Gary Hart: We were warned of an attack on the scale of 9/11. No one listened.

On this, the 20th day of the 9/11 violent attacks connected America, overmuch volition beryllium written and said astir the nation’s deficiency of preparedness for specified attacks and the nonaccomplishment of foresight connected behalf of our nationalist leadership.  “Why weren’t we warned,” volition inactive beryllium the perennial question.

The reply is: We were warned.

The United States Commission connected National Security for the 21st Century wrote successful an interim study connected September 15, 1999: “America volition go progressively susceptible to hostile onslaught connected our homeland, and our subject superiority volition not wholly support us.”

I was co-chair of that committee with my Senate workfellow Warren Rudman.

In different interim study connected April 15, 2000: “The U.S. endurance interests see America’s information from nonstop onslaught … by either states oregon terrorists.” And further: “In airy of the caller dangers arising from the proliferation of weapons of wide demolition and terrorism, the United States indispensable absorption anew connected however to support a robust and almighty deterrent to each forms of onslaught connected its territory and its captious assets.

Then, successful the Commission’s last study delivered to the George W. Bush’s caller medication connected January 31, 2001, our Commission summarized arsenic its archetypal conclusion: “The operation of unconventional weapons proliferation with the persistence of planetary coercion volition extremity the comparative invulnerability of the U.S. homeland to catastrophic attack. A nonstop onslaught against American citizens connected American ungraded is apt implicit the adjacent 4th century.”

Elsewhere we did reason that determination would beryllium a violent onslaught and that Americans would suffer their lives connected American soil, perchance successful ample numbers. Our archetypal proposal was to make a caller cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security combining information assets already successful existence.

At a property league that day, the analogous for 1 of the nation’s starring newspapers near early, saying to 1 of our advisors, “none of this is going to happen.” A specified 8 months aboriginal it did hap and much than 3,000 Americans mislaid their lives unnecessarily.

It took the caller medication much than a twelvemonth and a fractional aft the 9/11 onslaught to motorboat the caller Department of Homeland Security. At its core, arsenic our Commission had recommended, was the consolidation of Border Patrol, Customs, and Coast Guard. They did not person a communal database oregon communications strategy connected 9/11. That could person been achieved successful the 8 months betwixt our Commission’s study and the attack. It was not and it led to immense breaches successful our borderline security.

Twenty years aboriginal is excessively precocious to beryllium pointing fingers of blame. It is not excessively precocious for a caller procreation of leaders to larn this lesson: erstwhile thoughtful, experienced, and sober men and women with nationalist security, military, and quality backgrounds rise informing flags specified arsenic our Commission did, wage attention.

This means besides leaders successful the media who did not instrumentality the clip to recognize that our Commission was not conscionable different authorities study. It was the astir broad survey of a new, post-Cold War information situation since 1947. It deserved broadcast and debate.

A fewer days ago, a erstwhile instrumentality partner sent a clipping from a starring Montreal newspaper dated September 5, 2001, covering a code I had delivered determination to an planetary aerial proscription association. The header was ominous: “Thousands is U.S. volition die, ex-presidential hopeful says.”

“There is simply a beardown likelihood the United States volition beryllium deed by a large violent onslaught successful the coming 25 years that volition inflict thousands of casualties and wreak large changes successful American society, according to erstwhile U.S. legislator and statesmanlike hopeful Gary Hart.

“Hart said yesterday the projection was made by experts consulted by a U.S. nationalist information committee helium precocious chaired.

” ‘The decision was that, for the archetypal clip since 1812, Americans volition suffer their lives successful ample numbers connected American ungraded by terrorists utilizing weapons of wide destruction.’ ”

Gary Hart is simply a erstwhile U.S. legislator from Colorado.

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