time we will see your calculations play out: whether the uniformed of your viewers are content with this rehash of failed propaganda or if the more informed of your viewers no longer tune in to a another BushCo production. Repeating lies, doesn't always insure the public will believe.

Posted by: Cozmo K | September 17, 2007 8:08 AM

when will the media even begin to ASK these questions. no one dares and it's scary what has happened to journalism? where has it gone?

Posted by: the real conspiracy | September 17, 2007 12:55 AM

Looks the drumbeat for a potential war with Iran may have already started.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6997935.stm

Posted by: Dasboot | September 16, 2007 11:25 PM

Dear Mr. Moyers , the producers, writers, and other good people involved with the show, I think what you are seeing on this blog is an outpouring of desire to get at the truth of 9/11 and it’s relevance to the current state of affairs around the world and in our own country. I believe, and I suspect that there are millions of similarly minded people around the country, that we are now at a historic point in our representative Democracy as imperfect as it may be, with real dangers to that which constitutes the essence of these United States. As I see it, with the events of the last week, it appears that some of the elites in this country are willing to actually call for a generational war and a permanent occupation of the innocent people of Iraq. In addition, there is the ever present danger of an attack on Iran, possibly even a nuclear attack. Some have suggested that the recent news of a so called mishap involving movement of missiles with nuclear warheads inside, was in fact an intentional leak from the higher ups in the military that something sinister is in the works as far...

Posted by: Dasboot | September 16, 2007 11:14 PM

We expected to hear something new about 9/11 on the September 13 Journal; instead we got a repeat from 2004. Why no mention of the 9/11 Widows, who were dissatisfied with the Commision's report, or of the testimony of Norman Mineta that contradicted Cheney's testimony, or the recent Kean-Hamilton book, Without Precedent, in which they reveal that they were set up to fail? Will you be airing an update, or are you being censored?

Posted by: Bill Bailey | September 16, 2007 4:07 PM

These Fox Republican officials and politicians have done gone and screwed up our government so badly that even the corporations want regulations. Yes, you heard me my neocon Fox Republican friends. Your beloved corporations are asking for good government. This is something your frops don't have a clue how to do. Our B-School MBA President gets an A+ in MISmanagement and INcompetence. He and his frops don't have a clue as to what this country needs. Even the corporations know the current reckless rip out the seats path is not sustainable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/washington/16regulate.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin Man I have had it with the stupid frops. Never before has such a bunch of greedy arrogant incompetents screwed up our government so badly and so fast. Write your congresspeople. Tell them we want these fools in our Executive impeached. There is not a moment to lose. Any day now Cheney and his crazies could railroad us into another needless war, this time with Iran. They have broken more than enough laws to be tossed. You can start with violations of the anti-wiretapping laws, the torture, and the Justice Department scandals and work on from there.

Posted by: JD21 | September 16, 2007 12:38 PM

Why aren't they showing this online? Is there anywhere I can see it?

Posted by: Alex | September 16, 2007 10:36 AM

Here is how I look at it. There are two theories on what happened on 9/11. The first is the Official Conspiracy theory proposed by the Government. Namely, that 19 Arab Hijackers, mostly in their late teen and early 20s, conspired and were able to succeed in bringing down the Twin towers and crash a supposed jet plane into the Pentagon at the same time that there was a series of UNPRECEDENTED mass confusion, incompetence, neglect and treasonous dereliction of duty at multiple levels of the government, the military, and the civil aviation agencies while they were trying to deal with those hijacked planes. I might add that those institutions implicated in these mass failures include the Secret Service protecting the President, the Air Force command and control apparatus, the FAA command and control center, the NORAD command and control, the entire DOD including it’s Intelligence community, and the entire US intelligence services ( please keep in mind that no one was punished, not even a slap on the wrists). Mind you that all previous cases of Hijackings or potential Hijackings involving the FAA , NORAD and the military were carried out successfully. In fact a total of about 77...

