Flashback: Biden on 9/10/01 warned the ‘real threat’ may come in ‘the belly of a plane’
Flashback: Biden on 9/10/01 warned the ‘real threat’ may come in ‘the belly of a plane’
Before 9/11, the Bush administration’s national security focus was on missile defense, not terrorism. In fact, on 9/11, then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was set to deliver a speech that focused “largely on missile defense.” Writing at the Huffington Post, Joe Cirincione — president of the Ploughshares Fund — recalls this quote from Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on Sept. 10, 2001, warning against the Bush administration’s approach:
We will have diverted all that money to address the least likely threat while the real threats come into this country in the hold of a ship, or the belly of a plane, or are smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in a vial in a backpack.
Cirincione writes, “If George Bush had listened to Joe Biden instead of Donald Rumsfeld, the history of the past seven years would have been very different. We might have prevented 9/11.”
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I had not heard this quote (or the date on which it was uttered) before. How interesting that I should be reading it just as Beau Biden is introducing his father at the convention.
I look forward to learning more about this man with whom I am already familiar in the coming months. He seems a fine and decent man.
I need to turn my attention to Joe's speech now.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:32 pmDoes George Bush listen to anybody? How great will it be to have a president who listens again?
August 27th, 2008 at 10:33 pmWhy is it that I'm imagining Bush thinking to himself, "Planes don't have bellies!"?
August 27th, 2008 at 10:39 pmucsbclassics53 Says:
Why is it that I’m imagining Bush thinking to himself, “Planes don’t have bellies!”?
because he's an idiot.
*
good luck.
#
August 27th, 2008 at 10:51 pmAnd guess what wonderboy John Ashcroft was doing on September 10, 2001:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/21/september11.usa
August 27th, 2008 at 11:07 pmI really liked Biden's speech. It went after McCain and the Bush administration in a no holds barred manner.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:07 pmJoe gave a very touching and moving speech tonight. Thank you Joe.
Stop the neo-con propaganda machine that is insuring the destruction of our country if McSame and the rethug vote stealing machine will do.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:13 pmThis convention has built well these past three days. John Kerry was more on-point tonight than he was ever during his own 2004 campaign. Bill Clinton was masterful. Joe Biden effectively made the case against McCain on matters of policy and his record. Obama's surprise appearance was electric and outside the norm.
This is a tremendous foundation upon which build for tomorrow night and momentum to carry on into the next two months.
I was watching PBS and was surprised to hear David Brooks admit that the case was made tonight that McCain is "more of the same". Then, he went on to say that McCain needs to select Joe Lieberman as his running-mate to show that he is different from GDumbya!
I certainly hope so! That would be the death knell as far as his chances to get elected are concerned.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:17 pmGeorge Bush listens to no one - he knows it all -- he feels it in his "gut" he says. He is - to use Biden's word tonight - an abysmal failure.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:18 pmHe is the worst president in modern history and probably in our entire history as a nation.
Biden (as well as many from the Clinton administration) were warning Bush of the dangers out there - but the arrogant boy-king, who was handed the presidency after disenfranchising so many voters, was determined to avoid giving ear to anything or anyone associated with the previous administration.
That's what you get when you cast your vote for someone you think you would have a beer with instead of someone with intelligence and humility.
Joe was right - Bush was wrong.
Obama is right - McCain is wrong.
WONDERFUL speech by Joe Biden. I too didn't know anything about that quote. But I think we got a great example tonight why Barack chose Joe Biden. He really knows his stuff and he will not hesitate to go after McCain. Should be a good fall for the Campaign
August 27th, 2008 at 11:19 pmJoe Biden came as close as one can during National exposure to living up to that old story. He almost called the Bushco spade the fu(king shovel it really is. Now it is up to us. VOTE!
August 27th, 2008 at 11:19 pmGeorge Bush listens to no one
I'm not so sure about that. I think GDumbya listens when God talks to him. Of course, the God he listens to and obeys is known to the rest of us as Darth Cheney.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:20 pmTom at #8,
August 27th, 2008 at 11:21 pmI agree entirely.
Tonight was great.
The convention has been planned well. The pace (though frustrating at times) was right.
Tomorrow begins the campaign to the finish and the election of Obama/Biden.
Didn't the family look great on stage? Obama's surprise appearance was short, sweet and it was nice that he tipped his hat to Hillary and Bill.
