The 9/11 Commission Report; Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. First Edition. Authorized Edition [stated]. Trade paperback. xviii, [2], 567, [5] pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Authorized Edition [stated]. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States was created to look into the events of September 11, 2001, and to examine this nation's preparedness and response. The report includes narrative accounts of the events on the four airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania, along with background on how the terrorists planned and carried out their attacks. It provides an analysis of Osama bin Laden's appeal to terror and of the growth of al Qaeda. And it recounts a chain of prior acts of terror against the United States abroad as well as the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center in New York. All of these accounts are sobering, terrifying, and in their detail, fascinating. The report recounts the many heroic exploits of first responders and citizens that day, and it assigns both praise and blame to a host of government agencies at all levels, but especially the FBI and the CIA. The conclusions and the recommendations of the panel are presented in two final sections: What to Do, and How to Do It. Their suggestions include specific policy changes on the global scale, including an effort to "engage the struggle of ideas, " a restructuring of systems such as airport screening, and a reorganization within the government that would include newly defined roles for the FBI. Most notably, the report recommends the establishment of a new, cabinet-level post of National Intelligence Director. More