Posted by: dasboot | September 16, 2007 2:43 AM

I watched CIrcle of Accountability with startling interest, even after six years! While some provocative questions have been asked, what is to be done about them? I don't think anything will be done, except that the notions go into our unconscious and when it comes time to vote, hopefully it will surface along with all the other travesties committed by this president and his administration to make sure your vote remembers.

Posted by: Happy Camper | September 15, 2007 10:31 PM

Dear Mr. Moyer: The program, which I had not previously seen, was almost unbelievable. The lack of preparedness, the lack of qualitative evaluation of information, and the refusal to take responsibility for any of it, was like a blow to the head. In spite of that, I still can't believe that our contemplative response is the answer. Every American is considered a possible terrorist, and, therefore, searched before entering almost every office building, public building, and airport. If treating this as a police problem is what would relieve us from such intrusion, then that is the way to approach it. The best approach is to take out intelligence seriously, and to pursue the individuals responsibile, and to direct our homeland security in that direction, not a blanket intereference with the civil rights of all Americans, that if we refuse to profile the Middle Eastern and Asian types that are typically involved in such behavior. Israel profiles and the general population is not as incovenienced and intruded upon as we are. Thank you for the show, it was amazing to once again see the footage of 9/11, and its aftermath.

Posted by: Sheldon G. Bardach | September 15, 2007 9:13 PM

Dear Mr. Moyers: This document has been an eye opener and a brain scrambler. My son escaped death by the good fortune of being one hundred feet ahead of the pentagon plane. I long for the truth for the sake of all Americans and innocent Iraqis and Afghanis who have suffered and or died during and following 9/11. I beg you to seek the truth

Posted by: Kathryn A. Wood | September 15, 2007 7:42 PM

Bill, Have the courage to openly question why WTC-7 came down. I agree with previous comments that you aught to have Dr. David Ray Griffin on your show. The recent NOVA show was crap. I guess NOVA figures we're gullible. Bruce Beale

Posted by: BruBeale | September 15, 2007 5:18 PM

Dear Bill Moyers, producers, directors & writers, THANKS for at least summarizing this 9/11 Commission info for public awareness. I'm most dismayed they keep talking about "the system" failures. As you pointed out, there are real people in that system who one by one, (in the military, CIA, FBI, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, CondyRice, FAA, et al naseum..) who FAILED to do their job, failed the institution and failed the American people to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Six years of lies & deceptions, spins & weaseling out of accountability is so freekin depressing. Where are the big media investigative journalists who will delve deeper into the current spin on the General Petraeus strategic plans? Maybe it's time to focus some 9/11 accountability with the "masters of war"? Our family and friends certainly no longer believe Bush & Company or General "Defeatus" Petreus Gen. Petraeus has moved from being a four-star general to a being a four-star Republican! Sincerely, Courtney

Posted by: Courtney | September 15, 2007 4:43 PM

As we're told that progressA Surge, and Then a Stab By Paul Krugman The New York Times Friday 14 September 2007 To understand what's really happening in Iraq, follow the oil money, which already knows that the surge has failed. Back in January, announcing his plan to send more troops to Iraq, President Bush declared that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced." Near the top of his list was the promise that "to give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis." There was a reason he placed such importance on oil: oil is pretty much the only thing Iraq has going for it. Two-thirds of Iraq's G.D.P. and almost all its government revenue come from the oil sector. Without an agreed system for sharing oil revenues, there is no Iraq, just a collection of armed gangs fighting for control of resources. Well, the legislation Mr. Bush promised never materialized, and on Wednesday attempts to arrive at a compromise oil law collapsed. What's particularly revealing is the cause of the breakdown. Last month the provincial government in Kurdistan, defying the central government...

