http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2008/04/to-keep-america-safe-we-mus...

Even if you (unlike the military leaders, intelligence professionals, scientists, engineers, and other highly-credible people who question 9/11) -- do not believe that elements within the U.S. government intentionally aided and abetted the September 11 attacks, or let them happen on purpose, you have to admit that the government failed to do its job of protecting the American people.

For example, 9/11 was completely foreseeable. U.S. and allied intelligence services had penetrated the very highest levels of Al Qaeda prior to 9/11 and heard the hijackers' plans from their own mouths.

However, even the 9/11 Commission found that the Bush administration did nothing to prevent the attacks. For example, 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey said:

"The president says, if I had only known that 19 Islamic men would come into the United States of America and on the morning of 11 September hijack four American aircraft, fly two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one into an unknown Pennsylvania that crashed in Shanksville, I would have moved heaven and earth. That's what he said.

Mr. President, you don't need to know that. This is an Islamic jihadist movement that has been organized since the early 1990s, declared war on the United States twice, in '96 and '98. You knew they were in the United States. You were warned by the CIA. You knew in July they were inside the United States. You were told again by briefing officers in August that it was a dire threat.

And what did you do? Nothing, so far as we could see on the 9/11 Commission. Now, that's in the report. And we took an oath not to talk about it during the campaign ...."

Indeed, before 9/11, U.S. and allied governments had prevented the arrest of many of the hijackers.

In addition, once the 9/11 attacks were under way, what did the Bush administration do? You might think that I'm going to say "nothing".

Actually, they did worse than nothing. They actively interfered with the ability of the military and civilian air traffic controllers to prevent or minimize the catastrophe.

Don't believe me? The director of the U.S. "Star Wars" space defense program in both Republican and Democratic administrations, who was a senior air force colonel who flew 101 combat missions (Col. Robert Bowman) stated:

"If our government had merely [done] nothing, and I say that as an old interceptor pilot—I know the drill, I know what it takes, I know how long it takes, I know what the procedures are, I know what they were, and I know what they’ve changed them to—if our government had merely done nothing, and allowed normal procedures to happen on that morning of 9/11, the Twin Towers would still be standing and thousands of dead Americans would still be alive."

What does he mean? He means that the normal airplane intercept protocols were wholly ignored on 9/11.

Of course, President Bush read My Pet Goat for seven minutes after being informed about the second airplane, and then loitered at the school for a long time after that. If he had acted decisively and told the air force to immediately intercept all hijacked planes, lives would have been saved.

Moreover, Vice President Dick Cheney was in charge of ALL of the war games which occurred on and coordinated the government's "response" to the attacks (see this Department of State announcement; this CNN article; and this essay). The war games had previously been spread out over the course of a couple of months, but someone -- with Cheney in charge -- moved up all of the war games to 9/11. Because of this scheduling, on the morning of 9/11, five war games and terror drills were being conducted by several U.S. defense agencies, including one "live fly" exercise using REAL planes. Then-Acting Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Richard B. Myers, admitted to 4 of the war games in congressional testimony -- see transcript here or video here (6 minutes and 12 seconds into the video).

Some of the war games included inserting fake radar information onto air traffic controllers screens (pay-per-view article; reprinted here) . Air traffic controllers claim they couldn't see some of the hijacked planes, and that they were still tracking what they thought were hijacked planes long after all 4 of the real planes had crashed. This implies that false radar blips remained on their screens after all 4 planes went down.

And fighter jets were sent far off-course over the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the attacks (testimony of Senator Mark Dayton), neutralizing their ability to intercept the hijacked airliners.

And people within the U.S. government, including Dick Cheney, watched Flight 77 as it approached the Pentagon from many miles out, and watched other of the hijacked planes for many miles, but failed to take any steps to intercept any of the aircraft.

Finally, someone ordered the tenants of the Twin Towers back into the Towers. They died when the buildings collapsed. It is not clear who ordered the people back in; but -- even if Bush or Cheney were not responsible for the order -- given that 9/11 was a national emergency, they had the power to order a full evacuation. Thus, the blood of those who died in the Twin Towers is on Bush and Cheney's hands as well.

Therefore, it is beyond argument that Bush, Cheney and the other leaders of our government failed to protect us on 9/11, and increased the death toll from the attacks.

Bush and Cheney's Criminal Negligence and Wilfull Disregard of Loss of Life on 9/11 is Grounds for Impeachment

According to the former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clarke, criminal neglect is a basis for impeachment. Specifically, in the articles of impeachment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney which Clarke drafted, he lists as one of the grounds for impeachment: "Engaging in criminal neglect".

Similarly, Elizabeth Holtzman, former Congresswoman who served on the House Judiciary Committee during Nixon's impeachment, co-authored the 1973 special prosecutor statute, and co-wrote the book, The Impeachment of George W. Bush, has stated that criminal negligence is a basis for impeachment:

"The president neglected his duty over matters of vast consequence and in situations where the trust placed in him was great. This conjunction of his failure to take care and his reckless indifference to human life provides the basis for impeachment."

Other constitutional experts have also stated that criminal negligence or willfull indifference to loss of human life is a basis for impeachment.

Given the discussed-described facts, it is beyond dispute that President Bush and VP Cheney were -- at the very least -- grossly negligent and willfully indifferent to loss of human life before and on 9/11.

They should therefore be impeached. If we do not impeach Bush and Cheney, it will set a dangerous precedent for future Commanders-In-Chief and Vice Presidents . . . that they can act with gross negligence and callow disregard for human life, and not face any consequences.

They are also subject to criminal liability for criminal negligence.