Dear undecided voter or Bush supporter,
Poll after poll shows that people who think terrorism is the most
important issue in the upcoming election also are more likely to
support G.W. Bush. People say Bush makes them feel safe. I am a
proud U.S. Army Veteran and I readily admit I'm supporting
John Kerry. I don't claim to be objective, but I really am trying to
understand this point of view. What follows is not an attack on the
President, but rather an honest attempt to understand how President
Bush makes people feel safe. Please read the following
facts (all are well documented bellow) and expert opinions. Then
explain how, in light of this clear evidence, President Bush makes
us safe.
Consider:
* 9/11 happened under President Bush's watch. I'm not claiming John
Kerry (or anyone else) would have prevented it had they been
President - we will never know. However, Bush was the President and
he did not keep us safe.
* On 9/11, George Bush's actions did not save a single life. The
brave passengers who attempted to fight the hijackers, the first
responders, and other citizens on the scenes in NYC and DC saved
lives - but Bush's actions did not. Bush did not keep us safe.
* Many people inside the CIA have publicly condemned Bush's handling
of anti-terrorism including the former heads of Counter terrorism
(Richard Clarke) and the CIA bin Laden unit (Mike Scheurer). In fact
a historical precedent was set when a high ranking, actively serving
CIA agent published a book with scathing, documented criticism of
this administration's counter terrorism efforts (Imperial Hubris" by
Anonymous).
* The CIA Al Qaeda unit is still understaffed and ineffective for
many reasons, including a hiring freeze still in effect as of
9/17/04.
* Bush did not respond to the bin Laden's bombing of the U.S.S. Cole
(which killed 17U.S. Navy sailors), because, according to
Condoleezza Rice he didn't want to "go tit for tat" and he "was
tired of swatting flies."
* According to a comprehensive report, the Bush administration has
not only failed to safeguard vulnerable terrorist targets at home,
it has actively blocked government initiatives to safeguard the most
dangerous materials that could be used in a terrorist attack.
According to the nonpartisan Working Group on Community Right-to-
Know, Bush has blocked an EPA initiative to impose security measures
for extremely hazardous chemicals stored at power plants across the
country. The report also details how opposition from chemical
manufacturers has derailed a bill in Congress (the Chemical Security
Act) designed to protect us from terrorists. Since 2000, the
chemical industry has donated more than $17 million to President
Bush and Republican congressional candidates. These companies have
also given more than $6 million in "soft money" to the Republican
National Committee.
* William Milner, the executive director of the American Public
Transportation Association, said that the nation's public transit
systems - including subways, commuter rail, buses, ferries and light
rail - need $6 billion for security improvements. Since 2001, the
Bush Administration has provided just $115 million to secure public
transit systems.
* Bush resisted the creation of the 9/11 commission and resisted
allowing Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney and other key administration
officials from testifying.
* The President himself refused to testify over and over, finally
agreeing to testify only with Dick Cheney by his side.
* Despite being reputed as "decisive," military experts say Bush
took too long to begin the Afghanistan campaign, giving al Qaeda
militants a chance to escape, re-arm, and prepare. We ended major
operations in Afghanistan before capturing bin Laden, completely
destroying the Taliban, and dismantling Al Qaeda - all are still
active in Afghanistan/Pakistan and world wide.
* A military think tank found that the Iraq War "accelerated
recruitment" for Al-Qaeda- an estimated 18,000 active members are
now part of this terrorist network.
* The President himself admits we are still in danger of an attack
from Afghanistan! As CNN reported on July 8, Bush administration
officials are warning that "a plot to carry out a large-scale terror
attack against the United States in the near future is being
directed by Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda
members. "According to the administration, these terrorists are
operating in the Afghan-Pakistan border region.
* According to NBC News, Bush in 2002 and 2003 rejected three plans
to strike terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He told military officers
not to strike because he believed a successful strike would
undermine the public case for targeting Saddam Hussein. Since that
time Zarqawi has been responsible for bombings, beheadings and other
attacks on Americans, Iraqis and people from other nations.
* The agency (Treasury Department) entrusted with blocking the
financial resources of terrorists has assigned five times as many
agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track
Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money, documents show.
* Despite credible estimates from within the military command
structure (including the highest ranking officer in uniform at the
time) that a force of 300,000 troops would be needed to manage the
Iraqi war and postwar situations, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld insisted on sending in a force of half that many, expecting
a warm reception and an easy postwar period.
* Bush opposed creation of the Dept. of Homeland Security; then
supported it when polls showed Americans wanted it.
* Things are getting worse, not better, in Iraq. 42 Americans died
in Iraq in June, 54 died in July, 66 in August and already 54
halfway through September.
* In March, Iraqi insurgents attacked our forces 700 times. In
August, they attacked 2,700 times: a 400% increase.