Posted by: Varda Burns | September 15, 2007 1:58 PM

How can we have a serious debate about Iraq or anything else when the media is so lopsided in favor of Republicans? Summary: Following President Bush's address to the nation on Iraq, Fox was the only broadcast network not to air the Democratic response. Instead, Shepard Smith gave a short description of the response and stated: "Our coverage continues on the Fox News Channel on cable and satellite with the Democratic response and more. Right now, back to your local Fox programming." ABC, NBC, and CBS all aired the Democratic response.> http://mediamatters.org/items/200709140002?f=h_top And so many on this board continue to argue that somehow Fox is "Fair and Balanced." And the sky must be polka dotted too because you say so. Give me a break. The Republicans and a jerky billionaire have totally coopted a major broadcast network. So much for the Fairness Doctrine.

Posted by: JD21 | September 15, 2007 1:05 PM

I hope there are not as many 9/11 conspiracy theorests as people who still think that Saddam Hussein was responsible! I also find tiresome to be continually told that Americans live in fear of another attack. Who lives in fear? - not anyone I know, certainly! What saddens me and makes me fearful is how easily some many Americans are taken in by the simple-minded lies and deceptions of the Bush junta and its fellow-travelers.

Posted by: Steve Juniper | September 15, 2007 12:38 PM

Good morning Silence the SILENCE continues. The BLOOD is on ALL of our hands and the SILENCE goes on. We will know you by your actions not by your words! The great social compact that we call Democracy is dependent upon the TRUTH and dependent upon the press to speak the TRUTH. When will you speak the TRUTH about the TREASON of 9-11-01??? Peace Tom Spellman

Posted by: Thomas Spellman | September 15, 2007 9:36 AM

Dear Bill, I write in response to the PBS documentary, “911: For the Record.” You may know that a substantial number of Americans believe that there was some form of deliberate U.S. government, military, and/or intelligence involvement in the September 11th attacks, whether passive, active, or both, and that many people are calling for a new investigation into what actually happened. See, for example, the recent poll by Zogby International, released September 6, 2007, which revealed that “51% of Americans Want Congress to Probe Bush/Cheney Regarding 9/11 Attacks” and that “67% also fault 9/11 Commission for not investigating anomalous collapse of World Trade Center 7” (http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1354/). You may also know that since the attacks took place, several, if not numerous, critics of what might be termed the official narrative of the 9/11 attacks, i.e. that Osama Bin Laden did it, have appeared. To name one important example, David Ray Griffin, a former theology professor at the Claremont School of Theology in California, has written several books on the subject of possible U.S. government involvement in the attacks, one of which, “The 9/11 Commission: Omissions and Distortions”, contains a rather severe critique of the 911 Commission and its report. Griffin’s new...

Posted by: Chris Ronk | September 15, 2007 8:51 AM

I used to be one of those tin-hat conspiranoids deeply skeptical of my government's devotion to honesty... but then one day recently, after so many of my friends and family keep showering me with love to help understand that sometimes bad things just happen and I should accept that... I now feel born again. Looking back at the words of Greatest President Bush and his most trustworthy advisors... I DO believe They hate us for our freedoms. Liberty is just too dangerous for me to be left alone with. I think it best we do as government wisdom instructs. If we let go of our liberties and silly freedom of thought and speech... then They wont hate us anymore... and we'll forevermore be safe and protect-able from things that go bump in the night. Amen. (Now if I could just figure out who "They" are... I'll know who really hates me, and thus who to surrender my liberty to.)

Posted by: Erin S. Myers | September 15, 2007 8:43 AM

There was a time, now years ago, when I was thorougly ensorcelled in the 'consensus trance'. I believed and respected Mr. Moyers. Years passed. Now, the inside job of 911 is well-known. The evidence supprting the contention of some aspects of government complicity incontrovertible. The bacterial infestation of the world reflected in such elite organizations as the Council on Foreign Relations (which Mr. Moyers has been a member of for such a long time), the Bilderbergers, the Trilateral Commission, et. al. threatens to put in place a neo-feudalism exemplified by the push for a "New World Order". Mr. Moyers has long reflected and promulgated 'acceptable' dissent as a safety valve for those who might question the purposes of the powers that be. Sorry, Mr. Moyers, but I lost the respect I once held for you. I now view you as a subtle propagandist for the very powers that threaten the human race and democracy. And since I agree with Dasboot (posted above) that: "First and foremost anyone reading this needs to know that everything that we type and post is monitored by the NSA." I guess I am saying 'screw you' NSA. And to hell with the illegitimate corporate government...

