The 9/11 Commission Report

Nearly Three Thousand People died in the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In
November 2002 the United States Congress and
President George W. Bush established by law the
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission.
This independent, bipartisan panel was directed
to examine the facts and circumstances
surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify
lessons learned, and provide recommendations to
safeguard against future acts of terrorism. This
volume is the authorized edition of the
Commission's final report.

The entire 9/11 Commission Report (about 585
pages total), complete with all photos, as an
Adobe Acrobat PDF File.

The 9/11 Commission Report

The result of months of intensive investigations
and inquiries by a specially appointed bipartisan
panel, The 9/11 Commission Report is one of the
most important historical documents of the modern
era. And while that fact alone makes it worth
owning, it is also a chilling and valuable piece
of nonfiction: a comprehensive and alarming look
at one of the biggest intelligence failures in
history and the events that led up to it. The
commission traces the roots of al-Qaeda's
strategies along with the emergence of the 19
hijackers and how they entered the United States
and boarded airplanes.

It details the missed opportunities of law
enforcement officials to avert disaster. Using
transcripts of cockpit voice recordings, the
report describes events on board the planes along
with the chaotic reaction on the ground from
nearly every level of government. Going forward,
the commission calls for a comprehensive overhaul
of what it sees as a deeply flawed and disjointed
intelligence-gathering operation.

The creation of a post for a single National
Security Director is recommended, along with the
creation of a National Counterterrorism Center.
The report finds fault with the approaches of
both the Clinton and Bush administrations but,
because they were a bipartisan panel and the
problems described are so systemic and far-
reaching, they stop short of assigning blame to
any particular person or group. Credit must be
given to how readable the report is. At more than
500 pages, the writing is clear and forceful and
the information is made more accessible since it
is fre from election politics and rancor. While
the commission notes that future attacks are
probably inevitable, a coordinated preventive
effort along with a clear plan to respond with
efficiency can offer Americans some hope in a
post-9/11 world. --John Moe