Crisis
May 18, 2002 - 0:0
TEHRAN -- Following the White House's admission that U.S. President George W. Bush was informed of possible terrorist attacks a few days before September 11, leaders of the Democrat Party have called for further investigations into the issue. The White House confirmed on Thursday that it had received information about a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were carried out. Following this belated confession made because of leaks of information from the White House, the U.S. Senate majority leader and the minority leader in the House of Representatives have asked President Bush to present all the information about the September 11 incidents to Congress. Political analysts believe that the disclosure of this information could cause a new political crisis in the United States. The death of over 3,000 people in the September 11 incident and the destruction of the World Trade Center's twin towers, which were considered to be the symbol of U.S. economic strength, are very serious matters for the people of the United States. Therefore, if it is proven that U.S. officials ignored security warnings prior to the attacks, it could surely create a crisis for the Republicans. Congressmen, especially Democrats, have been asking why President Bush did not carefully consider the warnings prior to the attacks. Most U.S. Congressmen believe that if President Bush had taken these warnings seriously, the attacks would not have occurred. In addition, Congressmen are angry because the White House did not inform Congress of these warnings. Some analysts believe that the White House was forced to admit to receiving warnings because of information leaks, and that otherwise the White House would have never disclosed the facts. In any case, the incompetence of the Bush Administration with respect to the terrorist attacks and concealing information could lead to more charges against the Republican government in the coming days. The Democratic Party, with the upcoming congressional election in November in mind, is trying to take advantage of the situation. Although President Bush has said that he had never thought that terrorists would use planes as missiles to strike the economic and military centers of the United States, the laxity of the U.S. government with regard to the terrorist attacks will not be taken lightly by Americans. Hence, President Bush and his advisors are preparing themselves for a tense political dispute with the Congress in the coming days. Furthermore, when the president of the United States, despite having sufficient information on the September 11 incidents, was not able to make a correct prediction or take appropriate measures in order to prevent the death of 3,000 innocent U.S. citizens, many Americans and other nations throughout the world wonder how he can claim to lead the international campaign against terrorism. That is why many call him a great liar! According to additional reports, in an extraordinary session held on June 5 2001, the White House reviewed reports on a possible plane hijacking in the near future. Apparently, the U.S. government had been on an emergency alert to confront possible terrorist attacks. The Congress is questioning the performance of the Bush Administration in view of the fact that they had received information prior to the September 11 incidents. Even though the Bush Administration claims that the information was vague and unclear, one expert said that the information had clearly pointed to the danger posed by the Al-Qaeda network. The expert from the International Strategic Studies Center in Washington said that since the Bush Administration was informed of the attack one month before the incidents, it should have been realized that the hijacking would not be a usual plane hijacking. He added that in view of the fact that some information was obtained from Ramzi Yousef, a key Al-Qaeda member, in 1995, reaching a conclusion could not have been very difficult. In the meantime, Russian Communist Party Leader Gennady Zyuganov has also called Bush the leader of the "war party", adding that he is trying to pit Russia against the Islamic world. According to some reports from Moscow, Zyuganov said on Thursday that the United States is opportunistically following its own interests in all parts of the world, including Russia. He added that the final objective of the United States is controlling the world's resources through the use of force. While expressing support for the just resistance of the Palestinian nation, Zyuganov said the United States supports Israel despite the fact that the world, especially the Islamic countries, have condemned Zionist crimes against innocent Palestinians. Zyuganov also expressed his opposition to an agreement to reduce strategic weapons due to be signed by Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush at the end of the month, saying that the treaty would undermine Russian nuclear power.