* Gen. Eric Shinseki was derided by Bush in 2002 for calling
for "several hundred thousand troops," but as Gen. Anthony Zinni
wrote in 2004, his view was widely shared: "Recently, the Army chief
of staff [Shinseki] testified that we would need 300,000 troops to
pacify Iraq. Everybody in the military knew he was right. But the
party line down from the Pentagon decreed that the number was half
that, and he was pilloried."
* The 9/11 Commission, which spent months exhaustively studying the
issue, concluded there was no "collaborative relationship" between
Iraq and al-Qaeda. The CIA and FBI agree with this.
* More than 2½ years after the demise of the Taliban regime,
regional warlords battle constantly over turf and narcotics
trafficking.
* The Coast Guard is still complaining it doesn't have the resources
needed to protect us from terror attacks. The Coast Guard said it
needed $8.8 billion over the next 11 years - and $1.5 billion in
immediate funding - to secure the nation's ports from terrorist
attacks. In 2005, the administration has proposed spending just $46
million total on all on port security.
* An estimated 2.5 million tons of uninspected cargo is loaded into
the bellies of passenger planes each year. Less than 5% of cargo is
physically checked. Bush has failed to designate a federal agency to
monitor the cargo or track who is sending it. The U.S.
Transportation Security Administration says it does not have "enough
money or big enough machines to scan enough cargo fast enough
without impeding commerce."
* According to the GAO, around seventy percent of all U.S. ports and
half of all ships have not even been reviewed by the federal
government. The Administration allowed industry groups to "self-
certify to the Coast Guard that they were using appropriate
standards." But every security plan the Coast Guard did review "had
deficiencies."
* The Bush Administration has not arrested a single person who
committed the Anthrax Terrorist attacks on US soil. Five people died
and several were sickened following the anthrax-by-mail attacks in
Washington, New Jersey and elsewhere - including the US Senate! We
have no clue what happened. Is Bush making us safer?
* The President and top administration officials repeatedly
stonewalled the 9/11 commission. The President is also still
refusing to release 28 pages of the bipartisan 9/11 congressional
report about the Saudi Government. That report is known to "depict a
Saudi government that not only provided significant money and aid to
the suicide hijackers but also knowingly allowed hundreds of
millions of dollars to flow to Al Qaeda". Nonetheless, the President
continues to refer to the Saudi government as "our friends."
* The President continues to withhold funding that military
officials say is desperately needed to plug shortfalls in armor and
protective equipment. And, according to a new study, those
shortfalls have meant 25% more American casualties in Iraq than if
they had the equipment.
* According to Newsweek, an unofficial study circulating through the
army shows that of the 190 soldiers killed by land mines, improvised
explosive devices, or rocket-propelled grenade attacks, "almost all
those were killed while in unprotected vehicles, which means that
perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive
if they had stronger armor around them."
* Attorney General John Ashcroft, testifying before the 9/11
Commission, has repeatedly lied to Congress about the Bush
Administration's counter-terrorism record. Specifically, when
questioned by Congress in 2002 about why he tried to de-prioritize
and slash funding for counter-terrorism before 9/11, Ashcroft
resorted to dishonest denials -- even in the face of budget
documents that proved he was not telling the truth.
Ashcroft's 'Strategic Plan' from Aug. 9, 2001, does not put fighting
terrorism as one of the department's seven goals, ranking it as a
sub-goal beneath gun violence and drugs.
* According to the Washington Post, "In the early days after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Bush White House cut by nearly two-
thirds an emergency request for counter-terrorism funds by the FBI.
The document, dated Oct. 12, 2001, shows that the FBI requested $1.5
billion in additional funds to enhance its counter-terrorism efforts
with the creation of 2,024 positions. But the White House Office of
Management and Budget cut that request to $531 million"
Ashcroft "cut the FBI's for items such as computer networking and
foreign language intercepts by half, cut a cyber request by three
quarters and eliminated entirely a request for 'collaborative
capabilities.'"
* With the release of the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing
(PDB),DB is now clear that President Bush was personally given
information before 9/11 that warned in detail about bin Laden plans
to attack the east coast. Specifically it said there were "patterns
of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations
for highjackings or other types of attacks." The PDB specifically
said that terrorists had engaged in "recent surveillance of federal
buildings in New York" and that "Bin Ladin [sic] told followers he
wanted to retaliate in Washington"
* Bush's record with Veterans is different from many of his words.
He has not taken care of our veterans. Congressional Quarterly
reported on February 4th that Bush's own Secretary for Veterans
Affairs told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the president rejected a
desperate request for $1.2 billion in funding needed for veterans'
health care. The Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a statement after
receiving the White House's budget, calling it "disgraceful" and
saying it was a "disgrace and a sham....Nothing but lip service,"
according to the Army Times.
* A report from April 2001 (four months before 9/11) shows that the