Biden is perfect. Obama needs someone like him to take off the gloves and tell it like it is.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:21 pmwow...that's a bomb.
i hope it's an opening salvo.
i think kerry was good, but they crowd expected him to be punchier and he petered out on some long sentences because they kept running on because he had to mention some vital piece of evidence that had to come at the very very end. like that.
was obama's appearance a surprise to the people on the convention floor? i mean, theoretically? just curious.
oh, and bill rocked. other than the initial ovation, i think the line that drew the most reaction was the "People have always been more impressed by the power of example, rather than the example of our power."
August 27th, 2008 at 11:22 pmW doesn't care. McCain doesn't care. They are both spoiled brats with careers having been handed to them on a silver platter. But for an accident of birth they both would have ended up lonely old alcoholics living on the street. They've never earned anything but they believe they have everything coming to them. This country needs to learn a lesson that we were founded not to be run by aristocrats but by real people who earn their places of authority and don't just inherit them.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:24 pmHa ha! you're right, Tom.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:25 pmHe claims that God speaks to him and he listens.
Anyone who believes that needs his head examined.
Chuck Todd on MSNBC is criticizing Biden's speech. Todd has the looks for radio and the personality for textbooks. Go Cheney yourself Todd.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:25 pmJeff Toobin is critiquing Biden's speech too, and so is Gergen -- these guys need to take a break -- Biden's speech was excellent -- these guys have been looking at screwed up polls, fancy computer programs, and talking to each other too long. They need to come up for air and look at the American people to see what they really think.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:29 pmBiden didn't sound like an anchor man. He sounded like a real old school politician who knows what he's talking about. He's got a combination of grit and sentimentality that allows his to get away with insulting McCain like few others could get away with. Great pick Barack.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:32 pmLet's do a little family values compairing...
Barack & Michelle, long time couple with very cute kids, no cheating, no divorces.
Joe & Neilia, long time couple with very nice kids, no cheating, a tragic death of the first wife, no divorces.
John McSame, cheating, lieing, dumps kids and wife for beer heiress.
Repukes think Democrats don't have family values, and they do?
Say what? What part does the MSM not push here....?
Oh forgot, John is a POW.
Right, got it.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:40 pmJim Wolf359
I couldn't agree more. I thought his speech was great, as was Kerry's, and Clinton hit a home run. What drives me crazy is the media telling us AFTER the speeches that we didn't here what we thought we heard. I got so sick of the nausiating comments that I watched it all on PBS, and then turned over to MSnBC after the night was finished, and there was Chuck Todd going on and on about how mediocre Joe was - WHAT ?!? I'm turned it off, and am going to bed. It has been an amazing week here in Denver - lived here all my life, and I've never seen ANYTHING like this week - downtown is insane - it's great!
August 27th, 2008 at 11:47 pmHuckleberry is on Colbert right now, and he thinks Obama should have picked Hillary. He says that, by picking Biden, it's like going to Baskin Robbins and ordering vanilla.
Wow! He managed to stroke his own fat boy within, and make a racist comment all at the same time!
PEACE
August 27th, 2008 at 11:52 pmChuck Todd calling somebody else mediocre. The irony.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:53 pmThe right wingers all wanted Hillary, I wonder why? Biden is perfect.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:54 pmspencers mom Says:
Huckleberry is on Colbert right now, and he thinks Obama should have picked Hillary. He says that, by picking Biden, it’s like going to Baskin Robbins and ordering vanilla.
The Republics would much prefer Obama to choose Rocky Road.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:55 pmI love the live audience booing Pat Buchanan on MSNBC.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:56 pmShayne Says:
The right wingers all wanted Hillary, I wonder why? Biden is perfect.
Why? They've been piling up all the Clinton attacks for years, thinking (along with the Clintons) that she was a shoo-in. Now all that work has gone to waste, and they're going to need to hustle like crazy to start dumping on Biden.
I think we're going to see a lot more "subtle" race-baiting and buzz words in the next few months. Like, uh, "foreign".
The press is all over this stuff, pounding day and night about all the disaffected Clinton voters. I listened to an interview this morning with an Oregon delegate who said she had been astonished when her husband told her about the reporting. She's actually in the convention, mind you, sharing rooms with Clinton delegates and not being subject to the media's "interpretation" of reality. According to her, there's nothing of the kind going on in Denver.
The MSM is trying to create drama, in the vain hope that they'll start to sell more newspapers. If most of the Clinton supporters are now willing to get behind Obama, there's no blood on the water and the feeble minds behind the MSM can't figure out how to report reality.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:01 amFirst off to answer Tom who wondered why this statement from Biden about planes hasn't been heard before. Isn't it true that tons of things said over the last 7 years that conflicted with the standard concept that Bush has been just wonderful didn't get thru the corporate media?