Posted by: Dr. Richard Welser | September 15, 2007 8:38 AM

stop children whats that sound every body look whats commin down..where theres 2 or more war and talk of war...go to zero all are included.

Posted by: tnia marie | September 15, 2007 6:33 AM

It still amazes me that after all the lies, after all the coverage of the crimes committed by this regime, there are people here who are absolutely ready and willing to believe whatever the administration is telling them about 9/11. First and foremost anyone reading this needs to know that everything that we type and post is monitored by the NSA. So when martial law is declared, which could happen, because of the fact that by law Bush has declared the entire United States as a "war zone" and as such he can declare any of us as enemies of the State. Don't forget that Habeas Corpus is gone and unlawful search and seizure under the guise of Ant-terrorist policies could easily be carried out and we could be thrown in jail without a charge, without the right to counsel, simply because we could be labeled "terrorists". Of course, it would not matter that I am a happily married Physician with two wonderful kids and one who still believe that it's worth fighting for the Constitution and for the rule of Law. None of that would matter, because once they can label you an "enemy of the State", it's...

Posted by: Dasboot | September 15, 2007 2:52 AM

911 did not happened because we had fisa laws, it did not happened because we did not have a good intelligence establishment, it did not happen because we had civil liberties or due process. It happened because the warnings, that were very well documented, were totally ignored either diliberately or out of incompetence. Bush had an agenda to go into Iraq before 911 and ignoring the warnings so blatently and then invading Iraq and never really going after Bin Laden poses many questions about the nature of 911. And and now there is this urgent need to wipe the FISA laws, and wipe out our rights due to the incompetency of Bush. Should we now think that listening into all phone conversations will actually turn up something? Are our enemies as stupid as we are? All this is is an abuse of power by a regime that has sought to dismantle everything that has made us a Democratic nation, a nation that lives by laws and freedoms and rights. Now this incompetent regime is squardering billions of our tax dollars in a disasterous endeavor. Bush is all about breaking the rule of law. He has a private mercenary army in...

Posted by: Varda Burns | September 15, 2007 2:26 AM

The people in govt never own up to mistakes, and their adversaries who could hold them accountable fear that doing so would put them (the 'high ground' adversaries) in a less advantageous electoral position, so nothing potent is done until the subtle (i.e. bought, chaotic soundbite) workings of an election do it. Except, notice that in 2004, voting USA returned to power the very incompetents and knaves who've destroyed collective action(reckon as you will) anywhere from (then) about 4 years before that to all the way back to 'Reagan the Communicator'. Does America really think it's been better off with these rapacious privateers and self-seekers? I'm actually a hopeful man, but I can't be blind to the very, very bad choices America has made for some time now. This blog is good. We air opinion. The question to ask is how effective can it be? I've been frustrated since 1980. What gives with the country? The 9/11 Commission had the smarts and the resources. It simply didn't have the political decisiveness to hold accountable those who should have been so held. To leave it in the lap of the voters is to abdicate power that we've (yes, indirectly) ceded to...

