by Joseph Carlson
Even with all the terrible things I mentioned happened in the beginning of the book there was some progress happening. Many of the men that the CIA and FBI had tabs on had received funding and were trying to build bombs and make their way into the U.S.
Since they were being followed by different agencies within The State Department. Several of them were picked up. This was after we had sent people to Pakistan and other Middle-Eastern countries looking for answers. Many of them like in the case of Pakistan, were believed not to be able to handle the pressure that their own governments were placing on them.
This brings up something really interesting though: What was that pressure?
For every person we suspected of being a terrorist and for every plot or ploy we uncovered it seemed like many countries, Pakistan and in some cases Saudi Arabia seemed to balk when we would come to them in need of actual information or help.
It's great to read about the President at the time, Bill Clinton speaking often and to anyone who would listen about terrorism. He was deeply worried about it but wouldn't mention bin Laden by name but did find out all he could about the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
This put the U.S. in a strangely different place then I thought we would be in. Although the events of 9/11 still happened we were starting to come up with a plan on how to deal with terrorist organizations.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
The 9/11 Commission Report is available in bookstores and digitally.