6 years ago I commented that 9/11 probably would not have happened if Gore was installed in the job that he won in 2000. Numerous people who heard me say it at the time were appalled that I might think that. I say it today, what with all the evidence that has come out, people say, "You're probably right."
August 28th, 2008 at 12:06 amIf George could have read a Presidential Daily Briefing entitled "Bin Laden Set to Strike in the U.S." the last seven years might have been different.
Unfortunately, with all of the evidence pointing to pre-9-11 knowledge and George's horrendous lust for war - any war - we know that no warning would have had an effect. The man WANTED war and he got war. Like a spoiled child, George must get what he wants.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:10 amHey John Kerry! LOVED your speech tonight! Who would have thought that someone who comes here day after day to spew your filth would be so brilliant at articulating just what an abysmal failure Bush has been, and McStain will be.
Good show! You can stop all of your over-the-top humor posts here now!
PEACE
August 28th, 2008 at 12:13 amGummitch, do you smell something? It stinks like republiscum around her.
Thom Hartmann had somebody on who was at the convention who said the same thing. It's all a media fabrication to keep people watching. It and the polls are all hype.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:17 amI always pictured this JK as the most heinous troll who steals the name of an honorable war hero to spread his filthy lies. Joe Biden had given credit to those quotes hundreds of times before the one time he forgot. If you're not being funny JK why don't you stick your head back up the orifice from whence it came.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:21 amWho the hell is Chick Todd?
August 28th, 2008 at 12:29 amoops Chuck Todd. :)
August 28th, 2008 at 12:29 amThe troll who calls himself "John Kerry" is the slimiest troll we've got. Poops and shoots. It's best just to ignore the flaccid little coward.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:30 amChuck Todd would have probably found fault with anything Biden would have said no matter what...
August 28th, 2008 at 12:52 amExactly right.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:02 amPresident Bush also ignored the Hart-Rudman Commission, which said "Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers" due to terrorism.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:43 amBiden is NOT perfect! He wants to spend $1 billion to spy on P2P networks. That's YOU AND I. That's a violation of 4th Amendment rights as there's no probable cause I'm a criminal. Wake up, Biden's just another corporate tool like Obama (FISA bill)
Vote Nader, because you will never get progress from Republicrats
August 28th, 2008 at 1:48 amPrior knowledge maybe?
August 28th, 2008 at 2:47 amI'm liking Joe more and more each time I read about him.
The party needs an attack dog. The wolves have been eating us alive for years.
Yes there's some weirdness in his views. But he is not a puppeteer. Obama is the guy I'm voting for and I mostly trust his decisions. Yes FISA is harsh especially for techies like me who understand pretty much what must be happening at the other end of those split fiber optics. These things take time. Obama/Biden is a step in the right direction.
Found this recently (can't remember where link came from, sry):
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/worst-running-mates-ever-0909
VPs have such a weird history. Very fun.
By the way, hi all, new guy here. My first post. This site is cool.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:00 am.
Joe Biden says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAZmO80dLfE
.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:10 amThe greatest threat to this country sits in the White House. His name is George W Bush! Pioneer of Soft Fascism in America!Fixated scavenger of our civil liberties.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:11 amBuckie Boy,
Your point is well taken, but one little correction. Neilia was the first wife who tragically died in a car accident along with infant Naomi. Joe Biden's current lovely wife is named Jill.
Buckie Boy Says:
Let’s do a little family values compairing…
Barack & Michelle, long time couple with very cute kids, no cheating, no divorces.
Joe & Neilia, long time couple with very nice kids, no cheating, a tragic death of the first wife, no divorces
August 28th, 2008 at 3:29 amSounds a lot like he was thinking of methods of nuclear arms delivery on target, not about aircraft crashing into skyscrapers. His countermeasure might have been radiological sensors, which wouldn't have prevented 9/11.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:36 amAt 9/10/01, Bush's ratings were low. 9/11 happened. Bush initially looked up to the task. His ratings rose.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:02 amDraw your own conclusions as to how much effort was put into stopping the attacks.
Biden is the wrong choice. He's pro-war, mainstream Washington - and this quote sound as paranoid and militaristic as anything put out by Dubya and Co.
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/
August 28th, 2008 at 8:43 amBush's comment on being warned about Bin Laden determined to strike in the US.