Bush Administration officially declared it "a mistake" to focus "so
much energy on Osama bin Laden." The report directly contradicts the
White House's continued assertion that fighting terrorism was
its "top priority" before the 9/11 attacks1. Specifically, on April
30, 2001, CNN reported that the Bush Administration's release of the
government's annual terrorism report contained a serious
change: "there was no extensive mention of alleged terrorist
mastermind Osama bin Laden" as there had been in previous years.
* The Associated Press reported in 2002 that "President Bush's
national security leadership met formally nearly 100 times in the
months prior to the Sept. 11 attacks yet terrorism was the topic
during only two of those sessions".
* Newsweek has reported that internal government documents show that
the Bush Administration moved to "de-emphasize" counter-terrorism
prior to 9/11. Then "FBI officials sought to add hundreds more
counterintelligence agents" to deal with the problem, "they got shot
down" by the White House.
* Bush opposed giving the 9/11 commission more time to complete its
work.
* Bush slashed funds to put 100,000 police officers the nation's
streets. $7 billion would fully fund for five years the 1996
Community Oriented Policing Services program, which was designed to
put 100,000 new community police officers on America's streets. The
administration has cut the funding for the program to $97 million in
the proposed FY05 budget.
* $2.5 billion was requested to increase funding for fire
departments. This would double the size of the Assistance to
Firefighters Grant Program for each of the next five years.
President Bush requested only $500 million for FY05, a drop from
$750 million in FY04. Money from the program goes for trucks,
protective clothing, hoses, and other equipment.
* A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President
Bush in late July, 2004 spells out a dark assessment of prospects
for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday. "There's a
significant amount of pessimism," said one government official who
has read the document, which runs about 50 pages. The officials
declined to discuss the key judgments of concise, carefully written
statements of intelligence analysts' conclusions - included in the
document. The intelligence estimate, the first on Iraq since October
2002, was prepared by the National Intelligence Council and was
approved by the National Foreign Intelligence Board under John E.
McLaughlin, the acting director of central intelligence.
* Christians being persecuted in Iraq and at least 40,000 have fled
to Syria.
* General Shinseki said it would take several hundred thousand
troops to secure Iraq (which has since proven accurate). He was
forced to retire.
* Economic adviser Larry Lindsey said that Iraq would cost as much
as $200 billion (which has proved correct). He was fired.
* In February, Donald Rumsfeld said "there are over 210,000 Iraqis
serving in the security forces." When called on this he later had to
admit, "...we're training up their security forces now...about
105,000 are now properly trained and equipped." The true number
might be even less.
* A report published by the Army War College criticizes the Bush
administration's global war on terrorism as "unfocused" and contends
that the war in Iraq is "unnecessary" and a "detour" that has
diverted attention and resources from the threat posed by Al-Qaeda.
* Bush increased the out of pocket expenses retired and disabled
vets pay for health care.
* Bush cut burial support to family members of vets.
* Although the Clinton Administration's record on the prevention of
terrorism was imperfect, the 9/11 Commission and numerous
journalistic sources have pointed out that outgoing Clinton advisers
made it explicitly clear to the incoming Administration in 2000 that
Al-Qaeda presented the most significant and credible threat to our
nation's security. Indeed, Al-Qaeda had directly struck against U.S.
forces overseas, in the 1998 suicide bombings of the U.S. embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania and in the 2000 suicide attack against the
U.S.S. Cole in Yemen.
However, the Bush Administration took no serious and specific action
in response to this clear threat until after 9/11. Analysts have
suggested that it was the Bush Administration's focus on traditional
nation-state-oriented geopolitics - driven by National Security
Adviser Condie's traditional academic background, or by the
Administration's policymakers' inability to shake a Cold War
mentality that led to its inaction despite warnings by the previous
Administration.
* The Hart Rudman Report was released in January, 2001, which
predicted a catastrophic terrorist attack within the United States.
Yet the White House apparently set aside the recommendations and
announced in May that you would study the issue of domestic
terrorism. Responsibility for dealing with the problem was then
passed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Director, Joe
Allbaugh. Congress had been willing to support the recommendations.
* Even Condie Rice admits "It mentioned hijacking, but hijacking in
the traditional sense and, in a sense, said that the most important
and most likely thing was that they would take over an airliner,
holding passengers and demand the release of one of their
operatives. And the blind sheik [Omar Abdel Rahman, serving a life
sentence for ordering a foiled plot to bomb New York landmarks] was
mentioned by name -- even though he's not an operative of Al-Qaeda --
but as somebody who might be bargained in this way.
* On July 5th, 2001 Clarke summoned all the domestic security
agencies --the Federal Aviation Administration, the Coast Guard,
Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the F.B.I.--
and told them to increase their security in light of an impending
attack."

