Might Have Been
President George W. Bush addresses the American people on September 13, 2001
My fellow Americans,
As the whole world is now aware, we have suffered the most devastating attack on civilians to take place on our soil since General Sherman destroyed Atlanta and Columbia in the later stages of the War Between the States.
We will bind up the nation's wounds, and those who are responsible for this will be brought to justice, though both these things may take some time to accomplish. After every crisis in our past, America has always emerged stronger than before, and this time will be no different. In the wake of this tragedy, the American people have never been more unified. And never have we enjoyed such sympathy and good will from the rest of the world.
We must not let this opportunity pass without an appropriate response.
How did this tragedy happen? How did a handful of not-very-bright terrorists manage to strike the biggest city and the military headquarters of the mightiest nation on earth, a nation which spends three billion dollars per year on intelligence gathering? We must be honest and searching in understanding how we allowed such a catastrophe to occur, so that it can never be repeated.
The truth is that the federal government is top-heavy with too many agencies and too much personnel. We now know that information about these terrorists was available but was not noticed or responded to by the proper authorities. One alert person with the authority to act might well have intercepted them before they could carry out their atrocious deeds. I promise you that, with the best military and administrative advice available, I am going to cut and streamline our intelligence and defense bureaucracy till it is at the peak of responsibility and response. Americans have relied too much on technology and massive firepower. That is a part of our national character. But these efforts are not appropriate to the kind of warfare that we are now facing—the war of stateless, anonymous fanatics on peaceful civilians of the civilised world.
Wars are won by material resources. But victory also requires courage, incisive intelligence, and resourcefulness. These are the qualities of brave and patriotic individuals, not of collectivities, no matter how well-funded, well-organised, and well-trained. So far we have a very bad record on the kind of military action that is needed today. Our most elite forces failed to rescue the American hostages in Iran under President Carter. Our Marines were slaughtered in the Beirut barracks without even a chance to fight back, under President Reagan. Under President Clinton, in Somalia, American Rangers were killed and dragged through the streets by mobs. And now the events of September 11 during my watch. It is clear that we need a smaller, simpler, and more flexible defense.
Those who were directly responsible for these devastating attacks are dead. However, their associates, those who lead them and give them aid and comfort, the apparatus which instigated and sustained them, are yet to be dealt with. This will not call for a massive retaliation against any country, because the terrorists come from many countries. It will require, rather, elite, highly motivated units who can identify, penetrate, and understand the languages and psychology of the people they must destroy. As Commander-in-Chief, I guarantee to the American people that appropriate steps are being taken so that every criminal in any way associated with the events of September ll will be hunted down and killed. Even should it take years and a search to the ends of the earth.
There is something else we have learned from this catastrophe. We now know that most of the perpetrators of. September 11 were in our country illegally, in one way or another. There could not be any stronger proof that our are immigration laws are not being honoured. A great nation cannot, under today's conditions of terrorism, tolerate the pourous borders and lax attention to immigration lawbreakers that we have heretofore allowed, under my administration and that of my predecessors. We are proud that Americans are a nation of immigrants, but we must not be a people bent upon suicide through lacking the will to do what is necessary for our safety.
We are proud also of our religious tolerance. We seek nothing but friendship and peaceful commerce with the millions of the world's peoples who follow the faith of Islam. Perhaps we have failed to be as fair and even-handed as we might have been in our role as peacekeepers and mediators in the Middle East. I pledge to the Islamic world my renewed efforts to do better in this regard. Most of the followers of Islam are good and peaceful people. But there is no question that Islam contains a tradition and a substantial element that has always preached holy war against non-believers. We will be taking definite measures to prevent, for the time being, all Muslim immigration to the United States, and to identify and deport all those now present who have in any way infringed the law. Simple prudence calls for nothing less.
My fellow Americans, let us go forward with the determination to do what we must do so that the future will find our country and its citizens safer and the world a more peaceful place. God bless you all, and God bless America.
Entries(RSS)
Might have been! Never a chance.