"OK, you've covered your ass."
That's what the chymp was, is and will be about, frat boy drunkard fu(king up and covering his ass.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:52 amdfletcher, welcome aboard!
August 28th, 2008 at 8:53 amwhy is anyone questioning the decisions and antics of an idiot who can't express himself. Bush = Loser
August 28th, 2008 at 8:59 amAt least he was paying attention....that alone would have improved his odds of stopping 9/11. bush...not so much as we already know.
No one is more pro-war than those in power right now. Joe cannot even be compared to them because the differences are vast.
Joe will fight in our defense but he won't invade another country for profit as bush has done.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:07 amSomething that should be pointed out more often.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:03 am"...the PNAC blueprint of September 2000 states that the process of transforming the US into "tomorrow's dominant force" is likely to be a long one in the absence of "some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". The 9/11 attacks allowed the US to press the "go" button for a strategy in accordance with the PNAC agenda which it would otherwise have been politically impossible to implement."
Michael Meacher, British MP
9/10 belly of a plane
Commercial. Demo talking point. Please someone broadcast this.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:11 ammark_scism Says:
nader is no progressive. Sorry he is just an egotic spoiler. In fact, talk about tools, he takes gop money to run against progressives....so much for your argument.
No, Joe isnt perfect but he is if you compare him to nader or bush or mccain.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:20 amAnd the Bush administration continues to get it wrong. Just yesterday Russia test fired a new class of missile that has the aim of avoiding detection by the type of missile defense shield Bush has poured 10's of billions into, including a new agreement with Poland.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082800948.html
Now who would of thought those clever Russians would be working on stealth technology to counter our soon to be worthless missile defense shield.
Let's see how Obama and McCain react to this latest development. Will McSame have more than bombast to say in response? Don't count on it.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:22 amI don't know if there will be any change in foreign policy. Biden said yesterday that he will support Georgia against Russia.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:15 amA futile attempt in the backyard of Russia to win a crisis that is deep rooted.
In Georgia, there are two provinces 'Ossetia & Abkhazia' that do not want to be part of Georgia backed up by Superpower Russia.
Biden visited Georgia recently and came back asking for one billion dollars aid to Georgia.
When president of Georgia sent his army to Ossetia province to reclaim it,he was confronted by stroneger Russian army. Georgian army lost big time and most of Georgia's army equipment were destroyed or taken by Russian army.
Almost 90% were lost because of Georgia's president Saakashvili failed adventure.
Now Biden wants US Taxpayers to rebuild Georgian army.
Another conflict that cannot be won.
Only if Biden listens to what Ossetians and Abkhazians are saying too,and Biden has no intention to do so,and made no attempt to do that in his last visit.
On the Afghanstan front ,Biden wants to escalate the war by sending more troops to Afghjanstan/Pakistani borders, starting another Afghanstan 'Surge'.!!
On the Arab Israeli front...he said that he is a 'Zionist',and his daughter is married to a Jew.
He will blindly support Israel,right or wrong...
So where is the change in foreign policy here...? !!
tarazan Says:
Probably comes down to methods and means. bush went after the terrists but missed them completly.....
bush's only solution to any problem is war by ourselves. We don't want input or help from anyone.
Obama and Joe will address the same problems in a different way.
Why is that not different?
August 28th, 2008 at 11:25 amFred,
August 28th, 2008 at 11:32 amI hope you are right about 'Methods & Means'..Let's wait and see...
They all say many things during election campaign drive,but let's wait.
Bush said during the 2000 campaign run that he is against 'nations building', but that's all what he is talking about these days when it comes to Iraq and Afghanstan.
Cirincione writes, “If George Bush had listened to Joe Biden instead of Donald Rumsfeld, the history of the past seven years would have been very different. We might have prevented 9/11.”
There was no reason for Bush to listen because this has never been about national defense. The Missle "Defense" program wasn't meant to protect Americans, it was meant to intimidate our rivals. Bush didn't give a damn about terrorist threats as evidenced by the fact that he ignored all warnings. And not only that, after we were attacked, he used that attack to forward more policies of aggression, i.e. the invasion of Iraq.
This is all so transparently obvious and yet many Americans and most of the journalists and pundits still don't get it.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 28th, 2008 at 11:42 amJoe let the cat out of the bag on 9/10
August 28th, 2008 at 11:47 amAll the Washington elite know the what really happened on
9/11
Marc_scism: "Vote Nader, because you will never get progress from Republicrats"
Hey good one, Marc! I heard that one in 2000. We've made a LOT of progress since then, wouldn't you agree? People like you were selling the notion that there were no differences between worst-president-of-all-time George Bush and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore. How'd that work out?