WHAT FOLLOWS NOW ARE DIRECT, DOCUMENTED QUOTES, SOME
OF WHICH CONTAIN THE OPINIONS OF THE EXPERTS SPEAKING:

* "Frankly," Richard Clarke said, "I find it outrageous that the
president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done
such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored
terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to
stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know." Clarke went on to say, "I think
he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism."
* Retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, who now teaches
international relations at the College of William and Mary: "There
has been poor strategic thinking in this (Iraq)..." There has been
poor operational planning and execution on the ground. And to think
that we are going to `stay the course,' the course is headed over
Niagara Falls. I think it's time to change course... because it's
been a failure. In the lead up to the Iraq war and its later
conduct, I saw at a minimum, true dereliction, negligence and
irresponsibility, at worse, lying, incompetence and corruption."
(Comments on 60 Minutes TV interview)
* Even top Republicans are admitting Bush horribly mismanaged Iraqi
war. For example: Senator Chuck Hagel (NE), a Republican, says: "The
worst thing we can do is hold ourselves hostage to some grand
illusion that we're winning. Right now, we are not winning. Things
are getting worse. The fact is, we're in trouble. We're in deep
trouble in Iraq."
* Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "We made serious mistakes right after the
initial successes by not having enough troops there on the ground,
by allowing the looting, by not securing the borders."
* Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): "...the administration has done a poor
job of implementing and adjusting at times."
* Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN): "... it's exasperating for anybody
look at this from any vantage point."
* Retired general William Odom, former head of the National Security
Agency: "Right now, the course we're on, we're achieving Bin Laden's
ends...This is far graver than Vietnam."
* Retired general Joseph Hoare, the former marine commandant and
head of US Central Command, [said]: "The idea that this is going to
go the way these guys planned is ludicrous. There are no good
options.... The priorities are just all wrong."
* Jeffrey Record, professor of strategy at the Air War College,
said: "I see no ray of light on the horizon at all. The worst case
has become true..."
* "Well the war really had absolutely nothing to do with terrorism,
there was no connection whatsoever between Iraq and the secular
regime there and the religious fanatics who perpetrated 9/11." Chas
Freeman,former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, currently the President
of the Middle East Policy Council, former Assistant Secretary of
Defense.
* Richard Clarke: "They wanted to believe that there was a
connection but the CIA was sitting there, the FBI was sitting there,
I was sitting there saying 'We've looked at this issue for years,
there's just no connection.'"
* "The ties with Al Qaeda was just a scare tactic to exploit the
trauma, the very real trauma, that the American people have felt
ever since 9/11 and to associate that trauma with Iraq. As you know
from the polls, most Americans believed that Iraq had something to
do with 9/11 and that was a very successful and very deliberate and
very unethical and immoral operation on the part of the P.R. people
of this administration." Ray McGovern, CIA analyst from 1964 to
1990, currently a member of the steering group of Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) which is a non-partisan
group of retired intelligence professionals and co-director of the
Servant Leadership School, an inner-city outreach ministry in
Washington.
* Doug Bandow (Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, author and
former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan): "The President
and his supporters have never accepted his responsibility... Once
having conquered Iraq, the administration proceeded to bungle
virtually every major decision."
* "George Tenet's analysts had spent a year and a half of torturous
investigation, torturous analysis, to see if there were ties between
Al Qaeda and Iraq. They found none." Ray McGovern
* "We all know that the documentation on yellowcake from Niger was
faked, but why doesn't anybody say who did it? Who faked the
document... The question remains, who did the document? Who forged
the document? And why?" - Milt Bearden, one of the CIA' most highly
decorated operations officers in its Senior Service and retired
after 30 years. He was the CIA station chief in Pakistan and was
responsible for that agency's covert action program in support of
the Afghan resistance to the Soviet-supported government. Bearden
served in the Air Force before joining the CIA.
* "The inspection regime worked. It was the most intrusive
inspection regime in history and it worked. And at the end of the
day that's another reason we went to war for nothing." Patrick
Eddington, former CIA imagery analyst, and is currently a private
researcher, author, and international security consultant.
* Even top Republicans are frustrated with Bush's inadequate war
plan. "The fact is, we're in deep trouble in Iraq ... and I think
we're going to have to look at some recalibration of policy,"
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska
said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "We made serious mistakes," said
Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), an Arizona Republican
who has campaigned at Bush's side this year after patching up a
bitter rivalry. Only $1 billion of $18.4 billion allocated by
Congress for the task has been spent, Lugar said. "This is the
incompetence in the administration," he said on ABC's "This Week."
Sen. John Kyl, like McCain an Arizona Republican, said, "Allowing
the Iraqis to make the decisions not to go into some of these
sanctuaries, I think, turns out to have not been a good decision,
which we're going to have to correct now by going in with our
Marines and Army divisions."