These remarks reflect wisdom, statesmanship and a commitment to the truth. No wonder, then, that they could not have been uttered by either the president in question or his major party opponent, should he have slipped into the Oval Office.
Our two major parties are not awash in - or interested in - any of the three aforementioned values, and until we replace them with people and parties who do, we will continue on our sorry course.
But if we stopped Muslim immigration and quit sticking our noses into other people's business, there'd be no need for the Pentagram, our alleged intelligence agencies, or 90% of what the Feral government does.
In DC, solutions are never the answer. The only possible response to any problem, real or imagined, is more centralization, more taxes, and lots more intervention by uniformed troops, whether they were camo or Calvin Klein.
Itchy trigger finger! That's supposed to be "whether they WEAR camo or Calvin Klein."
America would be much better off if we had followed this wise policy after September 11.
"What Might Have Been" indeed. Would that Junior had that kind of eloquence. And nine years later the government still remains awash in redundant "security agencies".
@7
Yikes!
J R @7 writes:
"tiny remote controlled white fiberglass appearance developmental drone."
I get these every night coming home from work when I put the rearview mirror on the night-driving setting. They buzz around in there in the grey area between the dimmed and undimmed mirrors.
Priceless!
Clyde Wilson would have had the president say:
"But there is no question that Islam contains a tradition and a substantial element that has always preached holy war against non-believers. We will be taking definite measures to prevent, for the time being, all Muslim immigration to the United States, and to identify and deport all those now present who have in any way infringed the law. Simple prudence calls for nothing less."
Because we had no leader capable of saying this, we got, among many more important things, this little incident that happened here in greater Chicagoland a few days after the attacks. Some suburban high-schoolers equipped themselves with American flags, got together in a few cars, stuck their flags proudly out the windows, and headed toward the nearest mosque. (Reading the story, that's when the first alarm went off - there are mosques in the sticks of Du Page County? - I asked myself.) Just as they reached the mosque, they were intercepted by the local fuzz and told to go back where they came from. Right then I knew that no matter what response our leaders came up with, it would not get to the root of the problem, much less resolve it.
We need not search "the ends of the earth" to find those behind 911. That the 47-story WTC7 came down at 5:20 p.m. at free-fall speed, collapsing into its own basement and a neat pile in its own footprint has been demonstrated to have been impossible without controlled demolition by Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth. Many of our top intelligence officers have said the 911 Report was a coverup from start to finish, and their statements can be found on Patriots for 911 Truth. Same for seasoned airline pilots on a similar site.
As Larry Silverstein, owner of the Trade Center, said on American TV, WTC7 had to be "pulled," probably because the plane intended for it never arrived. Five Israeli Mossad agents had the foreknowledge to set up their cameras to "record the event" as they later said on Israeli TV. They were seen dancing and celebrating after the planes hit by witnesses and were, in fact, arrested by the FBI. FBI agents immediately complained that their investigations were called off, and these five Mossad agents, along with another 160 arrested around the country, were silently returned to Israel. The question is, will America ever recover from its disgrace for its craven cowardice in accepting the official report, which is, obviously, a cover up of a crime and treason almost beyond comprehension.
Glad you liked it, Fred.
Well we know three buldings fell at demolition type speed. One fell twenty minutes after the press read their script given to them by the cia. Something like twelve hundred some odd architects and engineers are brave enough to stand up and are disputing the official story. Weren't some of the hijackers trained on one of our military bases? The janitor in one of the towers said bombs were going off in the basement. Numerous reports of explosions. And on and on. Who knows what's true and what's not but more than enough information is available on the internet if one wants to question the continually lying govs version. Plus look at their history. And follow the money for crying out loud. That's what it's all about. Hyping it into a holy war so they can get the masses behind it. I think at the very least it was allowed to happen but that doesn't explain the building demolitions. Ok go ahead and roll your eyes if you haven't already.
I suggest Dan and tgreen go the site 911myths. (I can't provide the URL due to the overeager spam filter, but it should be obvious.) Many of the specific claims they raise are dealt with in detail there. Links are also provided to primary source articles.
