Honest question

[Luvpurp]

If Gore were President, would 9/11 happened?

I have never heard the media ask this question, whaddya think?

[NMDemDist2]

1. hard to say

but the response wouldn't have been to start a quagmire in Iraq

[meatloaf]

2. Very hard to say.

Clinton/Gore were a lot more pro-active in regards to acting on terrorist threats and they were able to prevent the millenium attacks so I'd say there's at least a 50/50 chance or better that they would've caught it in itme.

[Az]

3. I lean to no

He would have continued the pressure on Ossama. He would have kept the security in place.

[Goldmund]

4. This question boils down to two simpler questions:

1) Do you believe in L/MIHOP?
2) Do you believe that a competent and willing government could have stopped 9/11?

[Avalux]

5. NO

because Gore administration would not have LET it happen.

[Walt Starr]

6. We would have definitely been in a better position to stop it

Seeing as how he was a part of clinton's counter-terrorism efforts and knew quite intimately the threat posed by Al-Queda, we would have had a far better chance to stop the attack.

[Lex]

7. One of Gore's big topics was terrorism

and Gore, I think, presented a big plan about how to upgrade the security of our airports, how to get more serious on terrorism, etc.

Gore would've understood the seriousness of the Aug 6 memo and would've started "shaking the trees" (as Clarke said) and had all his top advisors telling him DAILY what was going on within their organizations.

Clarke said that kind of thing is what prevented the Millenium attack.

[BOSSHOG]

8. No it would not have because

Gore (Or Clinton) did not need a terrorist attack on 9-11. Bush needed something to happen so he could activate the orders of the cheney energy task force - take the oil fields, secure contracts for halliburton, obfuscate the reason for doing it. Mission accomplished.

Gore would not have gone on vacation. Gore would have read a newspaper, read a book, listened to his advisors, took the PDB's seriously and taken action; as opposed to condi and her crew. She admitted there was nothing they could have done, so that's exactly what they did - NOTHING. Orders from the top?

[nedlogg]

9. I don't think so.

I believe Bubba had a way of shmoozing these wack jobs and convincing them that attacking us would not be in their best interest.

Unlike the bully-boy "bring 'em on" cowboy we have now.

Clinton: "Come on now Osama, you know deep down inside it's not what you really want to do. By the way, how are the wives?"

Bush: "I double-dog dare you to try and attack us".

[Columbia]

10. Probably

The 9/11 hijackers were in the US before the 2001 inauguration so I doubt he could have really done anything about it. 9/11 was primarily a spectacular failure of the incompetent intelligence services anyway.

With that said, he would have handled the aftermath of it much better (not sitting around reading children's stories). The war in Afghanistan probably still would have happened. He would have not invaded Iraq and instead concentrated on terrorism. The world would be a safer place, the economy would be booming, and he would be re-elected to a second term easily.

[Catherine Vincent]

11. The important question is "Would President Gore have prevented

9/11 from happening?" And my answer is yes.

[wasichu]

12. yes

9/11 was planned by neo-cons years in advance.

[Adelante]

13. It might not have happened

They were able to uncover and stop the Millenium Plot and others, so it is possible they could have defused this one as well. Gore would, in fact did in the Clinton administration, pay attention when Richard Clarke gave warnings. But I do think Gore in office when 9/11 did happen would still have resulted in the invasion of Afghanistan, though not Iraq. Gore was a hawk on terrorism and rightly so.

I read in Clarke's book about an *assassination scheme against a terrorist by the CIA and a government lawyer said it couldn't be done because it was against international law. Clinton was worried by this and when Gore walked into the room raised the question. Gore said it was a no-brainer: Of course it's against international law, that's why it's a covert operation. Go get him.

Clinton/Gore were on the case and they could have shaken loose the 9/11 plot, as long as Gore carried through in his own administration and I think he would have.

Edit: *this may have been kidnap, not assassinate. I don't have the book here to check.

[EarlG]

14. Gore was already talking about airline security

http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=4532

"The federal government should consider aviation security as a national security issue, and provide substantial funding for capital improvements. The Commission believes that terrorist attacks on civil aviation are directed at the United States, and that there should be an ongoing federal commitment to reducing the threats that they pose." - Gore Commission final report, February 12, 1997

But surprise, it turns out that the airlines...

"had contributed to the 1995-96 campaigns of 10 of the 12 members on the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation - - the committee that funds the FAA. The Senate Aviation Subcommittee had similar ties to the airline industry: eight of nine Republican senators serving on that subcommittee in 1996 had received airline PAC contributions; only one of the eight Democrats on that subcommittee did.

As soon as the Gore Commission report was finished, the airline industry rushed to label its findings as partisan. The day after the final report was published, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association fought back with a legislative action that claimed the Gore Commission existed simply to thwart the will of the Republican Congress."

[Columbia]

16. Problem is

Box-cutters were allowed pre-9/11. Security personnel was still incompetent, but I think we were more worried about guns getting on planes than knives.

[ThoughtCriminal]

15. Gore stops 9-11, Republicans attack him

Arrest 19+ Arabs including 15 Saudi nationals? Absurd claims that they were going to hijaak planes and crash them into buildings. The GOP joins with the Saudi government in condemming this outrage! Gore should be impeached.

Etc.

[Liberal Christian]

17. I think that calls for speculation that isn't helpful to the wider debate

We can go over "what if" all we want. The reality is that we will never know. Even if we could, miraculously, know that for certain, what difference would knowing make other than to make those who wish that Gore were in the White House somehow feel triumphant and smug.

We need to save our energy to learn the truth about things we CAN know, things we CAN change, things we CAN affect.

The past is over. Let it instruct the present and the future, but don't waste time wishing we could change it. We can't.

[sam sarrha]

18. I heard right after the attack that W was OK because he left the capital

before the attack because of increased threat in the area,..and they had received at least 6 warnings from different countries that had captured terrorists and their information. about terrorists hijacking planes and using them as "misseles"... some just months before the attack. and condie used the term Missiles

[bemildred]

19. Who cares?

The election was stolen, so it wasn't Al's baby.
That's what I think.

[EV1Ltimm]

20. no...

The transition from clinton to gore would have been seamless. there wouldn't have been any dismissals, snubbing or other "in your face" antics that occured during the clinton-bush transition.

gore would have continued to push for tighter airline security, increased anti-terrorism measures and wouldn't have emitted an air of "terrorism isn't that big of a threat" that surrounded the bush administration when they took office.