For the life of me, I still can’t understand why these FAA officials would report only and exclusively to John Kerry about their fears? It just doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t they also report to the National Security Council, the CIA, the Massachussetts Governor’s Office or Boston’s Mayor? This whole “blame Kerry for 9/11” is utter nonsense. It would be like a Pentagon employee reporting his investigative research work to someone other than his superior in the agency and then leaving it at that. What ever happened to reporting up the chain of command within their own agency, which, by the way, is an executive branch agency answerable to the President. Again, blaming Kerry for 9/11 is not different and no less correct than blaming Bush for 9/11. Why not keep the blame where it belongs, on the TERRORISTS??? Besides, what could Kerry have possibly done to prevent 9/11 even if he were the ONLY person to have access to this information? Report the threat to the executive branch of government (both federal and state) for some type of action? And how would a Republican Bush administration and a Republican Governor of MA have reacted to this information coming from Kerry — you know, that “feckless,” waffling, liberal troublemaker and potential presidential opponent to Bush? Get real.

Jimmy,

9-11 certainly was not John Kerry’s fault. No more so than it was Bush’s. But these reports are clearly a contradiction to his claim that he was “sounding the alarm” early. Instead it paints a picture of a man who was muting the clear evidence presented to him of the dangers posed by the security situation at Logan Airport.

I lived in Boston for 7 years and flew out of Logan at least 10 times a year. I can testify to the fact that while the Big Dig and Logan 2000 construction projects were ongoing, you could literally slip a bazooka onto a plain there. There were gaping holes in some of the walls beyond security check points leading to runways, long term parking tunnels and even a soccer field. (don’t ask, but it’s true)

Can you imagine the uproar over at DU if such prescient reports and calls for action were found to have landed on Bush’s desk? And I’m not talking about vague reports of threats of hijackings (those type of reports have gone past every President’s desk on a weekly basis since the ‘70s). I’m talking about a specific threat to Logan, mentioning the security situation, with video footage showing a breach.

No, 9-11 was not Senator Kerry’s fault. But there can be no doubt that if he had taken these warnings seriously or had at least passed them on to someone who would have, the odds of that tragic day unfolding the way it did would be drastically reduced.

Someone who circular filed such a report has no right to make a claim of sounding the early alarm.

Mr. Huck;

Alex lays it out quite well. It’s not that Kerry was any worse on this than 99% of our political leadership. It’s that he claimed to be better on this precise issue.

This is another example of Kerry bringing up an issue that doesn’t reflect well on him. Had Kerry not made the “I was on top of the terrorist threat” claim, this issue would have no traction. Once Kerry brings the issue to the table, he and his supporters are not in a good position to say it’s not relevant when it turns out badly.

Fellas - Your points are good ones and well-taken. I have no argument with them if the stories are true; but I do want to go on record as saying that the tenor and gist of these JYB posts by Bryan is not simply to point out that, if the stories are true, Kerry made a questionable claim about being on top of the terror threat pre-9/11, but also (and principally, in my mind) to suggest that Kerry is somehow responsible for 9/11 and could have prevented 9/11 if he had done something differently with the information supposedly in his possession.

But I question the veracity or the full truth of these stories because I still cannot fathom why these FAA officials would bring this information only and exclusively to Kerry for some kind of action, as the stories imply? The stories just don’t make any sense. Think about it … if the FAA officials were doing their jobs correctly, why would they not report their findings up the FAA chain of command, or to some other executive authority that deals with security issues (like the National Security Council, for starters)? What effective purpose would it serve to inform Kerry’s office of security breaches at Logan Airport and not also inform other state and federal agencies more relevant to Airport security which could actually do something concrete about the problem?

Another example of what I mean (often called passing the buck) … take this bit from the citation listed by Bryan in his post:

”’John Kerry should have – and could have – prevented 9-11,’ he [Brian Sullivan] said.

“How? ‘He could have taken direct action to address the concerns we had identified by visiting Logan and the MassPort authorities at Logan or the Massachusetts State Police,’ he said.

“If that didn’t work to bring about corrective action, he could have applied political pressure by having Sullivan and other agents testify before Congress, he says.”

My question: Why couldn’t Sullivan himself, or better yet the director of the FAA, have done any of the things suggested? Why didn’t Condoleeza Rice order Sullivan and other agents to testify before Congress? If Condoleeza Rice didn’t know about this “security situation at a federal airport,” well don’t you think she should have? And if Sullivan thought it important enough to advise Kerry, whe wouldn’t he have told Condoleeza Rice?

Unless I admit to the complete incompetence of the FAA and other federal security agencies, I just can’t buy it.

Waaaaaaaaaa, someone else MUST have known! I CAN’T be Kerry’s fault!

Ok, show me the documented proof that anyone other than Kerry got this information? What do you mean, you can’t? Gosh, am I ever surprised.

Kerry, in fact, COULD have stopped 9/11 from occuring. He chose not to. That makes him culpable.

We’ve seen Kerry give aid and comfort to our enemies before. Remember Vietnam and General Giaps “thank you” to Kerry for helping the NVA and VC win?

I would not be surprised if Kerry went out of his way to burry this information because he hoped for harm to come to America.

Tom - Calm down, dude. I don’t have documented proof that anyone other than Kerry saw the materials. I don’t even have “documented” proof (and I wouldn’t call Sullivan’s word as “documented proof”) even that Kerry saw the materials. But your assumption that no one else but Kerry saw the materials is precisely what I find unbelievable. If the FAA agent did show only Kerry this material, this was one incompetent, stupid, and, yes, “feckless” FAA agent; for he would have violated his own agency’s reporting chain of command, and he would have placed an issue of national security exclusively in the hands of a liberal legislator instead of some recognized security agency like the NSC or the Massachusetts State equivalent.

Now, I have more faith in our civil servants and their competency than to believe that only Kerry saw this material, if it even exists at all.

Jimmy,

No need for response, just an FYI. I don’t think Kerry was the only one to see this report. The memo from the Senator’s office claims the material was passed on to the Transportation Department’s inspector general.

Government officials and military members often go straight to their elected representative when the chain of command fails them.

It’s common and appropriate. Usually the Senator will bring the hammer down if it’s something big. Essentially, an Airman in the AF can essentially “pull rank” on a Colonel who is not doing his job or endangering the lives of servicemen.

It’s an informal appeals process that works well — unless your Senator is John Kerry.

Chris R. - Then what should be criticized here is the failure of the chain of command. Again, what could Kerry have possibly done with this information? Pass it along to some senior ranking member of the Bush administration’s NSC or the Department of Transportation, where they most certainly would have ignored such stuff coming from a liberal Senator as nothing more than political gamesmanship. Don’t blame Kerry for this, blame the breakdown in the FAA or in any other of the executive agencies that have the power to do something about security breaches at airports.