Greg Easterbrook points out the obvious, and does a masterful job of it.
On August 7, 2001, Bush had ordered the United States military to stage an all-out attack on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Thousands of U.S. special forces units parachuted into this neutral country, while air strikes targeted the Afghan government and its supporting military. Pentagon units seized abandoned Soviet air bases throughout Afghanistan, while establishing support bases in nearby nations such as Uzbekistan. Simultaneously, FBI agents throughout the United States staged raids in which dozens of men accused of terrorism were taken prisoner.
Reaction was swift and furious. Florida Senator Bob Graham said Bush had “brought shame to the United States with his paranoid delusions about so-called terror networks.” British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the United States of “an inexcusable act of conquest in plain violation of international law.” White House chief counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke immediately resigned in protest of “a disgusting exercise in over-kill.”
Read it all. It will make you laugh – and cry .
The U.N.’s Successor
Last September, Don Sensing argued that the way to fix the U.N. was to make democratic governance a prerequisite for joining, so that it would…
We will bury you!
Via Small dead Animals comes news of attempts to create a Democracy Caucus at the UN. Like Kate, I’m somewhat surprised this hasn’t gotten more play, but, more importantly, I have to ask the same question I always ask whenever the UN comes …
Let’s try it this way (remember, the August 6 PDB warned of bin Laden’s determination to attack *inside* the U.S.):
On August 7, 2004 the President cancels his vacation in Crawford, Texas and returns to Washington. Meeting almost daily with his National Security Advisor, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and the heads of the FBI & CIA, they surface intelligence in their networks about al Qaeda cells possibly planning to hijack commercial airliners. Two cells are broken up; two others launch their attacks on September 11. Due to the heightened alert, one is foiled before the hijackers get on the plane. Air Force jets are scrambled to intercept the other plane as it approaches New York City. Negotiations fail, and the President orders the plane shot down. It crashes into a suburb in New Jersey, killing all on board and dozens on the ground. In the ensuing days and weeks it becomes clear that it was an al Qaeda plot to destroy New York City’s twin towers, and that the plan could have succeeded. Computer simulations of the consequences are replayed on television for a week and a half. People of the United States, and to a lesser extent the world, are somewhat shaken.
The Bush administration capitalizes on sympathy from Europe and some Muslim nations. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are further marginalized. Negotiations on the handover of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leadership go nowhere and U.S. surgical strikes wipe out most al Qaeda training camps. Support to the Northern Alliance leads to renewed civil war in Afghanistan. They retake northern Afghanistan and there is eventually an uneasy ceasefire. Reactions from peace movements and much of the Muslim world are negative but short-lived. Al Qaeda remains active, but never again achieves the scale of activity evident in the Millennium and September 11 plots.
U.S. Administration trial balloons connecting Iraq to the attacks go almost nowhere, domestically or internationally, but heavy pressure at the U.N. results in weapons inspections being re-launched; they eventually verify that Iraq is indeed free of WMD. Sanctions continue on other grounds, and thanks to Hussein’s unequal distribution of the consequences they continue to lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. However, the U.S. administration’s foreign policy focuses equally on democracy and nuclear talks with Iran and N. Korea.
An independent commission is launched to look into how U.S. intelligence allowed the September 11 plots to proceed as far as they did. Richard Clarke testifies, expressing frustration with Clinton and Bush administrations for not being more pro-active in tackling al Qaeda, and mild frustration with the Bush administration for being so focused on Iraq. Public attention is minimal, and commission proceedings play a negligible role in the 2004 election, which focuses more on the economy and other domestic issues.
“remember, the August 6 PDB warned of bin Laden’s determination to attack *inside* the U.S.”
We’ve known of their determination to attack for awhile now. You act like it was new information on Aug. 6th, 2001.
I might have been with you up until these points:
“The Bush administration capitalizes on sympathy from Europe and some Muslim nations.”
You must be naive. What help is that “sympathy” going to do for us?
“but heavy pressure at the U.N. results in weapons inspections being re-launched; they eventually verify that Iraq is indeed free of WMD.”
Yet Saddam still said acted like he had something to hide further leading us to believe that he did, in fact, have something to hide.
Yes, that really wasn’t so much an alternate history as it was an alternate universe.
😉