Posted by: farouet | September 15, 2007 1:27 AM

9/11 was an inside job. The evidence for this is overwhelming. Bill, we expect more from you. Here are credible people who question the official explanation of 9/11. http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2006/06/media.html

Posted by: Paul Andersen | September 15, 2007 12:41 AM

Bush's Failures! 1) Failed to prevent 9/11 2) Failed to Kill Osama 3) Manipulating 9/11 emotion to lead us into Iraq War 4) Katrina 5) Partisan Supreme Court. 6) Corruption in Congress 7) Corruction in Business 8) Tax relief for Haves. 9) Uncontrolled Medical coverage. 10) Record deficit/debt. 11) Rising oil costs. 12) Global Warming. 13) Ignoring Genocides and world pandemic diseases. 14) Ignoring War on Drug. 15) Illegal Aliens. 16) Off-shoring US jobs. 17) Dependency in foreign manufacturing facilities. 18) Failed financial regulations. 19) Shrinking middle class, increasing gap between haves and have nots. 20) Loss of credibility in the world and weakening world alliances. 21) Violating Civil Liberty. 22) Releasing spy ID. 23) Theory X managment. 24) DIVIDING OUR NATION. Still yet, no accountability. Exactly where does it take to bring down accountability? God? Exactly where does the buck stop? Where are we heading and what are we leaving behind for our next generation and for man-kind?

Posted by: Deep Throat | September 15, 2007 12:31 AM

One point you neglected to address in your piece is why so many of the hijackers (15 of the 19) came from Saudi Arabia. This is a question the 9/11 Commission addressed directly in their report. The most substantive answer they were able to come up with: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 plot as you noted, has now told his U.S. interrogators that in his travels through Al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan in the years leading up to the attacks, he observed that the vast majority (by his count 70%) of the Al Qaeda recruits in those training camps were Saudi Arabian (pg. 232). Actually, you're not the only ones to gloss over this striking revelation. I could find no mention of it whatsoever in the archives of either the New York Times or the Washington Post. Could you answer me one question: Why is this not newsworthy? Seems to me like this is one of the real "smoking gun" revelations of The 9/11 Commission Report. And in case you have any questions about its plausibility, I have tried to place this into context here: www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com Six years after 9/11, and there is still a lot...

Posted by: Bill in Chicago | September 14, 2007 11:51 PM

I am struck by your description of dots not being connected by the intelligence community and the Bush administration in particular. It is interesting how the "dots" increased exponentially due to the incompetence of the Clinton administration. I know that you have made a living of painting reality in shades that make one party look better than another, which I will not go into, but it seems to me that the failure of the government in this issue is in mechanics rather than political idealism. It is a shame that you couldn't look past your own partisan ideals and present the truth. That truth is that September 11 was the consequence of the slow moving monster of bureaucracy that is the federal government. Until the press reports and the people see that the problems or our government are in the function rather than any idealism the machinary will never change.

Posted by: Chris Spruiell | September 14, 2007 10:44 PM

Unfortunately, the impression people get is of incompetence when they view your documentary Mr. Moyers. However, I am not one that is convinced that everything was so chaotic on 9/11 that it paralyzed our government. I don't buy it. Way too many coincidences occurred that day like the NORAD exercises, TRIPOD II in New York City, the collapses of 3 buildings on their foot print, the hesitation of Bush leaving the classroom, the plane that allegedly crashed in Shanksville, PA (or shot down) They knew about it and planned their activities around it.

Posted by: Ken | September 14, 2007 10:44 PM

There was more than failure involved in 9/11. Flying the Bin Laden family out of the country without letting the FBI speak to them is more than "failure." Even though she stopped short of calling it a cover-up, Special Agent Collen Rowley made it quite clear that there was advance warning of a terrorist threat from Massaoui. Sibel Edmonds reported security breaches and mistranslated/over-looked information that could have stopped the attacks. Norman Mineta testified under oath that Cheney was in the PEOC bunker earlier than the 9/11 Commission showed and that Cheney gave a stand down order to allow the third plane to hit the Pentagon. He also said that he "suspected the Shankville plane had been shot down." (My father was watching the news on 9/11 and the first report DID say that the plane was shot down. The "let's roll" myth developed later - probably to keep people from thinking about the fact that our own air force shot down a plane full of civilians.) Somebody made a decision somewhere along the line to let those attacks happen. That's not failure - it's treason. The fact that we let Bush use his own home-grown Reichstag Fire as justification...

