Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith said, regarding retaliation for 9/11: “There was pressure on the President [Bush] to ‘go soon,’ he [Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld] told us [on September 14, 2001], but this created a danger that we might do ‘something hollow, ineffective, embarrassing.’ Because our first action would likely be ‘moderately […]
Category: quotes
9/14/2001
“…President Bush declared, on September 14, 2001, that ‘a national emergency exists by reason of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, and the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.’ “ – Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, Page 82 […]
9/14/2001
In a strategy memo written to President Bush and the National Security Council on September 14, 2001, titled ‘War on Terrorism: Strategic Concept,’ Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman said: “The United States must confront ‘the entire network of states, non-state entities, and […]
9/14/2001
“Congress also recognized [on September 14, 2001] that the President has authority under the Constitution, independent of Congressional approval, ‘to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States.’ ” – Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, Page 104 […]
9/14/2001
On September 14, 2001, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman proposed in a strategy memo for the War on Terrorism: ” ‘The immediate priority targets for initial action’ should be al Qaida, the Taliban, and Iraq. Iraq was on this list, we noted, […]
9/14/2001
On September 14, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that “the U.S. response to the [9/11] attacks should be a ‘sustained, broad campaign’ against targets well beyond al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld’s injunction, ‘Don’t over-elevate the importance of al Qaida,’ indicated that the war on terrorism was going to be […]
9/14/2001
“The Saudi embassy contacted the FBI about possibly evacuating some Saudi nationals, fearing reprisal attacks; the FBI prescreened the Saudi nationals, including the members of the Bin Ladin family before permitting them to leave, and many were interviewed; [counterterrorism czar] Richard Clarke approved the departure of the planes only after he had been told that […]
9/14/2001
President Bush visited Ground Zero on September 14, 2001. “Standing on top of a wrecked fire truck, Bush grabbed a bullhorn to address the rescue crews working feverishly to find any survivors. When one of the workers said he couldn’t hear what the president was saying, Bush made one of the most memorable remarks of […]
9/14/2001
At a September 14, 2001, press briefing of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), panelist Laurie Mylroie said: ” ‘how likely is it that Osama bin Laden’s group or any other group carried out these [9/11] attacks alone, unassisted by a state? I’d like to suggest that it is extremely unlikely–in fact, next to impossible.’ Who, […]
9/14/2001
On September 14, 2001, “By a vote of 98 to 0 in the Senate and 420 to 1 in the House, Congress declared: ‘That the President [Bush] is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided in the terrorist attacks that occurred […]