-------------------------------------------------

SOURCES:

1. (war on terror misguided) CIA Officer: Al-Quaeda reports still
lag. By Katherine Pfleger

Shrader, Associated Press. September 17, 2004

2. (war on terror misguided) Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing
the War on Terror. By Anonymous. Published by Brassey's Inc. 2004.
ISBN: 1574888498

3. (war in Iraq mishandled) "Going after Iraq's most wanted man,"
The Christian Science Monitor, September 21, 2004.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p01s04-woiq.html

4. (bin Laden efforts at CIA are hampered) "C.I.A. Unit on bin Laden
Is Understaffed, a Senior Official Tells Lawmakers," New York Times,
9/15/04.

5. (bin Laden efforts at CIA are hampered) Thursday, April 29, 2004
by the Associated Press More Agents Track Castro Than Bin Laden by
John Solomon

6. (bin Laden efforts at CIA are hampered) "Shifts from bin Laden
hunt evoke questions," USA Today, 3/28/04.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-28-troop-shifts_x.htm

7. (no iraq-al quada link) Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed. By
Walter Pincus and Dana Milbank. Washington Post. Thursday, June 17,
2004; Page A01.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html

8. (no iraq-al quada link)9/11 Commission Sticks to Its Finding That
There Was Only a Limited Connection Between Iraq and al-QaidQuaedaC
News/The Associated Press. July 7, 2004
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040707_495.htm9.

(not safeguarding terrorist targets at home)

"Unnecessary Dangers: Emergency Chemical Release Hazards at Power
Plants," Working Group on Community Right-to-Know, July, 2004.

10. (not safeguarding terrorist targets at home)

"Chemical & Related Manufacturing: Long-Term Contribution Trends ,"
Center for Responsive Politics, 07/5/04.

11. (Laden still in afganistan) "Officials: Bin Laden guiding plots
against U.S", CNN.com 7/08/04.

12. (still in afganistan) "Afghanistan: 'Unrelenting Battle',"
Associated Press/CBSNews.com, 5/26/04.

13. (coast guard not funded) "Maritime Security: Overview of
Issues," Congressional Research Service, 12/5/03.


14. (Port security) "Lack of Funding Slows Port Security Measures,"
Boston Globe, 06/30/04.

15. (public transportation) "Spain Blast Prompts Demands For Funds,"
Washington Post, 03/22/04.

16. (public transportation) "Jets' Cargo a Threat to Security,"
Denver Post, 04/04/04.

17. (port security) "Report: Ports, ships not in 'full compliance',"
CNN.com, 6/29/04.

