9/11 and Terrorist Travel: A Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

Rating:
Summary: A Must for Anyone Interested in National Securitiy
Review: Anyone interested in national security affairs and in particular the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks should have this volume on their reference shelf. The book is very well written and each topic addressed is done so comprehensively and non--judgmentally. Even if the reader is not interested in the nuts and bolts of counterterrorism policy and who did what and when, the first chapter alone "We have some Planes" that goes into great detail about the four aircraft on that September morning is well worth the modest price. It's chilling stuff, worthy of a good fiction writer in building suspence. Also intriquing are details throughout a couple of chapters as to what the main highjackers were doing, their motivations, travel, and other background material.

What is particularly useful for those who have or are involved in security matters is the extensive end notes, some119 pages, that source nearly every paragraph and statement. Those interviewed, and I know several of them, were those involved in various intelligence aspects of the overall failure to piece together what was about to happen.

The authors do not try to identify scapegoats. Shortcomings of the process, of individuals, of coordination, and of various agencies are pointed out, but no overall blame is pasted on any one individual or agency. One of the highly useful sections of the report is to shoot down some of the wilder stories associated with the events, such as the alleged Mohammad Atta meeting with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague, in April 2001, a "connection" that Vice President Cheney has held on to for so long. Other issues, such as the return to Saudi of bin Laden family members and others two or three days after 9/11 are gone into. Whether the explanation that the FBI interviewed those who they thought might have some information will satisfy all critics remains to be seen.

The Commission's recommendations are spelled out in detail. People will have to be knowledgable to some extent on the relationships of the intelligence agencies, the Congress, and the Executive Branch as to whether all recommendations make sense. This report together with the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on Iraq intelligence are extremely valuable resources for anyone interested in how are national securitiy system works, its shortcomings, and recommendations as to how to improve performance.