The attacks, linked to local members of the al Qaeda terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden, brought bin Laden and al Qaeda to international attention for the first time,

Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were injured in the blast..... The attack, organized by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization, was carried out by suicide bombers Ibrahim al-Thawr and Abdullah al-Misawa.

Appearing on CNN, 25 days before the election, Bush told CNN, "I hope that we can gather enough intelligence to figure out who did the act and take the necessary action. There must be a consequence." [See 9/11 Commission Report, p. 201.]

According to the commission report, National Security Adviser Condi Rice testified that there "was never a formal, recorded decision not to retaliate specifically for the Cole attack." Although the administration never thought the matter important enough to actually sit down and discuss, Rice said the consensus was that a "tit for tat" response would be counterproductive. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was not interested in punishing al Qaeda for the attack because, the report said, he "thought that too much time had passed and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, thought that the Cole attack was 'stale.'" (p. 202)

On January 25, Tenet briefed the President on the Cole investigation. The written briefing repeated for top officials of the new administration what the CIA had told the Clinton White House in November. This included the "preliminary judgment" that al Qaeda was responsible, with the caveat that no evidence had yet been found that Bin Ladin himself ordered the attack. Tenet told us he had no recollection of a conversation with the President about this briefing.176 In his January 25 memo, Clarke had advised Rice that the government should respond to the Cole attack, but "should take advantage of the policy that 'we 202 will respond at a time, place and manner of our own choosing' and not be forced into knee-jerk responses."177 Before Vice President Cheney visited the CIA in mid-February, Clarke sent him a memo--outside the usual White House document-management system--suggesting that he ask CIA officials "what additional information is needed before CIA can definitively conclude that al-Qida was responsible" for the Cole.1

I'm 60 years old and I damn near died, and I'm worried about how many lives I can save before I do die.

i may have completely missed your point, in which case i would kindly ask you to reveal in less uncertain terms.

Blondie? Tuco?

A 28-year CIA career man and a former skeptic of alternative 9/11 explanations has gone further than ever before in voicing his convictions that the attacks bore the hallmarks of an inside job and the three buildings in the WTC complex were brought down by controlled demolition. Bill Christison is a former senior official of the CIA. He was a National Intelligence Officer and the Director of the CIA's Office of Regional and Political Analysis before his retirement in 1979. Since then he has written numerous articles on U.S. foreign policies. In Christison's recent article, Stop Belittling the Theories About September 11, he afforded credibility to the notion that "significant parts" of the official 9/11 story were false and after careful research he concluded that the twin towers and building 7, "were most probably destroyed by controlled demolition charges placed in the buildings." Christison went further on The Alex Jones Show, agreeing that the attacks being an inside job was the "most likely possibility." "David Griffin believes this all was totally an inside job - I've got to say I think that it was too," said Christison.

You may think you have seen all there is to see on the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. But if you have not yet seen the one linked below, it will be well worth your time - if not your responsibility - to take one hour and twenty four minutes to watch 9/11 Press For Truth This could be the best and most credible study of September 11th 2001 anywhere. Paul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline provides the research for this documentary. 9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH

Oh yeah
Mm
Still dont know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
...
I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through