18. (port security) "Lack of funding slows port security measures,"
Boston Globe, 6/30/04.

19. (repeated stonewalling 9/11 commission) Who let bin Ladens leave
U.S.? By Alexander Bolton The Hill, 05/18/2004.

20. (not holding Saudis accountable)

"Saudi Government Provided Aid to 9/11 Hijackers, Sources Say", Los
Angeles Times, 08/02/2003.

21. (not protecting soldiers in iraq) "War May Require More Money
Soon", Washington Post, 04/21/2004.

22. (not protecting soldiers in iraq)"The Human Cost", Newsweek, May
3, 2003.

23. (not protecting soldiers in iraq)"Insurgents' escalation taxing
U.S. capabilities", Chicago Tribune, 04/24/2004.

24. (anthrax attacks) Anthrax Investigation Update. Newshour Online.
October 25, 2001.

25. (anthrax attacks) Report: More Anthrax Testing of USPS Not
Needed Fox News/Associated Press Friday, August 27, 2004

26. (de-prioritize and slash funding for counter-terrorism before
9/11) New York Times, 03/01/2002.

27. (de-prioritize and slash funding for counter-terrorism before
9/11)

"Clarke's Take On Terror", CBS News, 03/21/2004.

28. (post 9/11 counter-terrorism efforts in adequate) "FBI Budget
Squeezed After 9/11", Washington Post, 02/22/2004

29. (Presidential Daily Briefing) Sources: "News Analysis: CIA
terror memo is the new campaign issue", New York Times, 04/12/2004.

30. (Presidential Daily Briefing) Remarks by the President to the
Travel Pool, 04/11/2004.

31. (Presidential Daily Briefing) "President's Daily Brief on Aug.
6, 2001", Washington Post, 04/10/2004.

32. (post 9/11 counter-terrorism efforts in adequate) "I.R.S.
Request for More Terrorism Investigators Is Denied", New York Times,
03/31/2004.

33. (post 9/11 counter-terrorism efforts in adequate) "HOYER ON THE
HOMELAND SECURITY BILL: A One Billion Dollar Trade-Off", 06/24/2003.

34. (president did not do enough to prevent 9/11) What went wrong.
The inside story of the missed signals and intelligence failures
that raise a chilling question: did September 11 have to happen? By
Michael Hirsh and Michael Isikoff Newsweek May 27/02





35. (president did not do enough to prevent 9/11)

"In the Months Before 9/11, Justice Department Curtailed Highly
Classified Program to Monitor Al-Qaeda Suspects in the U.S.", PR
Newswire, 03/21/2004.

36. (not taking care of Veterans) "Nothing but lip service", Army
Times, 06/30/2003.

37. (not taking care of Veterans) VFW Terms President's VA Budget
Proposal Harmful to

Veterans; VFW Appeals to Congress for Relief, Veterans of Foreign
Wars, 02/02/2004.

http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=1576

38. (Bush did not see terrorism as a top priority before 9/11) Bush
Was Warned of Highjackings Before 9/11; Lawmakers Want Public
Inquiry, ABC News, 05/16/2002.

39. (Bush did not see terrorism as a top priority before 9/11)"Top
security advisers met just twice on terrorism before Sept. 11
attacks", Detroit News, 07/01/2002.

40. (Iraq war going horribly wrong) U.S. Intelligence Shows
Pessimism on Iraq's Future

By DOUGLAS JEHL. New York Times. Published: September 16, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/politics/16intel.html?hp

41. (Christians persecuted in Iraq) Iraq's Persecuted Christians:
Members of one of Iraq's minority faiths face new repressions and
discrimination after the fall of Saddam's regime. By Christopher
Allbritton. Time, September 27, 2004

42. (creating new terrorists) Jonathan Stevenson, Ed., Strategic
Survey 2003/4: An Evaluation and Forecast of World Affairs (London:
International Institute for

Strategic Studies, May 25, 2004).

43. (no al-quada/iraq connection) Richard A. Clarke, "Honorable
Commission, Toothless Report," The New YorkTimes, July 25, 2004,
Section 4; Column 2; Editorial Desk; Pg. 11.

44. (Iraq mistakes) Republicans Criticize Bush 'Mistakes' on Iraq.
Rueters News Service. Sunday, September 19, 2004.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=615&e=1&u=/nm/20040919/pl_nm/iraq_usa_policy_dc

45. (homeland security department) White House Press Briefing,
10/24/01; New York Times, 2/28/03.

