In their July 22, 2004, report, the 9/11 Commission agreed upon four overarching failures regarding the prevention of 9/11: “A ‘failure of imagination’ characterized our inability, at all levels of government and society, to appreciate the magnitude of the threat from al Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. A ‘failure of capabilities’ was a failure that limited the effectiveness of the actions we were taking to combat terrorism before 9/11. A ‘failure of management’ was inherent in the inability of national security leaders to get their agencies to share information and work together. And a ‘failure of policy’ was evident in the inability of the leadership of two administrations [Clinton and Bush] to make policies that reflected how great a priority counterterrorism should have been before 9/11.”
– Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, Without Precedent, Page 277