From WTC to OKC to 9-11. (The Last Word).(pattern of sabotage and cover-up evident in 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, World Trade Center bombing and Sept. 11 attacks)(Brief Article)

Were the tragic deaths of the thousands of victims of the 9-11 terrorist strikes preventable? What did federal authorities know about the coming attacks beforehand and when did they know it? More importantly, what did they do or fail to do in response to alarms and specific warnings?

The answers to these questions are falling victim to partisan politics and disinformation. It's an election year and nasty partisan bickering is to be expected, but the stakes are too high to allow this issue to be held hostage to political scheming. Our federal government's vital intelligence and internal security functions have been ravaged and neglected by both parties, as THE NEW AMERICAN has been showing for many years. The trail of bipartisan perfidy stretches back from the current Bush administration, through the Clinton reign to the earlier Bush team under George the Elder. It is illustrated in three of the most spectacular and deadly terrorist attacks on America: last year's September 11th attacks; the 1995 Oklahoma City (OKC) bombing; and the 1993 World Trade Center (WTC) bombing.

In her revealing memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller, Minnesota FBI Agent Coleen Rowley inadvertently spotlighted two monumental problems that go to the heart of America's massive failures in the face of terrorism: official sabotage of counter-terrorism efforts, and official cover-up after the fact.

Thanks to the dogged persistence of Agent Rowley and her fellow agents in Minneapolis, Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker" in the 9-11 terror attacks, was arrested before the deadly assaults took place -- against the strenuous opposition of FBI higher-ups. Recounting the stunned amazement of her fellow agents at the incredible obstacles that FBI officials in Washington repeatedly put in their way, Rowley said that the question in the minds of all her team members was "why would [headquarters] deliberately sabotage a case?" Her team members joked that FBIHQ must be infested with moles "working for Osama bin Laden."

However, Rowley concluded that it was more likely that the efforts to quash Moussaoui's arrest were the result of cowardly decisions by risk-averse careerists in management. Likewise, in criticizing Director Mueller and other administration officials who have suppressed evidence and been disingenuous concerning facts of the case, she opined that the term" 'cover up' would be too strong a characterization."

Like most Americans, Agent Rowley finds it difficult to imagine actual subversion in high levels of our government. But it is an unpleasant fact that agents of foreign ...