‘Failure of Imagination’ - 9/11 Commission 1/6: Missed It!

 

After the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11/01, a National Commission was convened by United States President George W. Bush and Congress. In its ‘Final Report’ the Commission cited a ‘Failure of Imagination’ on the part of U.S. Security/Counter-Terrorism officials as contributing to the disaster. Security/C-T authorities were persuaded to ‘Re-imagine’ Terror Tactics.

Following the 1/6/21 Domestic Terror insurgency at the U.S. Capitol, there were once again calls to ‘Re-imagine’ Terror Threats. In each case, ‘Imagination’, or the lack thereof, was not the issue. Nor was lack of ‘intelligence’. Lack of Common Sense prevailed in both episodes.

We were mis-informed; I thereby- came to a mistaken conclusion: we were told that accurate Intel. was not passed along to Command Officers on 1/6 (See Previous Post https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2021/02/1621-hauntingly-familiar.html)  -

“Today, the ex-Chief of the Capitol Police gave sworn testimony that on January 4^th, the FBI had information that a large armed and dangerous gang of extremists was gathering for the January 6 ‘Protest’. He got that information yesterday, Feb, 22.”

Well, it turns out that accurate information was in fact passed to Upper-level Command; they recklessly decided not to act responsibly on that information. Not only did the FBI and other Homeland Security agencies have the vital information, so too did, of all outfits – the Anti-Defamation League.

https://www.adl.org/blog/extremists-and-mainstream-trump-supporters-plan-to-protest-congressional-certification-of

PBS Frontline did a remarkable Documentary detailing the violent insurgency:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/

(Which is why I Support them both, and you should too.)

Also, Luke Broadwater and Nicholas Fandos at the NY Times have extensive reporting on the known threats at the time.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/politics/capitol-police-riot-report.html

The misinformation and misdirection by D.C. Security Officials led me to mistaken conclusions, (Gawd; I Hate When That Happens!).  At the time I wrote about procedures that require e-confirmation of transmission/possession of crucial Intel. While I may have been misled to that particular solution; it’s still a valid method for confirmation of Who has What Information, and Where and When they had it. That itself, would prevent (hopefully), someone waltzing into a Congressional Hearing, (or any other Investigation), and Lying about who knew what, and when.

As multiple sources cite; the MAGA-Lyte, White Supremacists D.C. insurgents had been threatening violence against the U.S. Congress, as well as any and all other opponents in Washington, D.C. on 1/6, as early as December 2020 right up to 1/6/21. Never Forget.

To claim an absence of actionable Intel. is simply arrogant Disinformation.