46. (opposed giving 9/11 commission more time) Washington Post,
1/19/04.

47. (did not cooperate with 9/11 commission) USA Today, 3/30/04.

48. (cuts to first responders) The Opportunity Costs of the Iraq
War. August 25, 2004. Center for American Progress.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=171438

49. (U.S.S. Cole) Yemen Arrests Mastermind of Attacks on USS Cole.
Fox News. Tuesday, November 25, 2003.

50. (U.S.S. Cole) DoD USS Cole Commission Report, Executive Summary.
January 9, 2001.

51. (Handling of Iraq a disaster) Washington Post: Three GOP
Senators Urge Refocusing of Iraq Policy September 19th, 2004.

52. (Handling of Iraq a disaster)'FOX News Sunday', September 19th,
2004, transcript.

53. (Rumsfeld's lies about security forces) "More Cooperation Needed
to Secure Iraq Borders, Rumsfeld Says," The Coalition Provisional
Authority report, 2/23/04.

54. (Rumsfeld's lies about security forces)"Secretary Rumsfeld Media
Availability at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.," U.S. Department of Defense,
9/14/04.

55. (Rumsfeld's lies about security forces)"Defense Department
Briefing with Secretary Rumsfeld," U.S. Department of Defense,
9/07/04.

56. (Handling of Iraq a disaster) Whose Fault? Accountability
According to the GOP.

By Doug Bandow. Reason, September 16, 2004.

57. (War in Iraq hurts war on terrorists) War College Study Calls
Iraq a 'Detour.' Los Angeles Times Monday, January 12, 2004.

58. (Iraq, etc.) It's Worse Than You Think: As Americans debate
Vietnam, the U.S. death toll tops 1,000 in Iraq and the insurgents
are still getting stronger. By Scott Johnson and Babak Dehghanpisheh
Newsweek, Sept. 12, 2004.

59. (Bush mishandled post 9/11 efforts) "Bush's Lost Year," The
Atlantic, Vol. 294, No. 3 (Oct. 2004), pp. 68-87.

60. (failure to capture bin laden in Tora Bora) Peter Bergen, "The
Long Hunt for Osama," The Atlantic, Vol. 294, No. 3 (Oct. 2004), pp.
88-102

61. (failures with al Quada, bin Laden) Jane Mayer, "The Search for
Osama," The New Yorker, August 4, 2003.

62. (Bush not listening to experts and advisors) Seymour
Hersh, "Offense and Defense," The New Yorker, April 7, 2003.

63. (Bush lies on Iraq, etc) Walter Pincus, "Report Cast Doubt on
Iraq-al Qaeda Connection," The Washington Post, June 22, 2003, p.
A01.

64. (Bush lies on Iraq, etc) Kenneth Pollack, "Spies, Lies, and
Weapons: What Went Wrong," The Atlantic, January 2004

65. (mismanaged war in Iraq) Robin Wright and Bradley Graham, "U.S.
Works to Sustain Iraq Coalition," The Washington Post, July 15,
2004, p. A01.

66. (Zinni on troop strength) Mike Allen, "Retired General Assails
Planning for Iraq War," The Washington Post, May 24, 2004, p. A19.

67. (Supply lines) Dexter Filkins, "Supply Lines Stretched Thin,"
The New York Times, March 27, 2003

68. (mismanaged war in Iraq) Andrea Stone, "U.S. Supply Lines Need
an Army of Their Own," USA Today, March 30, 2003.

69. (mismanaged war in Iraq) Fred Kaplan, "For Want of a Bolt,"
Slate.com, July 7, 2004. Also see the Army's official report on
logistics performance in Iraq.

70. (Bush warned about al Quada before 9/11) "We predicted it." A
bipartisan commission warned the White House and Congress that a
bloody attack on U.S. soil could be imminent. Why didn't anyone
listen? By Jake Tapper. Salon, September 12, 2001.

http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/09/12/bush/index.html?pn=1

71. (mismanaged pre 9/11 warnings) Rice: 'No specific time, place or
method mentioned' CNN.com May 17, 2002.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/16/rice.sept11/



72. Uncovered: The war on Iraq. Produced and Directed by Robert
Greenwald

http://www.truthuncovered.com/press_excerpts.html