But it would have been bigoted and intolerant to suggest that one religion is foreign to America while others are more well-rooted. Why, this is America, a nation started by immigrants (a contradiction in terms if there ever was one). It is no more meant for Christians than it is for Muslims. Or Jews. Or Hindus. Or Buddhists. Or atheists. And let's make sure all those other obvious truths are out on the table, too: WASPs are no more the core group of people of the United States than are Germans, Italians, Arabs, Hispanics, or Asians. America is a nation of the race known as Anybody. Everybody. Don't you racist bigots get me started on citizenship, either. A 12th-generation hard-working, taxpaying WASP father/husband is no more dutiful or loyal a citizen than an "undocumented" Central American immigrant, as long as our trustworthy "federal" government is there to bestow citizenship upon him with their magical citizenship papers they can give to anybody they want. And they can, too. It's right there in the greatest part of our otherwise backward and out-of-date Constitution, the 14th Amendment, which WAS, repeat, WAS legally and constitutionally ratified by the people of the United States.
I think the real issue we should be concerned with now is not whether the Israelis or muslims pulled off 911. It's that we should not be allowing muslims to immigrate into this country at all, much less build mosques. It would be the same issue if the 911 attack had never happened.
I think what Dr Wilson has in mind regarding muslim immigrants is a policy of attrition, like what Pat Buchanan has recommended elsewhere.
Thanks for the suggestion james. I will check it out and report back.
One of our country’s largest problems is embedded agents in media and professional internet “posters” ---many employed by governmental agencies, including the same agencies suspected of the largest crimes against us. They are instructed to ridicule. (See instructions to media assets re event of 47 years ago). Moreover, independent owners of media identify with, and aid, the other suspect by suppression.
The moderator of this site, or his/her owner, does not permit posting of incisive comments, even facts He/she/it has blocked my last two attempts. If you are comfortable with this string, please know the circumstances which are largely one-sided. Thank you.
Are there any Presidential hopefuls espousing the views in Dr.Wilson's essay? Not a chance in our lifetimes.
George: prior discoveries are conclusive as to controlled demolition with thermite and nanothermite in the dust (microscopes plus witnesses and photos).
My question is what turns concrete, super thick steel, and humans into fine dust in a second or two? Extraordinary high temperatures. Example, mini nuke cold fusion hydrogen device yields ten million degrees for fraction of second. What else?
Wow, you certainly have an imagination, Dr. Wilson.
Regarding the comment by "James Kabala" @ 14, readers should be aware that the Israeli foreign ministry has developed a "hasbara" campaign, or psy ops propaganda campaign, to flood Internet comments with talking points prepared in advance by the ministry. A simple Google search of "hasbara israeli foreign ministry" will provide links to a recent official foreign ministry document providing pages of talking points for defending the recent attack on the Gaza flotilla, such as the outright lie that the Turks were known collaborators with al Qaeda, etc. They will stop at nothing, and no subject is more terrifying to them that determining the truth of 911. It has at least been established by the episode of the five "dancing Israelis" that they knew about 911 in advance and let it happen. As others have pointed out, the circumstantial evidence implicating Israel in the controlled demolition of the twin towers and building 7 is overwhelming.
President George W. Bush Patrick J. Buchanan addresses the American people on September 13, 2001
Dr. Wilson, with all due respect, this well-written musing would be just a bit more plausible with this simple alteration.
It was not supposed to be "plausible." It was supposed to point out the distance between truth and Bush
Dr. Wilson. What does truth have to do with it? Who was the last national politician who spoke truth in response to a hostile action like 911, rather than milking visceral support from the electorate with reference to common sacrifice and a righteous entitlement to vengeance?
The truth is that some folk will sacrifice more than others, and that their sacrifice will not correlate highly with material reward. In fact, eagerness to participate in martial conflict may signal authorities that the eager individual is probably not entitled to significant reward.