Posted by: Morgaine Swann | September 14, 2007 10:36 PM

It is UNBELIEVABLE how INCOMPETENT this Bush Administration has been!

Posted by: Robert Echter | September 14, 2007 10:26 PM

Do your research Grandfather Bush had business in Nazi Germany he along with Charles Linbergh started this group called "America First"which should have been called "America Next" These people wanted to over throw FDR and bring Nazism to the USA before Pearl Harbor was attacked,which was the first Reichstag event on US soil. Also look up operation Northwoods,which JFK refused to be a part of and we know what happened to him.JFK also warned us of secret societies,please people Google all of these events on their videos! We here in America need to wake up and check all the info. on th net while we still can. There will not be an election we are under Martial Law right as we sit! Read all of Bush's executive orders word by word,this is the reason that Congress is paralised and Impeachment was and never will be on the table! 911 was the second Reichstag and this one worked,we live in fear of Bin Laden?The White House has him beat by a country mile plus he was an agent of the CIA and died on Dec.26,2001 thats on the net also,wake up!!!!

Posted by: Shelly | September 14, 2007 9:27 PM

yes, thats what anyone in their right mind is saying..

Posted by: mark smith | September 14, 2007 8:29 PM

Here I present some of the best evidence I've collected that clearly shows that incompetence is not the issue unless it is referring to the US Media for not reporting the TRUTH. FOX NEWS REPORTS Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. DEC. 26, 2001 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html CNN REPORTS: Bin Laden Denies Involvement Sept 16, 2001 http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/ 270+ 9/11 'Smoking Guns' Found in the Mainstream Media http://killtown.911review.org/911smokingguns.html Video Explosive Testimony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4dVo5QgYg&v2 FOREKNOWLEDGE! Giuliani Told "World Trade Center was gonna collapse" 3 min video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6357586375896950217 The Third Stage 23 minutes http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5224963246223576086&hl=en WTC7: The Smoking Gun of 911 16 minutes http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2073592843640256739 David Ray Griffin: 9/11 The Myth & The Reality http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-275577066688213413 Flight 77: The Flight Data Recorder Investigation Files 54 min. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2833924626286859522 ‘911 and the British Broadcasting Conspiracy’ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1882365905982811133 How the Towers Fell - Richard Gage Architect 2hr Presentation http://www.911blogger.com/node/10025 Firefighter John Schroeder Tells the Truth About 9/11 47 min http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=53815767687186956 September 11 Revisited: Were Explosives Used? http://www.911revisited.com/video.html Firemen and Emergency Workers Testimony http://youtube.com/watch?v=nXQzZU7Rfwk Kean, Hamilton did little more than lend their Names, The Investigation was all PHILIP...

Posted by: Joe | September 14, 2007 5:54 PM

Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rove, Rumsfeld, Goss, Giuliani, and many others worked long and hard to create the events of 9/11 in order to solidify the Bush Presidency when we all knew he was installed faudulently. They used the event to create Homeland Security, begin the dismantling of our Constitution, buy Congress, attack Iraq for he Oil industies, and maintain a dictatorship. Any questions?

Posted by: Circle of Accountability | September 14, 2007 4:24 PM

Your description that the US was somehow "unprepared" I think is an exaggeration. Remember twenty years ago when a German teenager penetrated Soviet air defenses and landed in Moscow. The Soviet Union was a "control freak" totalitarian state and coudn't stop an imaginative teenager. What could we ever do to be "better prepared"?

Posted by: Hasan Hussein | September 14, 2007 2:50 PM

I am concerned that the whole truth regarding 9-11 was not presented. As a veteran I am especially concerned that someone as knowledgable as USAF retired Col. Robert Bowman has not been reported on. He had access to the very top of the chain of command under President Carter and while not spilling the beans as to the nature of our defenses, could point out how many "errors" had to collude to make us so utterly defenseless. He has been tireless in his efforts. If there is something bogus in his theory.. point it out. This in conjunction with Naomi Klein's reporting on the Shock Doctrine which illustrates how desaster has be utilized as a vector for privitization by this administration gives a very plausable, and for me dismaying scenario. I feel to ignore these is to drive a mile a minute in a white out. No past, no future, no way to go but..... stay the course.