August 28th, 2008 at 12:47 pmmarc_scism: "Biden is NOT perfect!"
That's a Green Party person for you. If we can't get "perfect" we'll work for "horrible."
August 28th, 2008 at 12:50 pmSo Joe Biden was trying to alert us to the real threat before it ever happened. Hey, you could say the same thing about Al Gore. The Gore Commission suggested reinforced cockpit doors, armed air marshals and strict check-in proceedures long before the 9-11 attack. Republicans rejected the Gore proposals out of hand because the airline industry started screeching that it would hurt profits.
Bottom line: the country is better protected when Democrats are in charge.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pmEspecially for Nader-supporter Marc_scism:
From Websters: "Main Entry: dem·a·gogue
Variant(s): also dem·a·gog \?de-m?-?gäg\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek d?mag?gos, from d?mos people (perhaps akin to Greek daiesthai to divide) + ag?gos leading, from agein to lead — more at tide, agent
Date: 1648
1 : a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power"
Quite a few times since the 2000 election in interviews, Ralph Nader has admitted that he didn't really think there were NO differences between Gore and Bush. What this means, marc_scism, is that Nader turned himself from a consumer rights activist to a DEMAGOGUE in an effort to gain political power. In the process, he helped deliver George Bush to the Whitehouse.
Do you think we've forgotten!?
August 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pmAug. 6, 2001: Bush gets briefed by a CIA officer about "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." and Bush continues vacationing in Crawford for another three weeks, doing nothing to address the right-wing terrorist threat and thwart the 9/11 attack.
Mid-August 2001: A "foreign national" by the name of Moussaoui is arrested in the Midwest by FBI field agents after flight instructors at a flight training school grow suspicious of his only wanting to learn how to fly 747s in the air, not learn how to take off or land one. The FBI's Midwest field agents make over 70 requests before 9/11 to FBI headquarters in Washington (John Ashcroft in charge) to get permission to search this guy's personal effects. Top Bush FBI officials refuse each request. Under FISA, the FBI field agents could have legally searched Moussaoui's personal belongings without a warrant, then gone to the FISA court within 48 hours to get a retroactive warrant. FBI headquarters still didn't give the agents permission. These desperate, patriotic FBI field agents then tried to get Moussaoui extradited to England so his personal effects could be searched when he went through customs. This was to happen on 9/11. Connections to some of the 9/11 hijackers were later found in Moussaoui's computer.
First week of September 2001: Condi Rice chairs her ONE and only cabinet-level counterterrorism principal's meeting before 9/11 (compared to the three per week that counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke held during the Clinton years, at which counterterrorism intelligence was shared between the heads of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies in attendance). Condi Rice's meeting, she said, dealt with the Bush administration's overall "Middle East strategy," not the right-wing religious terrorist threat. Middle East strategy? Who wants to bet that those in attendance only discussed attacking Iraq, ousting Saddam Hussein, and seizing Iraq's oil fields for western oil companies?
Several years after 9/11, some right-wing-hack film-makers tried to shift the blame for 9/11 happening from the criminally incompetent demagogues in the Bush administration to Bill Clinton's administration. Some people even fell for this. But all the evidence points to a major intelligence failure by the Bush administration being solely responsible for the 9/11 attacks occurring.
So Sen. Joe Biden's prescient statement one day before the 9/11 attacks proves to me that Democrats (including President Bill Clinton) took the right-wing religious terrorist threat to our country much more seriously than all the right-wing hacks running our federal government at the time.
Too bad Bush/Cheney/Rove/etal. stole the 2000 presidential election from Al Gore. This Republican thievery led to the theft of the lives of almost 3,000 U.S. citizens on 9/11, because I'm absolutely certain, based on the facts, that a President Al Gore and Democratic Party administration would have taken the right-wing terrorist threat very seriously and probably even stopped most, if not all, the hijackers on 9/11. Just as I am certain that a President Al Gore would have never preemptively invaded another country, Iraq, based on lies and oil company greed...and tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers would either be alive today or not severely injured, while hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children would be alive or not severely injured today, too.
The outright evil of the Bush/Cheney administration(s) has no limit. And they still aren't through yet.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:52 amIt just proves that Republicans are living in the past and are completely out of touch.
A real leader looks FORWARD.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:48 am