The truth is that righteous entitlement to vengeance is typically used as a rhetorical tool to elicit support from peoples that will benefit least from the conflict, and who will neither expect compensation nor complain from lack. The individuals who benefit most probably do not believe in significant divine or temporal right, and they are probably not interested in hearing politicians describe the obvious in detail.
"Who was the last national politician who spoke truth in response to a hostile action like 911?"
In the US, or otherwise?
The Russian President Dmitri Medvedev shows a pretty honest stance on every disparate crisis Russia has faced only recently. When the Georgians attacked them, he was blunt in saying that they had to quickly drop in, cause as much hurt as possible to them, finish or weaken them, and move away with all the ruins left. It was going to be messy, it wouldn't be easy, but they didn't want a permanent situation, which is why they quickly withdrew and cut their losses early.
It was the same when Chechens blew up a metro train, and he said they were matched against a loose widespread enemy that couldn't be fought conventionally by the Russians, unless they either intended to kill Chechens indiscriminately "down to those who clean their [the terrorist's] utensils" or unless they simply slugged it out slowly and keep finding those responsible and arresting them over months or years. They did the latter, obviously.
@24: Understood; forgive me. Still, I must opine that in that case, the title of the piece is somewhat startling.
@ Dr Wilson:
That was a nice 'feel good' article professor,about what the president might say,in a nice polite way,if our country had any balls left.Which we don't.The muslims are are very serious threat who will alter our landscape beyond recognition,and eventually agitate for sharia law,and to build their mosques,and for you infidels to hear their call to prayer.Just ask our cousins over the seas in Europe,in France,where muslim "youth" riots are a regular summer staple of "French life" now.Or how about Hamburg Germany, where the Muzzys want to build a Mosque that rivals the Cathedral there and would dominate the skyline of the city.To morons like "Brock H."--this sort of cultural takeover is A-OK!However,sir you miss the point.
You either want your culture and people to dominate or you don't.They do so they will win.White people have lost their balls and don't want their Culture/Race/Religion to dominate any more(like we used to)so other hungrier races and peoples will take over.The Race that controls the space creates the Culture.Period.This is the lesson of mankinds history.One people wiping out or taking over someone elses territory.SO IT WILL EVER BE.
@ Brock H. the Multicultural Blockhead--
People like you make me want to vomit when i see wants happening to this once great White European Christian nation.Your multi-cultural leftist BIG LIE of "we're all immigrants" BS doesn't fly,and won't be going much longer.No multicultural society has survived for long and if you don't believe it you need to study the Roman Empire.The real reason the Empire fell(among many) was that the Romans BRED THEMSELVES into a minority in both the society and the military.Therefore they lost power over their own destiny.Which is what is happening to the Whites in Europe and here in America.The Multi-culti society you liberals love is UN-natural because it goes against our basic "tribal" clan-nature.
"America is a nation of Anybody"--Ha!yea,its thinking like that moron, that is the reason this country is going straight down the toilet.Here's a clue pal-America was meant to be a nation of European "immigrants" who retained the racial character of the nation.Not a nation of "anybodys" to include whoever happend to slither in,or swam the river.Got any doubts?Look at the signers of the Constitution.As a matter of FACT Brock the lemming,many of the States wouldn't ratify the Constitution unless it made no provision for the removal of Slavery.What do you make of that?Leftist lemming.Don't bother calling me a Nazi(because i am),hater whatever,as we will have to learn to not be afraid of "names" when the survival of our very existence is at stake.The muslims are but one spear pointed at our heart,the other reaches back to Jerusalem.
Now it will be interesting to see if the "moderator" will let my comment through or censor it.I expect it to be censored as America is a place where if you speak out and challenge the status quo,they like to shut you down for thinking out of the box."Freedom of Speech"?So you are fond of saying.Lets see if this site has enough BALLS to let on a dissenting opinion.
Head and shoulders above "axis of evil" or "the soft bigotry of low expectations", Dr. Wilson.
I come near to weeping when I think of the wreckage these idiots in Washington have inflicted.