Posted by: David Bean | September 14, 2007 2:47 PM

Is the Bush administration as stupid as it appears? Obviously not, we now see how he has masterminded the continuance of this atrocity, that he has created, by passing the political “Hot Potato” of ending of this War to the next President and most likely opposing party. God Help Us.

Posted by: MLM | September 14, 2007 12:53 PM

Good Morning TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH I only hope and pray that you understand that it is only the TRUTH that makes Democracy work. Without the TRUTH we have Fascism or Dictators. I have been reminded of Galileo and the Church. Galileo had science on his side when he said that the earth went around the sun but the Church believed that the sun went around the earth. Science was right. In crisis we tend to review how it is suppose to work and then we see how our Democracy has been corrupted. The people depend on a TRUTHFUL press and yet all it gets is half truths and lies. Some folks look at the bibliography of a book to know the “bias” of the author. I hope against the odds because you will be the first to use then ,that physicist ,Dr Steven Jones, author ,David Ray Griffin ,and architect, Richard Gage AIA are part of your program. The chances of the TRUTH being told without then is very small and then if you do use them how is their stories represented? What is the balance of your story. They all are calling for a new investigation. I must say...

Posted by: Thomas Spellman | September 14, 2007 10:51 AM

Government never planned to punish itself for failing us so miserably on 9/11, I offer Tenet's Medal of Freedom as proof of that. Publicly the the Bush administration grieved while secretly they planned to exploit every drop of public sentiment to advance their own messianic delusions of grandeur. Justice will never be served to the masterminds of 9/11, justice will never be served to those who failed to prevent it and justice will never be served to those who led us down to path the unjust war, bankruptcy and pariah status around the world.

Posted by: Drew | September 14, 2007 10:32 AM

I have just writen, printed, seald, addresed and stamped the following letter to my US representitives and the speaker of the house in response to Mr. Bush's speeh tonight about the Iraq War. The only power we have is to exersise are freedom of speach and right to vote. I encourage you all to send your letters. Leters make a biger impact in their physical presence. Dear, I have just listened to Mr. Bush’s speech about the War in Iraq. I am dumbfounded at his Elitist disregard for the American people and our wishes, appalled at his unchecked arrogance in continuing his fear-mongering tactics and miss information designed to control the minds of the masses. Sir, it is very clear by his very words that this War was conceived as a misguided exercise in Nation Building that falls just short of abject imperialism. I am aghast that my beloved USA, in a moment of shock, horror and national grief was hoodwinked into such an appalling action that goes against everything that America stands for. “A free Iraq will deny al Qaeda a safe haven. A free Iraq will counter the destructive ambitions of Iran. A free Iraq will marginalize extremists...

Posted by: MLM | September 14, 2007 12:02 AM

Lulu Jones: You say 3000 less Americans because of 9/11 ? Do not forget those American children who die every single day in Iraq, by Iraqi citizens who want their country back.

Posted by: Wayne Coady | September 13, 2007 11:13 PM

I have a big concern when "government" has faked information about Iraq and set up a crisis which empowers those who hungar for power, to impose controls on Americans. Slowly, but surely, Americans are going to be prisoners in their own country and people like Bush and Chaney are going to be your jailors. Every day I see images and stories on CBC Newsworld, where Americans are losing their rights and freedoms to an administration that in my opinion resembles Hitlers. Trust me we Canadians are no better off that you, for we have a leader who is one of George Bush's sheep. This thing they call a war on terror is nothing more, than an excuse to keep control over you. And at the same time spend your taxes on a war that is killing your child, making a few very rich , while their children walk away from this so called war on terror. This my good friends is what you get when you support these private clubs, better known as political parties. Wake to heck up, before you lose the farm and your rights.

