ZGram - 5/17/2002 - "Amazing!"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

May 17, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

This is the best summary of the "breaking dam" that I could find.

[START]

World Papers Slam Bush on Attacks
Fri May 17, 2:55 PM ET

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) - The disclosure that President Bush (news - web sites) 
was warned last summer that Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) wanted 
to hijack U.S. airplanes elicited a mixture of sympathy and anger 
around the world Friday, with many commentators saying the U.S. 
government had been called to account.

"For the first time since Sept. 11, it is the image of the commander 
in chief that has been called into question," said France's Le Monde 
newspaper.

Britain's Guardian newspaper said the disclosure had broken "the 
political taboo surrounding debate in the United States over the 
Sept. 11 attacks."

"At last the dam has broken," agreed the London-based Independent.

As more information poured in about potential terrorist warnings, 
some observers felt the news exposed a dangerous failure of 
intelligence.

Writing in Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper, editor Jose Antich 
said it revealed "a great degree of inefficiency and lack of 
coordination between the security services."

"It's possible that Sept. 11 was unavoidable, but what is now known, 
and what upsets North American society is that, without a doubt, not 
enough was done to avoid it," he said.

Italy's La Repubblica ran the story on its front page. "The 
accusation is terrifying, the suspicion is terrible," wrote its 
Washington correspondent, Vittorio Zucconi.

But many individuals around the world were sympathetic to the president.

"It is very hard to act, even if there was some intelligence," said 
Eiichi Idemasa, a restaurant owner in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

In many countries the reaction was low-key, in contrast to the 
mounting political furor in the United States about what Bush knew 
about terrorist threats before the attacks.

It was one of the top international stories in the Danish and Swedish 
press Friday, but was reported only briefly in Finland and Germany.

Media across Asia also gave the story scant coverage. Even in the 
Philippines - where in 1995 terrorists plotted to hijack U.S. planes 
- the story was reported only briefly in newspapers and on television.

But across Asia people on the streets were quick to express their concerns.

"Bush deserves to be criticized," said Jo Do-yeon, an office clerk in 
Seoul, South Korea (news - web sites). "As the head of state, it was 
his responsibility to order a close investigation as the national 
security was at stake."

"It would have been best if he could have done something," said Jun 
Mitsui, a 24-year-old student in Tokyo. "The U.S. president is the 
world leader after all."

Bush robustly defended himself Friday, saying: "I would have done 
everything in my power to protect the American people" had he known 
of Osama bin Laden's plans.

In Pakistan, the president's spokesman said he could understand the 
difficulty of divulging information about a threat before it could be 
properly substantiated.

"It may not be proper to comment on what sort of information or 
intelligence was available to them, but there is sometimes (such) a 
haze of information available that it is required to confirm before 
concrete action is taken," said the spokesman, Gen. Rashid Quereshi.

Nearly 500 foreigners were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, accounting 
for more than 17 percent of the victims. The foreign victims came 
from 91 different countries. Britain suffered the most casualties, 
with 67 victims.

[END]

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Thought for the Day:

"This isn't the first time I've arrested somebody and then built my 
case afterwards."

(James Garrison_