Posted by: Wayne Coady | September 13, 2007 11:04 PM

Sounds like a beautiful myth. Is is based upon anything factual? What about the pyroclastic clouds, the molten metal, the wiring and explosives, and Cheney in charge of NORAD, and the New Pearl Harbor which served to launch a dimwitted texan into a dictatorship of attack, murderous warfare for oil riches, or is that a different story?

Posted by: Circle of Accountability | September 13, 2007 9:14 PM

Extreme fanaticism and abject intolerance in whatever form is dangerous. Combined with religious fervor and used for political manipulation is deadly. The lesson to be learned from 9/11 is the world’s need for tolerance. In this regard we must also hold the mirror up to our own actions.

Posted by: MLM | September 13, 2007 8:39 PM

Moyers, as well as the mainstream media, will not touch the real 9/11. To do so will meet howls of "antisemitism!" The numerous Israeli agents were deeply involved in the plot, and saying so is political suicide. That is how they got away with 9/11. Involving Israel insures silence. Was it only Israel? No. Their high level sympathisers in the Bush adinistration , and the Clinton administration are key players as well. They wrote about the "catalyzing and catastrophic event, like a new Pearl Harbor" before the fact, and they were criminally negligent before the fact. It is not a leap to conclude they wanted the attacks, and people in key positions sympathetic to their cause deliberately failed. They didn't just "fail." They deliberately, with mailice, and as a treasonous act failed to defend us, right on up to the missing in action George Bush who would rather read about a goat than defend the USA. This is the most shameful chapter in a long and shameful history in this country. Thankfully, millions of people are waking up, even as frothing fascist reactionaries lash out at those seeking the truth. You want the true facts of 9/11? A great number...

Posted by: johndoraemi | September 13, 2007 6:45 PM

" They already had the story they wanted Americans to believe: Nearly 3,000 people had died, we were assured, because the terrorists turned our liberties against us, had brazenly exploited our open society. According to this official view, the atrocities were inevitable, the plot so diabolical and its execution so precise that only a superhero could have prevented it." That sums it up pretty well. Except that it doesn't address the almost complete failure of the government to address previous attacks. Most wars have begun with terrible surprises (Pearl Harbor). There was an edict that erected a 'wall' between the intelligence services (Jamie Gorelick) and our non reaction to years of relatively minor attacks led the terrorists to feel they could attack us in a major way. They didn't particularly fear us, either, because we retreated from Vietnam when we were, in fact, winning that war. Since you complain that there is a 'secret' and the 'real truth' is not out yet, you won't be satisfied until the 'scarlet letter' is affixed to George Bush's chest. Instead, give some thought to Clinton's not taking custody of Usama Bin Laden when, several times Bin Laden was offered to him. That possibly...

Posted by: Lulu Jones | September 13, 2007 6:30 PM

The question is rather simple. What individuals were responsible for protecting the country from terrorist attacks? We have had terrorism in the world since long before 9/11. Remember Munich, Entebbe, skyjacking, Oaklahoma? Were there any subsequent plans at all in place for such attacks? If the answer is no, then there are some "who's" we can find accountable. If the answer is yes, then there are some "who's" we can find accountable. One thing we know for sure, our government is supposed to be set up to protect us from foreign agression as a key function. If this failed at 9/11, then there are individuals who are responsible for this failure and it should be found not only who they are, but how and why they failed, so it can be fixed in the future. And based on current news and data, Homeland Security as a massive underfunded, undermanned bereaucracy does not apprear to be the fix. There are 3000+ less Americans and other citizens and their living families who should know which individuals let them down on 9/11. Let us all down. What should be the penalty? Well, what was the damage? And where's the REAL fix that doesn't...

Posted by: Robbie Robinson | September 13, 2007 5:07 PM

What are you suggesting here, that our Government took down those towers? I thought it was Bin Laden, wasn't it? MJA

Posted by: Michael J Ahles | September 13, 2007 4:08 PM

And now, a few words from our producers...

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